Guide

Moving Home Inventory List

A move is the one time your whole household is handled, boxed, and carried by other people. A list made before you pack — with a photo of each larger item's condition — is what lets you show, calmly and clearly, what left the old house and in what shape. Here is how to make one that works for both the move and the years after.

Make the list before you pack

Walk the house room by room while everything is still in place, the way you would for an insurance inventory — the field set is the same, checked October 2026: brand, make, and model; the room; serial and model number if it has them; purchase date and price; replacement cost today; age and condition; and a photo of the item in place. For a move, one field matters most: condition. Note scratches, dents, and wear honestly, item by item, while you can still see them in good light.

1. Go room by room in a set order, and photograph each room wide before anything is boxed.
2. Photograph each larger item — furniture, screens, appliances, bikes, instruments — from more than one side.
3. Take close photos of existing marks: corners, legs, screen edges, and polished surfaces. A dated close photo of a scratch that was already there protects you, and a dated photo of an unmarked surface protects you the other way.
4. Photograph serial plates on appliances and electronics. If a mover's paperwork and your list ever disagree about which item is which, the plate settles it.

Our free home inventory template has the room order and prompts; the InventoryByHand app does the same walk on your phone and keeps the photos with each item.

Room labels that match box labels

On the list	On the box	Why it helps
Room name for each item	The same room name on every box from that room	Boxes land in the right room, and unpacking checks off against the list
Box count per room	A number on each box — for example, Kitchen 3 of 8	A missing box shows up on moving day, not weeks later
Condition note per large item	Fragile or this-side-up marks where they apply	Handlers can see what needs care before they lift

Keep the names identical in both places. If the list says "Main bedroom," the boxes should say "Main bedroom" too — not a nickname, not an abbreviation you have to decode in a new house full of boxes.

At delivery: photograph before you sign off

1. Check boxes in against your per-room counts as they come off the truck, and note any box that is crushed, wet, or open.
2. Photograph larger items as they are placed, before wrapping comes off fully and again after, paying attention to the same corners and surfaces you photographed before the move.
3. Note damage on the mover's delivery paperwork at the time, in plain words, before you sign — and photograph what the note describes.
4. Plug in and test electronics and appliances as soon as you reasonably can, and note anything that no longer works.
5. Keep your before list, your before photos, and the delivery paperwork together in one folder, with copies outside the new house — in email or cloud storage.

Movers' paperwork and claim rules have their own forms and time limits, which vary. If something is damaged, ask the moving company, in writing, what form they want and by when — and keep your photos and notes from both ends of the move until the matter is closed.

One list, two jobs

The list you made for the move is, with no extra work, the start of your home inventory at the new address: same items, same photos, same fields an insurer would ask for after a fire or a storm. Update the room names as you settle, add the off-site copy habit — export the file and keep it in email or cloud storage, outside the house — and a chore you did for moving day keeps paying off for as long as you live there.

1. Before packing: list and condition photos, room by room.
2. Packing: room names and box numbers that match the list exactly.
3. Delivery: check counts, photograph condition again, note damage on the paperwork at the time.
4. After: keep the whole folder together, and let the moving list become your home inventory.