If you are planning to move, your kitchen is one of the most challenging rooms that can truly make or break the experience. Theres no question that packing up a kitchen is a fairly difficult undertaking. So if you have no choice but to tackle the task yourself, be sure to employ a degree of strategy.

As the marketing coordinator at Hughes Relocation Services, Inc., a full service moving and storage business serving the Philadelphia area since 1973, Bobby Hughes admits that even the smallest of kitchens can easily pose a challenge on the packing front. He therefore offers the following tips to help you pack your kitchen properly:

Starting With the Items Which Are Seldom Used
The challenge of packing up your kitchen is doing so while finding a way to keep it relatively functional at the same time. A good way to approach the process is to start by packing up the stuff you dont tend to use often. Fine china, crystal glassware, serving pieces, and unessential gadgets should all be packed up well in advance of your actual moving date. Then, as you get closer to your actual move, you can tackle items you use daily such as plates, silverware, glasses, and cookware one area at a time.

Using Plenty of Newspaper or Bubble Wrap
Obviously, kitchen items tend to be fragile. To ensure that your belongings stay safe while in transit, get your hands on plenty of newspaper or bubble wrap and use it to wrap up those items in need of protection. Remember, in most cases, a single coat of paper or bubble wrap will not be enough to keep your items free of scratches and cracks. So stock up on these packing supplies so you can use them generously.

Filling Corners within Your Boxes
The more room your kitchen items have to shift within their boxes, the more likely they are to break while they are in transit. To avoid a mess, pack your boxes as tightly as possible, especially if their contents are fragile. To this end, you can use balled-up newspaper to fill corners within boxes and serve as additional padding for your belongings.

Padding Your Expensive Dishes
The more padding you have around your expensive dishes, the better off youll be. One packing trick involves using padded shipping envelopes to store your pricier belongings. Most dishes will fit nicely inside these envelopes, and while you might have to pay for this added dose of protection, its better than replacing your fine china because it shattered during your move.

Using Old Socks to Protect Your Glassware
Glassware can be extremely tricky to pack, especially if your collection contains items that vary in shape and size. To keep your glasses protected, try using old socks as glass covers, as they are less likely to rip apart than newspaper.

Keeping Your Essentials Together
Youll want to have certain kitchen items on hand as soon as you arrive at your new home. To make your life easier, dedicate one or two boxes to items such as can openers, microwave safe containers, and coffee mugs.

Leaving Yourself Enough Time
In general, people tend to underestimate the amount of time it takes to properly pack a kitchen. To avoid having to resort to a rush job that could put your belongings in jeopardy, make sure to leave yourself plenty of time to pack up your kitchen appropriately. Depending on the amount of stuff you have, the act of packing up your entire kitchen could take anywhere from one to several days, so dont fool yourself into thinking that youll somehow be able to get it done the night before youre scheduled to move.

Remember, packing up a kitchen is not as easy as you think, but with proper planning and timing, you can make the process go as smoothly as possible.