Almost all of The Verge’s staff have had the experience of moving to a new house or apartment. While the experience was different for everyone, one thing we all had in common is that, during this highly stressful process, we had each discovered at least one tool, app, or other gadget that turned out to be really (and sometimes unexpectedly) helpful in making things just a little bit easier.
Here are some of the items — tech and otherwise — that could be useful if you’re moving from one home to another.
My partner and I have many years’ worth of books in our basement, and we’ve finally gotten around to sorting them into what we want to keep, what we think we can sell, and what we’ve decided to donate (many, many of them). In order to make sure the right boxes of books go to the right places, I use thick-tipped Sharpies to write on the sides and tops of the boxes, using labels like: Shelve, Store, Autographed, or Book Fairies (yes, that’s the name of the charity). The words are very visible and won’t smear off — and I can be sure I won’t give away my beloved childhood copy of Little Women by accident. — Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor
They’re cheap, easy to get, and already color-coded for you. Here’s my advice: color-code your boxes by room, one on every side, making it quick and easy to figure out where every single box and container should go. Then grab one of those Sharpies, write numbers on them, and keep a Google Sheet or other spreadsheet telling you where all your stuff is and where it’s supposed to go. — Kate Cox, senior producer, Decoder
A roll of shrink-wrap with handles
It’s been nearly six years since I last moved, but the one tool that still stands out in my mind as the absolute hero of the ordeal was a simple 15-inch wide roll of plastic stretch wrap. It was not only an easy way to secure random piles of disassembled furniture and keep all the parts organized, it also came in handy for sealing up overpacked boxes that were on the verge of tearing, protecting couch cushions inside a dirty moving truck, and preventing dresser drawers from opening in transit. It was also useful for creating impromptu bags for holding miscellaneous furniture hardware. You’ll want to ensure you buy a roll with handles, which make it much easier to wrap around things. — Andrew Liszewski, senior reporter, news
“You’ve gotta use this tape, it’s amazing,” said the girl at the U-Haul store, so I bought exactly two rolls, because I had already bought a six-pack of the regular plastic packing tape and I am an old soul who is suspicious of new-fangled things, especially when someone appears to be trying to upsell me on something at the counter. Over the week, as our paper tape supply steadily diminished, we fought over who got custody of the paper tape and who was consigned to the hell of packing with subpar plastic tape.
Paper tape is better by every possible metric. It’s quite sturdy but you can tear it with your hands. There’s no need for a tape cutter or a tape gun. It doesn’t get tangled. It’s easy to find the end and lift it off the roll without it splitting. You can write right on it if you need to. I was concerned that paper tape would be flimsier or less sticky; there was no noticeable difference between the boxes that were taped up with plastic versus paper tape, except that a few times when I had used plastic tape, I injured myself on the serrated tape gun and spurted blood everywhere. — Sarah Jeong, features editor
Funnily enough, I had already had the premonition that I was, at some point during this move, going to cut myself. This has somehow happened with every move I’ve done. I don’t know what this says about me, other than I have pathetic, soft little hands that are only fit for typing at a computer.
For that reason, I bought these Bellingham Wonder Grip gardening gloves in size XS. I picked them because they were the smallest gloves at the Ace Hardware I was in. As it turns out, these are the only work gloves that have ever properly fit my tiny, tiny adult hands, which makes a huge difference when you’re trying to get an actual grip on heavy objects. The gloves are protective, but aren’t so thick that you lose manual dexterity. This is nice, because the last thing you want while packing or unpacking is to have to take your gloves off and on and off and on.
If you, like me, are prone to paper cuts while packing, moving, or opening boxes, you should consider buying a pair of these gloves, which come in a nicely inclusive range of sizes that will accommodate even people with weak little hands who have trouble holding onto their iPhones, let alone anything actually heavy. — Sarah Jeong, features editor
If you’re mounting something to a wall, whether it’s a simple framed photo, a gallery wall of artwork, or a massive shelf, a cross-line laser is incredibly handy. Just flip it on, and perfectly level lasers shine across your room in both vertical and horizontal directions. It’s helpful for a variety of home DIY projects as well as simple redecorating. It’s still good to use a trusty old bubble level in tandem with it, but the laser gives you a convenient shortcut that makes mounting and measuring easier and faster. And it’s friggin’ laser beams! — Antonio G. Di Benedetto, reviewer
You can use a strong magnet to find metal screws and pinpoint the location of wooden studs behind drywall for securely hanging pictures or a TV mount. But Franklin Sensors’ ProSensor M210 Stud Finder makes that task so much easier. Using 13 sensors and 21 LEDs that light up to indicate areas behind the drywall that have a greater density, you can quickly determine the location, size, and center of hidden studs. It also works with wood and plaster finishes, and, for an extra level of safety, it includes a live wire meter that warns you where it may not be safe to drill. — Andrew Liszewski, senior reporter, news
If you own a drill that comes with screwdriver and hex key attachments, then you might think that adding an electric screwdriver to your toolbox is kinda pointless. After finding myself fighting with my partner over who gets to use said drill during my last move, however, I don’t ever want to be without a backup option again. We had mountains of Ikea furniture to assemble, shelves to put up, and an assortment of random hole-drilling or screw-related tasks that needed to be done to turn our apartment into a home.
Nobody wants to get stuck using a manual screwdriver when time is of the essence and your friend, partner, or parent needs the drill more than you do. Electric screwdrivers are also far lighter than hefty drills, so your wrists will thank you after several hours of assembling flatpack furniture. – Jess Weatherbed, news writer
Navigating my home in the middle of the night with the lights off is easy now that my brain has memorized the floor plan, but during the first week of living here, the potential for stubbed toes was high. Shortly after I moved in, I installed SnapPower’s outlet covers, which feature integrated night-lights that draw power without the need for doing any wiring. Supporting both duplex (roundish) and decor (rectangular) outlet styles, the cheapest $21 version features a light sensor that automatically turns it on when it’s dark. A pricier $24 version includes a motion sensor that only activates when you’re nearby, with options for brightness and how long the LEDs stay on. — Andrew Liszewski, senior reporter, news
