Packing for a house move

[thesoundofthepolice]

How do you do it? When do you start? This is our first proper house move and I'm clueless. We'll be moving out and in on the same day-if that makes any difference.

I'm not an organised person in the slightest, literally leave thing to the last minute and hope for the best!
I want this house move to be as stress free as possible! The other issue is we don't have a date for moving only that it might be around 3weeks. I keep thinking that's loads of time, however DH and I both work shifts (not the same pattern so very few days off together) and we can't take holidays because god forbid we have a life outside of work!
I'm literally going to be coming off a nightshift, moving house and going back in for another nightshift if it all goes to plan for the provisional date so I need to be on the ball!

Your boxes need to be filled right up (so they don’t sag when another one is put on top) but not too heavy (watch out for paper/books). Pack plates on their side, separated by a layer of paper - makes breaking less likely, otherwise the bottom plate has the weight of all the others to bear through every bump in the road IYSWIM.
Make sure kitchen boxes are well stuffed with paper in any gaps (assuming you can’t fill the gap with any small gadget or item), you don’t want things to rattle and move as again, increases likelihood of breakages.

Start by getting all your suitcases out and packing lots of clothes, that’s an easy win. Do you have a garden or a garage ATM? Those are tricky areas, lots of awkward yet breakable things. You WILL need longer than you think, don’t be one of those people we read about on MN who is still trying to pack while the next people are trying to move in!

Definitely book some annual leave!! Apart from anything else you’re not allowing any contingency for delays like the removal truck breaking down or someone’s money not moving on time (if you’re buying).

Good luck and tell us how it goes

Decluttering before you pack!

Label boxes clearly.

Pack essentials separately.

Ikea bags for bedclothes/pjs for first night.

Kids have a bag for immediate essentials.

And wine..... lots of wine!!!!

Bookmarking because I desperately need this advice! Apologies to you OP for shamelessly piggy-backing on your thread 🐷

Loads of good tips, thankfully I'm not particularly sentimental about our things so I can be ruthless during the de clutter-that's today's job. Once that's done I'll pack up things we rarely use spare room can get dismantled and I'll store things in there to keep the rest of the house semi normal.

We really don't have any wiggle room for packets/movers. It's just a luxury we can't afford sadly. As for annual leave we work for an organisation that allocates annual leave, I've asked/begged/pleaded with senior management for even one night off and been declined. I agree I'll be useless going in after a day of no sleep and hard physical graft but I've no choice. Even unpaid leave has been declined.

Absolutely make sure you have a couple of boxes of "first night stuff". For me this has been:

• duvet and pillows, already with covers, plus a sheet. The firs thing to happen in anew house is a bed is made up so that when I am knackered, I can go straight to a comfy bed.
• toilet roll
• cleaning supplies (washing up liq. and a couple of cloths,vacuum)
• bin liners
• tea, coffee, snack, breakfast, including a couple of plates, mugs and cutlery
• show stuff, towel, shampoo etc
• pyjamas and tomorrow's clothes
• charging cables for phones etc

Basicaly, everything you need for the first 24 hours so that you are not searching for stuff to live while also sorting the house.

For pakcing - the kitchen is, by far, the room that takes the longest and uses the most boxes. It's also a room where you can live without 75% of the stuff for a few weeks and just 'make do' so that's where I would start.

I've moved 5 times and never used packers. (We do use 'movers' though).

My tip is to use different coloured tape around the top of each box as you seal it.

Yellow for bedrooms, red for kitchen, green for living room, blue for just upstairs on the landing (bathroom stuff?), green for shed/garage

that sort of thing.

Learn it by heart and it will help. Better than just having a sea of identical brown boxes in front of you in 3 weeks time!

Write in a big black marker pen on the outside of each box roughly what's in it as well as the coloured tape. You'll think you'll remember but you wont! It's a life saver when you want x y z before you've unpacked everything and you don't want to rummage through through them all.

Bin bags for your bedding on the morning of the move and easy to bung it straight back on when you 'land'.

When you do get to your new house sort your bed out first. It wont feel like a priority but you'll be SO glad you did when it's time to fall into bed later.

Pack your kitchen and bathroom stuff last.

Start now. 3 weeks is about what it takes me.
good luck

Book a slot at your local tip asap, ours are fully booked weeks in advance at the moment.

Good luck!

good point about the tip, DH spent three hours queuing a few weeks ago. We don't get time slots but you need to be there first thing and wait for it opening up.

Our bed was a complete pain to assemble so I imagine dismantling it will be the same. I'm going to have to video/photograph the steps.

For once in my life I'm writing lists. And googling how to make this as easy as possible.

Colour coding is a good idea too. Hopefully we will get an extra pair of hands to unload at the new house.

