Your best tips for moving house

[shouldhavecalleditoatabix]

Hi all. So, thanks to a lovely gift and a change in circumstances we have gone from buying a home is the plan in a year or so to suddenly seeing a house, having an offer accepted and now in the process of buying a house. Looking to complete in 8-12 weeks.

So, I haven't spent time decluttering or clearing in preparation because we didn't know it was going to happen. We live in a rented house (been here 10 years) and are moving to an empty house. I've just ordered a moving house pack of boxes.

So fellow Mumsnet tees, hit me with your best hints and tips for a smooth move. We will be doing it ourselves and are moving on about 1/4 mile away.

Using the dimensions of the new rooms, including radiators & plug placement and the dimensions of the furniture I had I decided in advance the placement and use of each piece so that I knew what to get rid of and what to look out for on shopping trips (online and in person). I still keep a list of these dimensions in phone on a note app.
I taped the furniture placement floorplan on each room door for the movers to get things in the right place so we weren't heaving large pieces later in the day.
If a bed needs assembly in a small room get the frames in first and work on those before the mattress comes in.
Photograph valuables/breakables as they get packed so damage can be tracked.
If you use a small man-n-van operation make sure they still have their liability insurances in place and a contract about getting stuff into at least the right room!
Good luck in your new home!

Should be moving on the 11th August so following this with interest! We're moving from rented into our first house and have a couple of weeks lay over time so can move slowish which is good. Some really good tips here! I need to be ruthless with decluttering!!!

Wow some absolutely awesome tips here.

We have planned an extra month renting after completion also so we can do a couple of bits in the new place before we move in but more importantly so we can clean, tidy and touch up paint etc in the rented place before we hand over.

Definitely loving the hints about decluttering and tipping stuff - I hadn't even considered having to book a slot at the tip! The bit I'm dreading the most is the garden. We have a huge garden with two sheds, a bar and various other bits. The new place does have a biggish garden but it is absolutely full of plants, shrubs and trees. Previous owner was an old single man with a love for gardening so nothing will fit until we've cleared it. It's actually frustrating because there are a lot of beautiful and probably expensive plants in the new garden which I might want to keep but we have to clear a lot of it to make it usable. I'm currently thinking of trying to pot up the ones we want and hope they survive? Has anyone done that before?

Also loving the suggestions of takeaway menus and overnight box. We're campers so I think I'll treat it a bit like that. Pack for camping a few nights taking pressure off to get everything else sorted.

Pay for professional packers. That can't be said enough times.

Declutter at both ends, be ruthless. But mostly at the far end, as you won't be packing anything.

Grab boxes, bags and unpack one box at a time, yes or no, stay or go.

Pay for professional packers.... I wasn't joking.

I would spend my last penny on professional packers. They are far cheaper than you think.

If you can't do that, I would get friends to come and pack stuff. Have the boxes and materials ready to go and let them get on with it. It is infinitely quicker and easier to pack up someone else's stuff than your own.

But really, get packers if you possibly can. It is a total game changer

Even though you are only moving that distance... Pro packers take almost 100% of the stress out of moving.

They pack and move you in one single hit and you can unpack and declutter at your leisure.

If you do it yourself you will spend the next month or so packing, stressing, packing some more and then getting even more stressed getting your stuff to the new house.

Save the stress and loads of time, spend the cash if you can!

Also, any enthusiasm for the rented property will be gone as soon as you step into your new home.

Get the crap at the old place done as soon as possible or you will find it hanging over your head until the last minute

I was out weeding in the snow at a rented property once because we had an overlap and left it to the last minute