An "essential" box and a colour code: 7 hacks for moving house that will save you literal days.

Confession: I've moved apartments four times over the past two years. And I'm seriously no better at it. 

Each time I try to be more organised than the last - I start packing weeks in advance and clearly label each box with whatever I've Tetris packed inside. But without fail, the last-minute panic hits and I end up throwing whatever miscellaneous belongings I can find into a box scribbled with 'random junk' on the side.

Even after the move, the first few days (or in my case weeks) are usually spent in a wasteland of boxes and bubble wrap, hunting rogue pairs of scissors that always disappear right when you need them. Fun times. 

Watch: How to make your room look bigger (for after you move into your new place). Post continues below. 

So, to make moving that little bit easier for all of us, I asked the Mamamia community to share their down-right genius packing hacks. 

And let's just say I'll never move apartments the same way again. 

From an "essential" box to a colour-coded dot system, here's some truly life changing tips to store in your brain the next time you move.

Sherrell

"Leave clothes on the hanger then cut a small hole in the bottom of a garbage bag and place the hangers through that hole." 

Rachel

"If the clothes are in drawers, don’t unpack them. Just take the drawers out and load them into your car on their own and then the unit can be moved separately. Then you just put the drawers back in when you get to the new house." 

Elizabeth 

"Pack an essential box with all the things you will need immediately. Medications, kettle, toaster, chargers and remotes. And some toilet paper and soap." 

Amy 

"Use budget paper towels instead of newspaper. It’s cheap, and then you can reuse it to clean up as you unpack."

Jac

"Declutter first and wipe dust off everything before you pack it - it makes it easier to unpack. Pack an overnight bag for all of your essentials. Also pack an Allen key so u can put your bed together... And I can’t recommend this one enough. 

"Create a few ‘stations’ around the house by filling a little box with the following items - packing tape, markers, scissors, and a Stanley knife. It honestly helps so much. You won’t believe how many times you can lose a pair of scissors." 

Carmel

"If your bed has screws, tape them to the bed so they don’t get lost!"

Annelise

"Get some coloured dots, print a plan of new house and allocate a colour dot to each room so when the truck arrives they know where every box should be situated in the house. Put a dot on every face of the box because stuff will be moved around and stacked up... also, number every box. Keep a notepad that has the box number and what’s in it listed."

Do you know any clever house moving hacks? Let us know in the comments below. 

Feature Image: Getty/Mamamia.