Tips- packing for a local move

Don't think it will be easier than a cross country move. We moved 3 houses down (had ours built) and had 3 weeks. We barely made It, but we didn't dedicate full days, just after we got off work

Stock both houses with toilet paper and paper towels.
Use towels, wash clothes, etc as wrapping "paper" to cushion your fragile things.
If you end up taking anything apart, put the small pieces, nuts/bolts, screws into a baggie. Either tape the baggie to a larger identifiable piece of the object or slip in a scrap of paper telling what those belong to (as in bolts for Ben's bed) otherwise you will forget what they belong to when it is time to put it back together! If you don't tape the baggie to us part of the bigger item then have a designated place all baggies go such as into the tool box.

Dedicate more time during the day than you think you need. You probably will need more hours than after work and week ends. Plan to use some days off.

Move what you love and need the most first.

As you get more tired and time gets shorter, it’s too easy to let go of stuff you wanted to keep.

Live in your new house as quickly as you can. Your priorities will help you pull the best items first. If you are tired at the end and end up filling garbage cans, you will care less.

Congratulations on your new home!

Personally, I would just hire movers. After pricing the cost of movers for just heavy items vs the entire house, I predict you'll find the savings is probably not worth a week of time/hassle to do it yourselves. By exclusively using movers, your home goods will be in the new house the same day, leaving the remaining 2+ weeks to unpack your new home & clean your former residence before closing.

Best wishes on a smooth transition & years of beautiful memories for you & your family in your new home!

Our last move was two miles. We had almost a two month overlap and it took about 5 weeks to get the flooring & painting and fixes to the new house. Once the house was clean, I started moving a few van loads everyday, starting with the kitchen, bathroom & laundry supplies and extra linens. All these could be out away immediately and the boxes brought back to the old house and re packed. Clothes on hangers were brought over on the hangers and put in the new home. Books, photo albums, decor items, DVDs, etc., were packed in boxes and placed in the room they belonged to in the new house.

We had a moving company come in on a Saturday to take the furniture (they broke down and set up the beds). It was about a four hour job IIRC. Once they were gone, we made the beds, loaded bookcases, etc. I'm pretty sure I moved drawers of clothes earlier and the movers just move the main piece. I know for sure no clothes in drawers were packed.

We still had to to back to the old house for anything left behind and to clean. I think the actual move took us about a week to finish.

When we moved in April, I made an excel spreadsheet and numbered each box and kept a record of the basic contents. I photocopied our floorplan and taped one on each box showing which room it should go to. This list was invaluable in unpacking.

ETA: We also got most of our moving boxes free. After the move we gave them all away, again free.

Pack up as much as you can in advance.

Label every box, in detail. Then add a 1(unpack first), 2 or 3(can wait until last).

Example:
Kitchen (dishes, silverware) #1
Kitchen (muffin tins, cookie sheets, mixing bowls) #3

That way, the most used, and most necessary stuff gets unpacked first. 

We have done several local moves... no big boxes for us ever. We moved all of our hanging clothes by making "bundles" with bedsheets. Used as many laundry baskets and totes as possible. And for small stuff from every room, we bought a ton of the cardboard file boxes. They were the best. You couldn't overload them to the point of being too heavy, no tape needed, built in handles, uniform size, and stacked like a dream. We ended up keeping most and still use them for storage in our kids closet. Every size/season of hand me downs has a box and gets rotated through easily. We always hired movers for the big stuff and the heavy totes. But we moved as many of the small boxes with fragile items as we could. We used our towels, washcloths, etc. to protect breakables (no waste and that stuff had to get moved anyhow).

we bought a labor kit from amazon

I moved 15 years ago to a home about 25 minutes away. I did the packing and moving myself, and it was a nightmare.

I moved again 2 months ago to a home about 30 minutes away. I did a fair amount of packing, but I also hired packers and movers. It was soooo much better. The one thing I would do differently is add color-coordinated tape on the boxes.

I didn't have a husband or son to help in my moves, but I would still let the movers do as much as possible.

We are military and are blessed at having a lot of moves. Moves we've done on our own are the absolute worst. If you can hire it out - do it. But tips: Your recycling center might have a section for reusable boxes, craigslist and other neighborhood sites. I'd never buy boxes. Use your towels, sheets, blankets, etc. as wrapping. All boxes get labeled. We do not do colors. We do numbers. Bedroom 1's boxes are all labeled with a big Sharpie and a sign is taped to the door at the new house. We've found movers don't do colors because they are used to reading. Label at least two sides of the box or if you can all 4 sides. I wouldn't unpack dresser drawers, but wrap with a sheet or towel to keep them clean if they do spill during a load. Don't move your garage with your house if you are taking lots of trips and do it last. Try to clear out a room at a time so if the loaders can take a load, you can clean. If you have only a few minutes to run a load over, choose a small space, such as 1 cupboard you know you can put away immediately. Ziplocs for screws is a lifesaver. I put a pile of ziplock and a sharpie in each room. A parts box is pretty standard in that all the ziplock are put in one box so you have all the parts labeled. The only time this backfired was when the box with the parts got left at the warehouse and the movers didn't want to bring it that night because I-5 traffic can really suck. Great... so does sleeping on the floor but it's good. It's all good. Pets - keep them wherever they will be out of the way and the most comfortable. Looking for the cat in the middle of an international move is really, really stressful (she made the flight by the skin of her teeth, stinker). I don't fret about cleaning anything on the move out but move in I take my time. So, don't worry if the table is dusty or if the furniture needs polished. See if you can rent packing blankets. They are a little hardier.

Good luck and congrats on your new home!!