Side, not top
Boxes get stacked, immediately and repeatedly. A label on the lid is visible for about four minutes and then permanently hidden under another box.
Tape every label to the side. For anything going into storage, use two labels on opposite sides — you will not get to choose which way round it ends up facing on a shelf.
Plain paper and packing tape is enough. Run the tape right across the whole label and it is stuck on and waterproof in the same movement.
Write the contents before you seal it
Obvious, and almost nobody does it. Once the box is taped shut, writing “kitchen — misc” is the best anyone can manage, and “misc” is how you end up opening nine boxes to find a colander.
Three or four specific things on the lines is enough. Not an inventory — just enough to recognise it: pans, baking trays, tea towels.
The four labels that do the most work
Room labels are useful. These four are what actually changes a move:
OPEN FIRST — the box that travels in the car, not the truck. Kettle, mugs, toilet roll, soap, towels, chargers, scissors, a knife, bin bags. Print it in a colour nothing else uses.
FRAGILE — meaning specifically do not stack anything on this, which is the instruction that matters. “Fragile” alone gets ignored; the sub-line on this label spells it out.
DO NOT PACK — stuck on the pile that stays with you. Documents, valuables, medication, laptops. Movers will usually refuse these anyway, and this stops them being swept into a box by a helpful friend.
LAST OUT — loaded last so it comes off first. Tools, bedding, the kettle.
Colour is what makes unloading fast
One colour per room, and a matching sign taped to each doorway at the new place.
The effect is immediate: nobody carrying a box has to ask where it goes, and nobody has to stand in the hall directing traffic. It is the single cheapest improvement to moving day there is.
You do not need a colour printer. A marker scribbled over the printed room name does the same job, as long as it matches the sign on the door.
Number them and keep the log
The labels have room for a number because a numbered box can be counted.
That gives you two things. You can count boxes off the truck while it is still there, which is the only time a missing box is easy to resolve. And with a matching log — the packing list prints one — you can find the coffee filters on the first night without opening eleven boxes.
Sixteen log lines per sheet; print two for a whole house.
Print more labels than you think. Running out at nine on a Sunday evening, mid-pack, costs more than the paper does.