Don’t bother with emptying drawers, just lift out complete with contents and put in the van/car.
Use bin bags for everything soft including curtains, bedding, towels etc.
Label boxes with marker pen, different coloured pen per room
Buy ready made sandwiches before you leave so can easily grab something to eat, plus flask coffee, bottled water etc.
Good luck! I packed on my own for every move I’ve done 😀

I didn't even think about food! I'll add lunch to my list! Sleep deprived and hangry: DH and I would be divorced by noon.

Last time I moved, I sold about 50% of my stuff pre move and literally had 2sofas, a bed, a drawer unit, table and chairs and a tumblr dryer. Think I had about 20boxes of kitchen stuff and bits and pieces but this time round like/need the furniture.

I'll be ruthless chucking stuff out, our under stairs cupboard contents can go straight to the tip, I never used the majority of it!

We moved in February and it was hideously stressful. We actually inherited the house and it's only a few streets away from our old flat so we had access to it for months before we actually moved (we had to renovate it from the studs up), and it was still awful.

I'd lived in flat shares before I moved in with DH so previously any moves were just a few boxes/suitcases of clothes, personal trinkets and cooking equipment. This time we'd spent 7 years amassing crap, and DH had been there for 3 years before I showed up! I couldn't believe how much shite there was to sort through; every time we started a job, three others cropped up.

I ferried stuff over to the new house bit by bit in my VW Polo in bags, boxes and suitcases. Never again. Do whatever you can to afford packers and movers!

Oooh yes to what a pp said about taking drawers out and keeping them full just as they are. We did this and wrapped cling wrap right round each drawer to to keep it all in. Then the empty carcass is so light to move!

Start now! I've packed over 20 boxes in the past week and thrown out a skips worth of stuff in preparation for a move around November / December time. I do a few boxes a day of stuff rarely used / loft stuff and now each room only has stuff we use regularly in. By my reckoning I can pack up each room in an hour now ( excluding dismantling furniture)

I pack a large suitcase for each person moving and the boot of the car as if we are going on a caravan/selfcatering weekend away. That way we each have a few change of clothes, pj's toiletries and some easy cook essential foods like cereal pasta and a jar of sauce, juice, teas.... In the boot I also put kettle picnic plates cutlery and 2 saucepans and a frying pan. Oh and a 1st aid kit. Make sure I have phones chargers and tablets laptops in 'hand luggage'
My first trip is to empty the boot. Put cases into a corner of the living room and put essential food in one cupboard. That way I knew where the essentials were.
Then I let chaos reign a bit until everything was in and more or less in the right room.
Made up the beds. Slept and sorted the rest over the next few days.
Good luck.

I've never had packers but I always have movers. We are moving again soon as well. Start packing and throwing out now. I've put stuff out by the bin to see if anyone would like it, had 3 skips and advertised stuff for free on Facebook. I've taken bags and bags to the charity shop. It sounds like our house was full but I promise you the last owner left so much junk! Pack your important box with all the house stuff, tea/coffee/pet supplies/corkscrew/silverware/crockery/ toilet rolls and an overnight bag each. The movers will take apart and put together the beds and other furniture. You can then make the beds and flop!

Watching with interest! I have a pending move, no date yet, but probably 4-6 weeks. It feels wrong to start without a date but I know when I do have a date it's likely to be too late, so I really do need to get myself in gear!

I've just bought a packing gun, so thanks for that tip!

It’s clearly not the prevailing view on the thread but I think labelling and listing box contents is overrated not being able to find anything is what motivates you to get unpacked fast!!

I’d have a room written on each box so we know where things are going, and yes to the few essentials for each person ie basic toiletries and change of clothes, but otherwise I think all the meticulous systems would probably take me more time than they saved me.

But that’s just me

We moved a decade ago when it was just me and DH. That time we did all the packing but ended up taking nearly two weeks of annual leave for the move.

Last year we moved with two children right on the first day of term. We had packers and I took two days off.

Can I slightly hijack and ask roughly how much packers and movers cost for a 3 bed semi? All our local ones want to come round to give an estimate.
In my youth we did it all ourselves with a hired van but the very thought now is hideous!

The price varies massively. We had quotes between about £1500 and £5k last year, all from reputable moving companies.

Blimey!
Think we’ll be doing our own packing then..
Thanks

Start early. Pack up the stuff you can cope without using first. It does take longer than you think.

Also be ruthless unless you have time to declutter and do tip runs act like a professional packer and don't sort what you are packing just put everything in that is close to the box in the box. Bear in mind that things like books and flower pots are heavy so don't put too many in the same box.

We also moved on a Monday so we had the whole weekend to pack up the van. We had done virtually all the packing before the weekend though. We were in a small house but it was amazing how long it took.

@FromTheAllotment I think you are completely right. Next time I move I am going to do that. We moved over five years ago and we still have boxes we haven't unpacked. We have at least avoided putting anything in the loft!