to ask how the feck to pack a house

[GarlicCrackers]

So I have reached the grand age of 33 having never packed a house properly to move because mum always does it and quite frankly if you get in her way when she's doing it, she'll 'ave you.

The second she knows one of her children are moving, she's volunteered her services and she's there like a shot. Now...she's very good at packing, she's very efficient and she loves it, strange woman that she is.

I on the other hand, am utter ADHD chaos, I throw things in ikea bags, bin bags, transport things in asda crates, pack the minute before I need to leave.

We're having a mild mannered bust up because I think moving books in a bag is acceptable and she does not. Bearing in mind the new house is a literal 5 minutes away.

Furniture is going to get moved by men with van Saturday 29th and I'm going to chuck everything else in the car as I please because I have another week left of my tenancy. To which she says "you don't have a clue do you". Well no I don't, but that's how I live.

However she's annoyed me so much over such a silly issue that I'm determined to show her wots wot and pack like a Goddess.

So, help, help! Help me adult and prove to my mother that I don't need her efficiency.

Where do I start? Two bedrooms to pack - so myself and the child. Home office, kitchen full of every useless piece of shit I'll never use and generic clutter

Do I need boxes? What do I use to pack? Am I giving up before I've even posted this? Probably...

Get a removals company to do it for you.

Worth the money 10x over

Alas, I do not have the cash for that at this present time due to being left stranded by my ex who absconded on our rent!

DIY all the way

Get boxes. Not bags that's crap and difficult! Get sharpies. Get big tape.

Do your clothes first- seperated into items and label every box. Seal them up but leave out some outfits for the next couple of days. Then unpack your clothes first.

Then heavy things like books, candles, etc. Anything fragile like tealight holders, perfume, makeup in a seperate box.

Anything glass or breakable must be wrapped in bubblewrap, tea towels or clothes.

Lamps and shades go with furniture. As can rugs. Bring your cushions yourself though as they can get dusty. Rugs are alright rolled up.

In the kitchen sort by items- utensils, crockery, mugs, glasses, food,( tea and essentials like cereals or bread can go last), pans etc. If you have time sort through the junk now.

LABEL EVERYTHING

Tech, documents and anything precious needs to be in your car in a box that's unlabelled but with something only you understand, just so it doesn't get swiped. E.g. draw a star on that box.

Give your kid a box for their own toys/tech and precious things too

Ask your local papershop for boxes- i got loads!
i packed boxes and labelled according to the room. Clothes in binbags/suitcases.
as you have a car- take fragile stuff in there.
wrapped kitchen stuff in newspaper.
unplug your washing machine and drain it-save the hassle of on the day. Coolbag for freezer stuff.
books in strong supermarket bags or boxes- easy to fit in.

Boxes.
Put open boxes on bed or floor ( depending on how strong your back is)
Mark 1. To go ( room it’s to go in)
Mark 2 Charity
Mark 3 Bin
Empty one cupboard, one drawer at a time and it goes in appropriate box. .
When a box is full, close it and move to where you’re storing boxes for move.
Charity shop boxes go by the door.
Bin goes in the bin!
Completely deal with one cupboard/ chest/ drawer before you move on.

Try and declutter a little. Before you pack something in a box ask yourself “does this still fit/do I still like it/do I already have enough of this thing”
Charity shop run before moving. There’s no point packing stuff you no longer need or want as you’ll have to deal with it in the new place.

I know this will go down like a sack of cold cat sick - but can you apologise to your mum and say she was right?

Otherwise, it's the same as above, although I found wine boxes that carry heavy bottles the best for books, off licenses have loads.

Label everything, make sure you have a box of ‘essentials’ (kettle, cups, cutlery etc). There is nothing worse then not being able to find something you urgently need. Declutter as you go, don’t move it if you don’t want it. Make sure your child has a bag of favourite toys handy to entertain them while everything is being moved.

Make sure every box is labelled with the room it belongs in, saves a lot of time later

Do each room one by one

Three boxes open at all times.
1.Freecycle/charity shop/gifting
2.Rubbish
3.Packing for new house

Bedroom: LABEL as below.
-Winter wear
-Summer wear
-Basics
-Formal wear
-Sports wear
-pj's etc

-Shoes

Do separate boxes for LINEN/BEDDING/TOWELS ETC

KITCHEN:
-Get rid of any gadgets or gizmos you've not used in the last year
-Pack smaller (liftable) boxes for crockery and glassware. All labelled and use a combo of newspaper and bubble wrap
-UTENSILS
-POTS & PANS use bubble wrap
-ELECTRICAL ITEMS: Toaster/kettle/coffee machine etc
-DRY GOODS/LARDER ITEMS
-COOKBOOKS

LIVING AREA:
Invest in some packing cling film. Invaluable for bundling furniture items once empty , kids play tables etc...

