Packing the kitchen for your Toronto move

You find yourself sitting in your kitchen and enjoying that morning cup of coffee. And then you take a look around and suddenly it hits you. “How will I pack all of this before that Toronto moving day?!”. Well, you can go right ahead and whip up some breakfast to go with that coffee and stop stressing. We’re here to help guide you through all you need to know to make sure that your entire kitchen is packed up and ready to go.

Quick guide to packing your kitchen for Toronto

Looking at all those dishes, appliances and kitchenware seems a bit frightening at first, but don’t you dare give up! Why? Simple – we’ll lead you through all the necessary steps on how to get everything set up and ready to move. So to begin with, make sure to start packing on time. Our estimate would be to give yourself the weekend just for the kitchen. Now that you’ve got a time table and everything, you need to sort through all the things you have there. It’s important to categorize all those things in different piles. Things that you actually want to take with you to Queen City and things that you consider redundant.
We would recommend making a list of bare necessities to live with once everything else is packed or gone. These will also be the last things to pack before you leave.

Preparation process

By now you’ve got everything sorted out, so time to get your hands on the packaging supplies. You’ll be able to purchase these types of materials at any local supermarket. And in case you need something specific, there are moving companies that sell packing supplies as well. Here’s a checklist of supplies you should make sure to get:

• Boxes– and these should be in all sizes. Boxes with dividers are desirable for bottles and glasses, while original boxes for appliances and the sort are ideal and quite time-saving.
• Tape and markers– always a must-have supply for the packing process.
• Newspaper– as the initial, most basic protection.
• Bubble wrap– since most of the kitchenware is breakable, you will need to take special care in regards to protecting it from breaking during transportation.

It’s a long trip to Toronto, so make sure to learn how to pack fragile items properly. And another important step (and we can’t stress this enough) is to mark all of your boxes properly. We’re talking about your kitchen here, and you don’t want to end up buying a completely new one in Toronto just because the original one wasn’t handled properly.

Packing appliances

Having the original boxes plays a large role here, otherwise you’ll have to improvise. Make sure that each appliance has been washed and cleaned first. Once that has been done, disassemble what parts you can and put them all in a medium-size box. Make sure to include the manual as well, so that you have no issues putting it all back together later. Heavier parts go first, and then the lighter parts on top of them. Also, make sure to bubble wrap any glass or otherwise fragile parts before putting them in the box.

Packing your liquor cabinet

To start you off here, we advise that you sort the bottles you have into those which have not been opened and those which have. When it comes to opened bottles, if they’re half empty there is really no need to even consider taking them with you. Better to make a farewell party with friends and enjoy those once everything else has been packed. Back to the unopened bottles. You’ll need cell-divided boxes, so as to separate the bottles and thus prevent the risk of them breaking each other. Of course, take extra safety measures (newspaper and bubble wrap) for those more expensive bottles.

Packing dishes – “the stress factor”

This is what you would call the make-it-or-break-it part of the entire process. Given that these are the most fragile items in your kitchen, take your time with packing them. When it comes to plates, there are two ways to go about:

1. Horizontal packing.
2. Vertical packing. Same principle, different position. You stack your plates vertically (protective material in between) until the entire box if filed tight.
   

   

Now we go over to the glasses and mugs. We would recommend applying the same rule here as you did for the bottles. To start, jam some newspaper into each glass and mug and then put them into cell-boxes. For those extra thin wine glasses, wrap them around some old towels for extra protection. The task here is to leave as little room as possible between each dish.

Packing pots and pans

Find a box large enough to fit your largest frying pan, and then fill it out with as much of your pots and pans as you can. Glass lids should be bubble-wrapped and placed in-between the pots and the sides of the box. Once again, make sure to leave a pan or pot for cooking until that moving day arrives.

Packing the kitchen drawers and miscellaneous items

In case you’re wondering what falls under this category, it’s really simple. Kitchen utensils, bottle openers, grinders, knives etc. Basically, the thing to remember here is that all of these should be wrapped and used to fill out all the empty spaces in between the rest of the things you already packed. Consider that weight will influence the cost of having everything shipped. So if there is something you haven’t used in over 6 months, ask yourself whether you really need to take it to Toronto with you.

Uncluttering food supplies

Last step. Given that no moving company is willing to transport a freezer or fridge full of food, you need to empty it all out. Use what you can for that farewell party we mentioned earlier, and donate what’s left to charity. Toronto has a variety of choices when it comes to food supplies, so no need to worry about staying hungry.

We’ll sum everything up with these very plain and essential guidelines. It is very important to start packing your kitchen in time and to focus all your concentration on that process alone. Make sure that all boxes are filled with no room for the kitchenware to move during transport. And once packed, make sure to mark each and every box top to bottom, so as to avoid any unwanted complications and breakage.