Sometimes you need to temporarily downsize. Maybe you are building a home and need to move into a rental for a while. Perhaps you are moving to a new city and are starting out renting a small place while you look for a real home. Whatever the reason, here are a few tips for packing when you need to temporarily downsize:

Get Rid of What You Don't Need

First, you need to think about what you don't need at all – either for your smaller home you are moving into, or for the bigger home you will be moving into later. You need to think about what you really don't want in your home. For example, if you have a chair that you don't find comfortable, don't like sitting in, and never really use, why move it into your smaller home or pay to put it in storage? It is time to get rid of it and let it go. Get rid of items you don't like, don't need, or don't want at all. You don't want to haul around and store items you don't value or care about.

Sort into What Goes to Your New Home & What Goes to Storage

Next, you need to go through all of your items and decide what is going to go with you into your smaller space and what is going to go into your storage unit. Get a blueprint of the space that you will be moving into and map out where you want your furniture to go so you have a better idea of what furniture needs to go into storage.

Keep in mind that all of your smaller stuff may not fit in your storage unit. Just like you need to store the furniture for the spare bedroom, you will also need to store all the extra bedding that goes in that space as well.

Only take what you really need and want to use with you to your new home, and pack up everything else for when you'll move into your larger home down the line.

Label Moving Boxes & Storage Boxes Different

As you pack everything, use different colored labels for your moving boxes and storage boxes. You may even want to use different types of containers. For example, you may want to use cardboard boxes for things that you are moving into your new home. For the items you are moving into storage, you may want to use solid plastic containers that are designed to stand up and last longer.

Stack Boxes in Different Locations

As you pack your belongings, in each room of your home put everything that you will be moving on one side, and on another side put everything that needs to go into storage. Stack and store all the items in different areas in each room of your home so that you can really break things up.

Have Two Moving Trips

When it comes to the actual moving day, plan on making two different trips or give yourself two moving days for moving items to your new home and moving items into storage. Don't load everything up all at once; that can be harder to manage and arrange. Give yourself time to run two different trips.

When it comes to temporarily downsizing, you need to do some extra sorting. On top of going through your items and getting rid of what you don't need or want anymore, you also need to figure out what you want to move with you to your new place and what goes into your self-storage unit. As you pack up your belongings, you need to label the items differently for your new home and storage. On moving day, arrange for two different trips if possible, one for storage items and one for new home items.