Moving soon? Our “How to Pack” series will help you best pack up each of the different rooms in your home. Today we are addressing how to pack your home office. Home offices can be different things for different people. Many are a catch-all room for items that don’t go anywhere else. We will be focusing on the basics of what you might find in your home office; files, a computer and a desk.
The Files: If you keep your office organized, then you will want to try to retain that organization through your move. Get yourself a file box and then start boxing up the files in order. Label the boxes clearly with a method that will make it easy for you place them back in the same place. For example, you may want to label them “Tax Returns 2009-2012” or “Files A-J” or “Files 1 of 6,” whatever works best for your situation.
The Computer: If you have a laptop and a laptop bag, use that to pack your computer. If you don’t, find the smallest box that will fit your computer and pad it well. To pack your monitor, make sure that it is the only thing in a box and pad it extremely well. For larger monitors, you may want to use a flat screen TV box. For cords, make sure that they are neatly wound and secured and place them into an electronics box with printers, and other peripherals like mice and keyboards. If you are like me, then the computer is one of the very last things I pack, and one of the first I will unpack. If this is the case with you, you will want it to be one of the very last things you load onto the truck.
The Desk: How to pack your desk can vary widely depending on what type of desk you have. If you have a glass top desk you will probably want to be extra careful to ensure that it does not break. U-Haul has a 4 piece picture/mirror box that can protect glass of all sizes. You will also want to make sure that when you secure the desk top in the truck, you don’t load items on or near it that may fall into it and cause it to shatter during the move. If your desk has drawers or other removable pieces, remove them before you load up your desk. You can fill those drawers with pillows and other non-breakable items when they are loaded on the truck. If your desk has any non-removable drawers or cabinet doors you may want to tape them shut, but first test the tape on a small area to make sure that it will not effect the finish of your desk. When your desk is loaded on the truck, remember to cover it with a furniture pad.
The Desk Chair: Desk chairs can be oddly shaped, so to easily pack your desk chair you should disassemble it if you can easily do so. Take the nuts and bolts you used and put them in a plastic bag and tape them to the underside of the seat. That way you will not lose them. If you can’t disassemble it, then load it on on the truck and protect it with a furniture pad.
How to pack your personal home office may be very different from this, but hopefully this helps you with the most common home office items. This month we will have a “How to Pack” post for you on the different rooms in your home every Wednesday, so come back next week and check it out. Take a look at our previous post “How to Pack: The Bedroom.”
Do you have any tips that made packing up your home office easier? What items do you keep in your home office? Please share in the comments below!
