How can you make moving your walk-in closet easier? Even though you won’t take the actual closet, you still need to organize, pack, and transport everything in it. Before your moving day arrives, take a look at what you need to know to prep and pack this area of your home.

Organize Your Inventory

Unlike smaller-sized storage areas, walk-in closets house more than a few suits, dresses, or shoes. This makes the organization an essential first step in the packing process. As you start to organize your clothing, footwear, and accessory inventory:

  • Group clothes together. If you don’t already have a way to organize and separate your walk-in items, now is the time to start. Choose a strategy such as type of item, color, or season, and move everything into individual areas.
  • Choose items to discard or donate. Do you need to take every item with you? Minimize your move and only take what you need and will use. Remove anything you won’t wear again and either discard or donate it (depending on the condition of the item).
  • Create a written/digital inventory. Keep track of your clothing, footwear, and accessories with an inventory. Write a list or create a digital version via a spreadsheet or an app.

After you organize your walk-in closet, you can prepare to pack.

Choose Packing Materials

What packing materials will you need to move the items in your walk-in closet? Whether you have dozens of shoes, delicate gowns, pricey suits, or anything else, you need to carefully pack these items in the right way. To reduce the risks of mid-move damage, the top packing materials to choose include:

  • Garment bags. These specialized bags can keep your delicate clothing items safe during the move. While they won’t keep fabrics wrinkle-free, garment bags will protect your clothing from dust and other types of debris.
  • Wardrobe boxes. A wardrobe box is like a movable closet. The box comes with a bar to hang your garment bags or clothing on. This reduces the wrinkle risk and protects your delicate items as you move.
  • Plastic bins with lids. Shoes, purses, and other accessories can go into plastic bins with tight-fitting lids.
  • Bags. Gym clothes, socks, or anything else that won’t wrinkle can go into canvas bags, totes, or even garbage bags for the move.
  • Shoe boxes. Pack each pair of shoes in its own box. This prevents scuffing and other types of damage. After you place the shoes in boxes, pack the boxes in a plastic bin.

Now that you have the materials ready, you can start packing your walk-in closet for your move.

Pack Your Closet

While you’ll leave the closet itself in your old home, you need to remove and pack everything in it. To safely pack your closet:

  • Hang delicate or high-wrinkle items. Keep dresses, blouses, suits, and other similar items on hangers to reduce wrinkling.
  • Cover everything. If you don’t use garment bags, you can still cover individually hung items. Poke a hole in the top of a garbage bag and thread the end of a hanger through to make your own clothes cover.
  • Pack accessories separate. Belts, jewelry, and other accessories should go into individual boxes or bags. If you have the original box the item came in, use this. Store smaller boxes in a larger, sealable plastic bin for the move.
  • Bring the hangers. Extra hangers that don’t have clothes on them should go into a bag or a bin.

Label everything for your move. Write the name of the item inside the box, bin, or bag along with the words walk-in closet. If you have multiple walk-ins, add the room the items belong to.

Do you need help with your move? Contact Island Movers for more information.