This article isn’t about how to pack your pictures (see the linking video for that). Instead, we’re referring to the value of photographing the layout of everything in your current home to assist you when it comes time to move and unpack your household items into your new place of residence.

Whether your camera of choice is a digital point & shoot, an SLR, or Instagram, these tips about how to use photos to make your next move more efficient will bring out your inner Herb Ritts of relocation:

1. Furniture & Decor

While many people take advantage of a move to rearrange furniture into their new home, it’s a good idea to photograph the current layout for a few reasons. You may forget that some furnishings and home decor were a placed in a certain way to cover up imperfections, to accommodate lighting (e.g. LCD or Plasma TVs), or to simply keep things “feng shui”. In addition, you may have placed some items in temporary storage and forgotten all about them if there were no photos to review and remind you. We also find it helpful to do the same with seasonal decorations (before you take them down) so that you remember that “just perfect” look you had going in the previous season.

2. Electronics

There’s nothing worse than unplugging and packing that mess of tangled cables from behind the Home Entertainment System or computer and then attempt to figure out what goes where when it comes time to set it up again in your new home. Before unplugging, take close-up photos of every cord, connector, outlet, and plug-in as it connects to each electronic item in the entertainment system or computer and create a digital label (name each image file accordingly) for the photos. This way, when you’re ready to watch Seinfeld re-runs in HD Surround Sound in your new living room you can do so without hassle.

3. Office Moves

Office space, whether it’s in a home or actual corporate place of business, serves as a greater testimonial to the value of photographing a pre-move layout. You’re less likely to get creative with a new arrangement when it comes to an office as it was probably set up in an optimally functional manner in the first place. You want to replicate the process as easily as possible. There are even more electronics involved as well, further validating the point.

4. Professional Movers

Finally, if you have secured a full service moving company to handle your move, then providing the professional movers with photos of the original layout of all home/office furnishings, décor, and electronics will help the movers unpack the items into your new residence as efficiently and correctly as possible, further minimizing any follow up efforts on your part. Photographs also serve as documented proof of original condition for all of your home/office possessions in case you secured a less than reputable company to handle your move. Of course, the best way to avoid that necessity is to hire an A+ Rated Mover of the Better Business Bureau (BBB).