NYC Moving Hacks: How to Conduct a Kitchen Inventory

If you’re looking for moving tips to make your life easy, you’ve come to the right place. Today we’re talking about the household move, focused on a really useful tool you can use to make your life easier: a kitchen inventory.

What is a Kitchen Inventory?

For the purpose of your neighborhood or long distance move, a kitchen inventory is a list of everything in your current kitchen that needs to be moved to your new place.  This inventory serves two purposes. It helps you ensure that all of your kitchen gear gets packed, and then, after the professional movers deliver the boxes to your new home, the kitchen inventory helps you get unpacked and organized quickly.

What Gets Included in the Kitchen Inventory?

While every family is unique, for most families, a kitchen inventory covers 5 categories: appliances, cookware, dishes, supplies, and food.

Appliances: Appliances can be divided into two categories – major and household. Major appliances include refrigerators, dishwashers, ranges and similar items. Household appliances include things like your microwave, toaster, mixers and the like.

CookWare: Cookware includes everything you use to cook and prepare your food. Make sure to record your pots and pans, knife sets, cutting boards, mixing bowls, and other similar items.

Dishes: Dishes includes everything you use to serve food and beverages. Plates, bowls, glassware, silverware and other similar items belong in this category. Bonus tip here: label dish boxes in some detail. When you really want a coffee mug first thing in the morning, you don’t want to have to sort through 5 boxes labeled ‘dishes’.

Supplies: The family kitchen has its fair share of soaps, cleansers, and other supplies. Inventory all of the items you’re planning on bringing with you – be aware that you may want to keep some of these items for your final cleaning job.

Food: Inventory the non-perishable foods that you’re planning on moving to your new place. Include canned and dry foods. If your food item requires refrigeration, do not include it in this inventory.

What About My Fresh & Perishable Food?

Fresh and perishable food doesn’t move well. You can’t send your fresh and perishable food in a moving truck – it won’t survive the journey, especially if you’re making a long distance move. If you’re moving a very short distance – say a new place in the same neighborhood – it might be worth the hassle to you to pack up a cooler or two with your perishable groceries and haul it to your new place. Otherwise, you want to do your best to eat up what you have before it’s time to move. Sounds like it’s time to have a dinner party!