To believe that we can unpack from a move in under a week, and ask for your best tips to be able do so?

I took about a day to unpack. But I’d spent nearly a week packing and decluttering so I already knew where most stuff was going. The teens will (presumably) do their own stuff which will help. A week is doable unless you have loads of clutter to sort through imo.

It is tricky when renting. Because your grannies dining table might not fit this house, but it might fit the next.
those fancy mugs you got as a wedding present, don’t have a home here. But they may the next.

so you’ve a layer of sentimentality as well as not wanting to have to rebuy stuff.

Very easily we did it in a long weekend with 4 kids, just get on with it.
We were lucky in that my mum had kids fir 1 day and the house had been deep cleaned before we moved in so didnt need to clean anything.
If you need to shampoo carpets , clean cupboards etc it would take longer.
But you really dont need to stay in a hotel whilst you do it

Realistically, what on earth have you got still packed from before your last move?

Bin them. Biggest hurdle to any move is bringing shit with you that you don't want or need.

I've usually unpacked the same weekend. A week would be mental - I've not known anyone ever pay for a hotel to avoid living with a few boxes.

I think OP mentioned that it was a long-term rental property that they were moving into? Hopefully it will be clean and well-maintained prior to move-in (by the landlord).

@OptimisticReindeer Do leave enough time in your schedule to thoroughly go round the house in the first day (before your stuff is moved in), and check that you agree with the inventory (ie the condition of everything that is in the house). I think you only get approx a week to challenge anything. Take photos of things that you feel need to be amended on the inventory, and note it all down in an email.

When moving, I have found it works best if you really plan where and how things are going to be stored at the new place, before you move in. So then you don’t need to spend ages deciding, or working out how to make each room work, when what you need to be doing is unpacking really fast.

So I will plan out where everything goes in the kitchen (take photos of the new kitchen to help you plan). And on moving in day, I will put post-it notes on all the drawers and cupboards in the new kitchen to identify what will go where, so that it is really quick to unpack, and if someone is helping you then they know where to put everything.

I also work out where furniture will live (and draw a plan of the room with proposed furniture locations in, so that things can be placed in exactly the correct place). I also work out beforehand if any new storage furniture is needed and try and get that beforehand.

The last few times we have moved, we got the removals company to pack, and also to dismantle and re-build things like beds and wardrobes - that really helps save time, especially if they can re-build them into the correct location. They bring clothes on hanging rails during the move, so they can go straight into the wardrobes that they have built.

I also organised our things before the move - so, a trip to ikea to get lots of drawer dividers and storage boxes (that will be used on an ongoing basis) - it becomes really easy to just unpack a box that contains clear storage boxes full of things in, that then just lives on a shelf in the utility room, for example. (So I have shelves in my utility room and they are full of small, clear plastic boxes - for example, one with sewing kit and ribbons and buttons etc, one with a whole load of different greetings cards, one with shoe cleaners / polish and insoles, one with pens/pencils and school equipment). It makes life so much easier when you move if everything has been planned and organised!

Moving into bigger places is fairly easy. It’s the sideways or downsize that’s more tricky

If you haven’t unpacked it, do you need to keep it?
whenever I’ve moved I’ve used it as a good time to get rid of anything we didn’t need.
our last move we had bought all new bedroom furniture and we built that (including the beds) within the first 2 days (got the keys 2pm on day 1 and an additional ikea run on day 2 whilst we had the van) and by day 4 everything was sorted xx

We rent so it’s also been a case of cleaning the old rental, the new rental.
I did do a decent declutter (or so I thought), but it’s stuff like baking tins, house plant food, first aid kit, that sort of stuff.

I unpacked all boxes within the 3 child free days I had available. Also the moving company came to collect their boxes around day 5. However things like hanging up photos, pictures, mirror etc took longer.

I have difficulty finishing tasks so I knew if I didn't unpack straight away it would not happen.

(I needed to buy more hangers as I had more hanging wardrobe space which was annoying when I was midway through my clothes unpacking just in case that's relevant for you)

Well ,if it's been in boxes over month.... Get rid of them!

Lol. Those loft boxes can go in the skip! Problem solved

This depends entirely on how big your homes are, much stuff you own and how organised your current home is.
Your moves will pack literally everything and label by room - if your belongings are in the ‘wrong’ room when packed, you’ll be starting at a big, disorganised disadvantage.
declutter ruthlessly, and try to ensure everything is in the right place in your current home. A week is probably not unreasonable if you’re able to dedicate your time to it fully, and obviously notwithstanding any works that need completing

We had everything out of our flat and into a 3 bed house inside a day.
Had the packing service from the removals company so everything was logically packed and put into the correct rooms. Four adults doing the unpacking. Cat went to the cattery for a couple of days.

I hope the new house doesn't need a fresh painting as its so worth doing before you move in and empty.

We numbered each room in the house and corresponded with the boxes.

I made a lists of roughly what was in each numbered box, before taping.

We were unpacked in 2 days.
Our movers placed the boxes in its correctly numbered room.
The house was freshly painted and spotless.
We also had a box of emergency stuff, kettle, coffee etc.chargers

Moved into a 3 bed and was completely unpacked the same day except for 3 boxes which were still in the garage two years later. Also did the packing and move myself with a couple of people to help lift things. Only worked as everything was packed early and labelled with the room it was needed in. Furniture moved with contents where possible, clothes left on hangers, that sort of thing. So yes, easily done. Have moved house three times and never had significant unpacking left by the end of move in day.

As you have a bit of time and are staying in another place, I'd start by spending the first day or two doing a really deep clean. I'd then tackle it room by room. I think you can take your time as you've given yourself a window, and then get things how'd you'd like them, with a day or two at the end to relax and get comfortable.

Exactly this - unpacking is to have the rooms functional and everything out of the boxes.

You’re never going to get everything unpacked and in the “perfect” place immediately. It takes time to settle into a house - but you want to aim for the house to be useable.

my advice would be to declutter! Be ruthless and get rid of a lot of things and make sure everything remaining has a place. When I tidy I initially just put like by like items together, then once you see how much space they take up you can delegate where to store.

Start with throwing out those unpacked boxes ;) it took me 3 days last time, but I was 37 weeks pregnant. There were a few boxes left over which contained curtains that i was too pregnant to hang and a box of knick-knack type things without a clear home which ended up being unpacked into the bin.

It would surely be much easier if you were living there. Pre kids we did it in a day including scrubbing the large kitchen. Surely you will need the teenagers there so they can sort their own stuff.

Yes - I forgot to say to take the box of essentials with you! Otherwise, it would be the last box to be unpacked or put in a random room where you won’t find it.

I don’t consider that part of unpacking so yes, we are talking about different things. I meant that we got rid of all the boxes within a week and all the rooms were functional. It took a lot longer to replace all the light fittings and curtains and carpets and whatnot so it was constant change for a while. But that’s not really part of moving for me

I know, those pesky elves haven’t done it for me. I just can’t work out where it should go, chuck in Christmas into the mix.

You don’t give stuff its final spot until you’ve lived in it, you give it provisional spots and move things as you improve the functionality over time.

Your teens can pack and unpack, appreciate it will be chaotic for pets but it really shouldn’t take long. We got keys at 5pm and slept there that night with our then 4/7 year olds. Next day my husband did the kitchen and I did the kids rooms with them. We left any decorative stuff packed as we were getting the floors replaced so had packed carefully so that stuff was separate and could go straight into the garage.

anything still packed up in the loft should honestly go straight in the tip. If you haven’t needed it in years, you never will.