Boxes for:
-TOYS
-BOOKS
-Nic nacs and ornaments
-HOUSEPLANTS
-Bubblewrap and cling wrap electrical such as tv/radios,Alexa,stereo,PC/Printer

Boxes for
COATS/TRAINERS/WELLIES

BOX PER "person" for first night with toiletries, pj's and outfit for next day

Box for CLEANING PRODUCTS so you can blitz each room before you start to unpack

WINE AND PIZZA as reward when it's all in your new home.

You've got this OP- best of luck!

Small boxes for books! Me and DH have a book problem that numbers in the several thousands range. When we moved we had boxes and boxes of books and they are HEAVY. If you pack too many in one box you'll do your back in or end up with a load of loose books falling through the bottom of the box onto the top of your feet.

When you get to the new place, the first thing you do is make up the beds. Then hours and hours later when you're knackered, it's all lovely and waiting for you to fall into.

Boxes. Last time we moved I made a list on my phone

Box number 1, X contents from main bedroom, and so on. Wrote Main Bedroom - 1 on the box.

That way it was clear where to box should go and I knew where things were.

OP I love your writing. Please let me know if you write a book. In the meantime, let the mother do most of it and throw the rest in your transport as planned!

Adhd here too and I've moved several times over the last 5 years. Use boxes , bags , suitcases and have all the best intentions of keeping everything from each room together but in the end you'll just keep finding stuff and end up chucking it anywhere it will fit 🤣🤣 once it gets to the new house then you're still winning

Take your clothes out of your wardrobe and sellotape the tops of the hangers together and lie them in the back of your car it saves you loads of time. Then just pop them in the new wardrobe. Leave the clothes in the drawers and take the drawers out to move those.

Label everything and group it if you’re doing lots of trips. Kitchen first so you can have a brew. When you arrive put the boxes into the room they are going to.

How long do you have? Can you stagger moving things over a few days, or do you not have access to new place before leaving old place? If you need to move it all in one day, can you get volunteers to help? It's fortunate that your new place isn't too far away, that's a big help. If you don't, you can still do this, but I'd accept any help that's offered as it's tiring work.

Concur with everyone saying do a declutter/clearout as you go, it makes unpacking at your new gaff a lot easier. Try to pack like with like or keep to "specified room" only, don't allow yourself to get wild and just throw in a mix of items from different rooms. Do keep a separate refreshments box with kettle, cups, teaspoons, beverages and biscuits and take a break regularly. If you can pack and someone else can shuttle, great. If you have to shuttle yourself, take a carload each time.

If you can, keep a written list of which box you've put things in, ie Kitchen box #1. "Pans, colander, blender, that weird gadget Auntie Beryl gave us for our wedding, coffee percolator, the sieve collection, egg cups". Then hoik out Auntie Beryl's gadget and all but one of the sieves and get rid.

Also agree with the keeping out some cleaning stuff, you can delegate that to mum because she wants to be helpful, right?

Your mother is being helpful and is right.

Moving is mightily stressful and I[d welcome any help I could get.

Last time we moved (2017) we had a 2 week overlap. We moved like you - movers did furniture, we boxed and bagged everything else and moved it one lot a day. Movers all done by midday, we made bed and went to pub! Easiest move ever.
Your mum's way is good when it's all in one day, though.

Make use of everything you pack .... tea towels / towels / bedding / scarves can all be used to wrap more delicate items. But keep it sensible still - bath towels wrap / protect mirrors or glass bottles etc from the bathroom. Tea towels for sharp or delicate kitchen implements / ornaments / pictures.

I thought you were trying to pack a horse... very confusing!

I would use it as an opportunity to really declutter. Make up lots of boxes and keep like with like, making sure breakables are all wrapped (beg lots of newspaper on FB). Bubble wrap for the most delicate. Make sure theres always a 'donate' box to hand and fill it with anything you don't use. Similarly rubbish bags for anything broken. And mark up the boxes clearly with the room and type eg; 'kitchen' 'plates' also important to have essentials in a box eg 'kitchen' 'need first' and put the kettle, a setting of crockery, cutlery, cups for everyone, long life milk, biscuits etc. Just be really methodical and really thorough. Call a charity in advance to book a collection.

(Also before you buy, do ask for moving boxes in local Facebook),

NB the boxes ideally will be the sss as me size (not too big or they'll be heavy). So they stack efficiently in the van.

I am going to go against the grain a bit here, I find the tough types of supermarket bags, ie sainsburys reliabags to be brilliant for books, they can be be stacked quite steadily and aren't too heavy when full

I think I might need to be my packing consultant!