Moving House Tips

This is a collaborative post

As you know we recently moved house (twice) and I will say apart from one of our solicitors, it was pretty stress-free. So I thought I’d put together my moving house tips for anyone who’s about to move.

Get started early

Don’t wait until the day you are moving to get started on the packing. I started decluttering a few weeks before we moved. Give items you no longer want to charity, sell things, just clear out what you don’t want or need any more. There’s no need to move items you know you are never going to use. This is particularly true if you are moving to another country. Now I realise that not everyone will be doing that. But if you are the type of person who just happens to buy a house in Australia (maybe you were thinking that it would make a good holiday home for example) then you definitely need to declutter as soon as possible.

Clean first

We cleaned the first day we moved in. It made much more sense to do that, so we weren’t in a position where we were trying to unload boxes when we wanted to clean top to bottom. If you are moving out and into a new house on the same day, you may not have that luxury. But you could limit the arriving furniture and boxes to one or two rooms and then clean the others first. We were lucky that the previous owners had cleaned really well but I know that some people end up with a big cleaning job. It’s also worth inspecting the property before you move everything in. In some cases you might need to think about pest control before unpacking. If you do have issues like this, you could look into hiring an exterminator in TX or wherever it is that you find yourselves.

Shop around

If you are looking for packing supplies, shop around for the best priced bubble wrap and boxes. If you put the word out early enough, then people will start saving boxes and bubble wrap for you. It will save a lot of money in the long run. Look around for the best removal company, one like this Cardiff removal company can help you plan your move on the actual day.

Have a clear plan of action

On moving day, make sure you have lots of help and also make sure that everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing. If you are the one co-ordinating, try not to do everything yourself as there will be people want to ask you questions. You’ll need to make yourself available to make quick decisions.

Feed and water everyone

No one likes working all day for no reward. Get in lots of snacks for the workers (either paid or voluntary), a nice lunch and even a thank you present for them to take home with them. Make sure everyone knows they can help themselves to drinks and snacks and offer out lots of cups of tea.

Be realistic

Know that you might not get everything done in one day. Know what the must-dos are and work on those first. As long as you are out of your old property and you are in your new one with all your stuff, that’s a result.

Essentials

The top one of the moving house tips. Make sure you have the essentials handy in your new house. A kettle is a must. Disposal cups, plates and glasses can be a godsend if you aren’t sure which boxes will arrive/be unpacked first. Ask the previous owner/tenant to leave the fridge switched on so you can store lunch food, milk and cold drinks. Pack a hand towel for the bathroom, some hand soap and toilet roll in a separate bag.

Pack well

Don’t put heavy items in big boxes. Save the bigger boxes for cushions, duvets, things like that. If you make your boxes too heavy, they will be difficult to move and make break. Use bubblewrap on anything you think might break. Label the boxes well so they are easy to unpack the other end. I packed and labelled everything, but my other half, much to everyone’s amusement decided to relabel some of the boxes. People did wonder what was in the box labelled ‘big duck’. It was a winter duvet by the way.

I hope your move is stress-free and I really hope this article helps you plan.

Read more posts in the Everything Else Category

Save