Packing a large set of dishes

I have been packing items almost non stop for the last two weeks but there is one group of items that I have not been looking forward to packing.  The time came when I could no longer ignore it.  What was I dreading?  A 12 place setting of china and each setting consisted of a dinner plate, luncheon plate, dessert plate, soup bowl, sherbert bowl, cup, saucer, and extras such as two platters, two serving bowls, gravy boat and saucer, sugar bowl, and creamer.

My past experience with moving dishes is that they rub against each other and cause damage OR they slide into one another when stacked. I didn't know if I was packing to just move to my house or if they will be staying boxed for several years.  So I packed like the dishes were going to stay that way for awhile.

To keep the dishes from rubbing against one another I used coffee filters.  The most difficult part is separating each individual filter.  I found if I turned the stack inside out it made the filters slightly fan out on the edge.  

Most pieces only needed one filter but the large dinner plates needed three filters or one sheet of paper towel.  I ran out of filters so I went with the paper towel method for half of the large dinner plates.

After the pieces were stacked I wrapped each stake in brown paper and wrapped packing tape around the stack.  I wrapped all the pieces before placing any in a heavy duty box so I could fit the different shapes and sizes to equalize the weight between the two boxes.

I must have been tired because when I looked at the stacks of dishes, all I could think about was 'The Bard'.

Once all the pieces were in the two boxes I used wads of brown paper and newspaper to fill any voids and to separate the stacks of wrapped dishes.  

Finally, I marked each box with it's contents.

I have no idea when I will unpack this set because this is the third set of china that I have inherited, plus I have a 12 place setting of Christmas dishes, and I just started a collection of Johnson Bros Friendly Village dishes.  I am going to need a Martha Stewart sized dish closet to hold all these dishes.