Need advice for packing up scrap rooms to move

I would probably start with the purge until I absolutely HAD to pack up the things I may want to use. For the sterilite drawers, I would wrap them in shrink wrap. You don't have to empty them, which is less packing and unpacking. I've moved my cubes and sterilites this way twice and it was great. So easy! Congrats on the house!

i was going to suggest shrink wrapping the sterilite drawers as well, either that or moving them in a personal vehicle rather than a moving truck. when i moved from missouri to arizona, the majority of my scrappy stuff went into my car (which we towed on a trailer) because i didn't trust anyone else to touch it

congrats on the new place! i have no suggestions for things you should keep handy, but i'm sure others will.

I used packing tape to keep them shut, but same idea. It worked well. I packed those into a medium sized packing box.

I agree with purging first, so you know exactly what you want to keep.

I packed kits to work on for those days when I needed to craft or else go crazy. I had mostly card kits, a mini album kit, and basics like adhesives, plain cardstock, trimmer, scissors, etc. Everything had to fit in one medium sized cropping bag. It was sufficient for the time I was "in limbo" and unable to access most of my scrapping stuff.

Everything else got packed into moving boxes. We used the PackRat Moving and Storage, so as soon as we had a few boxes packed, they went into the PackRat parked in the driveway. When we had the PackRat full, it went off to storage. We ended up needing 3 of them in total. It worked well for us. Since we loaded our bare minimum furniture, kitchen pans, etc. last, and had that one delivered to our home first, it was a fairly easy move. The downside was that my scrapping stuff all got put into the 1st and 2nd containers, so I had to wait awhile to set up my craft room. Those containers were delivered later.

Label, label, label! It makes it easier to find what you want when you are unpacking. Congrats on finding your dream home!

Oh wow. That sounds exciting and totally overwhelming! The time will probably go by very quickly and you probably won't get everything done that you plan to, but the only way to do it is one bite at a time.

Maybe you have a friend who is good at organizing who can help you with some of the sorting and purging. Or if the budget isn't too overstrained it might be worth getting a bit of professional organizer help to get through the hardest stuff, or to find your groove. It can be good to have a dispassionate person to keep you on track and to talk through some of the decisions with.

If you find kits helpful it would be a good time to make use of them. Limited "curated" supplies are going to be your friend. And knowing what your true essentials are so you can make certain you have them accessible. I think the unpacking is a lot longer, harder process than the packing sometimes. If you can create a go-bag/crop bag that has your basics, plus a few kits or projects that are easier to work on then you can keep those aside while you attack the rest.

Good luck!

I would be wary of keeping scrap stuff in a storage unit, especially one that isn’t climate controlled. My friend had some of her stuff in a unit for a few months and a whole bunch of paper and cardstock got warped and ruined from the humidity and the boxes sitting on concrete. You would be better off getting the stuff purged, organized and boxed /packed up and just stacking the boxes somewhere inside your current home and waiting until you can move it right into the new place.

When we were house hunting, I knew it was going to take a good while to get my stuff packed because my kid was a toddler at the time and I also have a ton of scrapping supplies. Even starting packing stuff six months out, I still ended up scrambling at the end just throwing stuff into random boxes once our closing date loomed. If I wouldn’t have been working around the challenges of no space to work on sorting things, working part time from home and a little kid’s napping and eating schedule, I probably could have done a much better job in less than half that amount of time.

I've moved my scrap room twice, and shrink wrap is very helpful. Before you shrink wrap your drawers, wad up packing paper and stuff it into the drawers. It will keep the stuff in your drawers from moving around as much. Also, a lot of scrap stuff is heavy, so I tried to use small boxes and spread the heavier stuff out. Good luck with your move!

Congratulations on the new house!

Over the years, I've moved my studio 15 times. We do use professional movers, but I pack a lot of the studio myself. I aim for everything absolutely flat--no bending over a book corner gently or easing something into place. I store my paper in Cropper Hopper stand up paper holders, but I go through and make sure that there aren't any papers sticking up that can get bent. Same with stickers, embellishments, etc.

I use Jetmaxx cubes to store everything and I do box them up. ESPECIALLY if they are going into storage. It's just too easy for things to get banged up. Watch Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for free boxes and use those to box it all up. It will take up more room, but nothing will get ruined that way.

Store your pens flat, rather than upright and store your ink pads upside down. I wouldn't put them in anything but climate controlled storage. Same with photo albums. If you are doing some long term storage, keep your negatives separate from your photos and make sure your digital files are backed up.

I agree with the person who said to pack in smaller boxes. They get heavy fast! Especially if you have metal dies. Yowza, do the boxes get heavy! For my Cropper Hopper paper storage, I put 2 in each box and then filled in with smaller items. Because you need a bigger box to accommodate the paper, they can also get really heavy.

As for purging, ask yourself if you would ever use it again. Or how long you have had it. I designate a space for paper and whittle it down to what fits in the space. Some with stickers, embellishments, etc. Consider the joy you will give someone to purge what you don't need. And I'm at a point in my life where if I really did need those 5 pairs of scissors, I can afford to go buy one. KWIM?

I always pack a box with a quick kit to make up fast cards. A few moves I've had to buy paper for a specific project, but usually I'm unpacking the studio by the end of week 2. There won't be much time to play until the house is unpacked. As for the 5 months leading up to the move, I'd probably have a special album to work on, or cards. I'd need a creative outlet in those 5 months, but if you narrow it to a special project you will know just what to pack.

Moving sure is a good time to purge. You have to see what getting boxed up anyway. Have a purging box ready to fill.

I went into my local craft store ( like a poor mans Michaels lol) and they saved me boxes that had 12x12 paper in it.
That was great as the box was exactly right size and not tooooo heavy.
I had a huge number of boxes . ( I’m talking 20 feet at least of paper if it was to be stacked )

Next time I shift I will find boxes to fit my cropper hoppper storage folders as now everything is in those

It’s a great opportunity to sort everything so when packing you can put all like things together . A piece of paper taped to outside was invaluable for keeping track of what was in what box

I also labelled with S1 S2 S3 etc, and had a notebook with that info in as well . I labelled on top and sides with the S numbers so they were easy to see

Sounds like the perfect home to me.out next shift is going to be downsizing too. It’s doing my head in just thinking about it, best of luck