Boxes win or lose the day before the truck arrives
The crew that loads fastest is loading boxes someone packed on purpose, not in a 1 a.m. scramble. At Forrester Moving we load and unload thousands of cartons a year across Chicago, and we can tell within the first ten boxes whether a household packed deliberately or panicked. This is the exact order we would work your home in, with a build-out schedule and a section for the lake-effect winter that makes a Chicago January its own challenge.
Buy it all in one run
Make a single trip so you are not hunting for tape at midnight. For a typical Chicago two- or three-bedroom, get:
- Small, medium, and large cartons — small for books and dense goods, large for light-but-bulky
- Divided dish-pack cartons for glassware and stemware
- Wardrobe cartons for everything on hangers
- Packing paper and bubble wrap — leave the newspaper out, the ink transfers
- Heavy-duty tape and at least two dispensers
- A fat marker plus a roll of colored stickers, one color per room
- Stretch film for drawers and odd shapes
Work the rooms in this order
Sequence matters as much as technique. Pack from the least-used space toward the most-used so your daily life keeps running until the final day.
1. Storage, closets, and the basement first
Off-season coats, holiday bins, the gear stuffed at the back of the closet — none of it is needed before move day, so it goes out first. Seal anything cloth against dust, and if it has been sitting in a Chicago basement through the winter, wipe the bins down so old grime does not ride along to the new address.
2. The living room and the fragile things
This is the room where rushed packing turns into heartbreak, so this is the room to slow down on. Take each delicate piece on its own and surround it with a couple of inches of cushion on every face before it goes in a carton. Whatever you scrawl on a breakables carton should wrap around every face of it, lid and all four walls, because the side that ends up pointing skyward on the dolly is the only one the crew will read. Photograph the cabling behind the TV and the stereo before a single cord comes loose. Framed art and mirrors travel standing on edge in picture boxes, never slid beneath something with weight to it. The irreplaceable category — rings, passports, the external drive with the family photos — rides in your own car, full stop.
3. Bedrooms, your quickest room
Hangered clothes go straight into wardrobe cartons and come out wrinkle-free at the other end, which spares you an ironing session you do not have time for. Soft-goods drawers can usually stay loaded; ease them out, film them shut, and either reseat them or wrap the dresser whole. Pull the beds apart last, slip the linens into a carton or two, and let those linens earn double duty as cushioning around a headboard or a leaning mirror. Pack one clearly marked overnight carton so the first night is a made bed and not a treasure hunt.
4. The kitchen, where the clock disappears
The kitchen always runs longer than the plan allows, so save it for the last stretch and open with the gear you never reach for — the platters, the stand mixer, the seasonal dishes. Stand plates upright on their rims rather than stacking them like pancakes; the vertical edge takes a jolt far better than a flat face. Each glass gets its own paper jacket and its own divider cell. Knives go blade-in inside a rolled towel, taped so nothing slides loose. Towel-dry anything still damp so it does not turn musty in transit. Last, fill a single carton you label by hand with the morning kit — the coffee maker, two mugs, one skillet — so day one in the new kitchen starts with coffee instead of a search.
“When folks ask me the secret to packing their own breakables, it is never the wrapping — it is the empty space. Crush paper into every hollow until the carton feels solid when you lift it. A carton that gives when you press it is the one that arrives with a chipped rim. Mark the sides too, not only the lid, because on a dolly the lid is the one face nobody can see.”
The garage and back porch: keep them off your sofa
A Chicago garage or rear porch tends to hold exactly the things that should never share a deck with upholstery. Run the mower and the snowblower dry of gas and oil, because no licensed crew can legally carry fuel on the truck. Loop extension cords, band the long-handled tools together, and load hand tools into small cartons since a box of metal turns into a back injury fast. Lidded bins of seasonal decor can go straight on as they are. Give anything that wintered outdoors a wipe so road salt and grit do not migrate into the new place.
Labeling that actually pays off on unload day
- Assign one color to each room and never let the code slip.
- Note the room and a two-word contents hint on the lid and one side.
- Number within the room — “Kitchen 3 of 9” tells you at a glance if one strayed.
- Flag every room’s morning carton in bold so it rides last and lands first.
- Keep one tally sheet of how many cartons each room produced.
A schedule that keeps you in front of the truck
| Lead time | The job for that window |
|---|---|
| Month out | Purge, donate, and make the one big supply run |
| Two to three weeks out | Box the basement, the garage, and anything seasonal |
| Final week | Box it all except the kitchen and what you use daily |
| Final couple of days | Clear most of the kitchen, holding back a few dishes |
| The morning itself | Tape the morning cartons and your personal car bag |
Packing through a Chicago winter
A move in deep winter adds a handful of extra moves. Snowmelt, sidewalk salt, and a sudden lake-effect burst all gang up on your floors and your electronics at once. Give anything electronic a double carton and let it stand at room temperature for an hour or two before it gets switched on, because cold circuitry meeting warm-room condensation is how boards quietly die. Roll out floor protection inside both doorways so the crew is not grinding salt into your hardwood. Stage a few blankets for whatever cannot take moisture, and keep an eye on the two-day radar so the date can slide if a band is setting up over your block.
Quick FAQ
How early should the packing start?
About a month out, opening with the basement, storage, and seasonal rooms. The kitchen and your daily essentials wait for the last stretch.
What is the mover not allowed to load?
Fuel and pressurized items like gasoline and propane, plus your jewelry, documents, and small valuables. The first group is illegal to haul; the second you simply want riding with you.
Do I have to do the packing myself?
Not at all. Forrester offers full and partial packing handled start to finish by our own W-2 crew.
Anything different for a winter move?
Double-carton the electronics and let them warm before powering on, shield the floors from salt, and watch the radar for a lake-effect band.
Or hand the whole thing to us
Not interested in spending three weekends behind a tape gun? Describe your home and we will roll packing straight into your written quote, inventory and all. Get your free quote from Forrester Moving, or call (888) 711-4778.