AIBU to ask for your house move tips

[SandrenaIsMyBloodType]

I’m so overwhelmed that I know I’m not thinking straight.

Found out today that we are moving in 5 weeks. I’m starting now, from scratch, to organise it.

Obviously today is dedicated to finding a removal firm, but even that feels like a minefield.
i know our situation is less complicated than many but it’s been ages since I have needed to do this. We’re moving from one rented property into another rented property and have arranged to pick up the keys for new house a couple of days before we have to leave this one. And they are only about 40 minutes apart. We’re downsizing though and there’s going to have to be some purging of stuff.

Have you moved house recently? Do you have any tips? Any regrets or things you forgot to do that you could warn me about? Anything you did that made your life easier?

We hired a storage unit £100/month and moved in a load of stuff that we don’t need immediately - summer/formal clothes, crafts, books, sports kit, shed stuff, lawnmower - so that when it comes to moving day, it’s a lot easier to empty and clean your house. Declutter and declutter again.

This is a familiar territory. I would say, don't worry about the removal firm and focus on decluttering first.
My favourite way is to give myself a limit from the start. For example - 10 medium boxes to fit all my shoes and clothes. No negotiations.
Boxes which sat in the garage for the last 10 years untouched go into a skip. Without opening them.
Books which I am not sure I will read again get replaced with a digital copy and recycled.
All the towels, bedding is calculated based on the number of bedrooms and people + 1 for emergencies (i.e. 2 sets fo bedding for each bedroom, 2 sets of towels for each person in the household. +1). Bin the rest.

Pack all the summer clothes and shoes first as you are not going to need them in the next 5 weeks.

The single biggest thing to help would be to pay for the removal firm to pack your belongings. I cannot emphasise enough how much stress this removes.
Whether you do this or not, there are some important steps:

1. Declutter. No point taking those DVDs you'll never watch again
2. Organise and label boxes by room - relevant to your new house. So...kitchen etc will be obvious but if you are moving from a 3 to a 2 bed this will affect what goes where. Make sure the removers/yourself clearly label the boxes - room and general contents. Marker pens at the ready.
3. Identify a 'first day kit' - a change of clothes, night things, medicines etc and of course the kettle/tea/coffee/biscuits etc. You will want to put this in the car not on the removal van.
4. You've got 5 weeks. That should be ample time. Start with the areas you use least - the loft, the spare room and try and do a room a session, then these can be left undisturbed till you move.
5. On moving day, ideally have one person by the front door directing the removal men and another doing arranging/unpacking in the house.
6. Use the overlap between houses to clean both and make a list of what you will transfer in those days. Also use the time to decide placement of furniture so that you get the removers to put it in the right place.
7. And, BREATH!

@Catza Boxes which sat in the garage for the last 10 years untouched go into a skip. Without opening them.

I ❤this tip!

Make your first job in the new house, or someone’s first job, to get beds put together and the bedding in place. Also it makes it easier if you just stuff the bedding into black bags and sleep on last nights sheets rather than trying to find clean stuff. The last thing you need is to be getting beds sorted when you are exhausted at the end of the day.

Use all the food in your freezer.
Meal plan so no food in the fridge

Declutter room by room. Once a room is done, do not move anything else into it

having the keys to your new place IS a dream!

Book a cleaner- let them do a deep clean of the new place. Saves you time and stress, and you can concentrate on your "old" home.

Bring beddings , toiletries, essentials (loo roll , hand soap, hand towels etc) and make sure light bulbs are working
all already there when you arrive and you don't have to find in the new boxes

Pack separately, and stick in the car:
your valuable, essentials you needed until last minute (like a kettle, your toothbrush. pyjama...)

How much downsizing are you doing?
Make a decision about furniture first-and quickly. Keep or get rid if it doesn't fit?
Downsizing tend to mean less room but worst, smaller rooms, you need to be practical
The removal company will need to know exactly what you are moving to give you the correct price (if you have a grand piano and you are getting rid of it , it makes a massive difference. That's an example)

Then get boxes and bubble wrap, and get started, be RUTHLESS. No need to move clutter.

Label, label everything, put number and name of the room on all boxes, ON ALL SIDES, and keep a pad with the full details

It really doesn't need to be stressful, it's just tiring.

The problem with someone else packing, is they pack everything, you don't know where everything is, and they pack all your clutter so you end up with too many boxes, paying too much and having to get rid of crap at the other end.

No need to do that

Day box - kettle, tea, coffee, other drinks, cups, glasses. Plates, eating utensils, breakfast utensils and cereal. Loo roll, hand soap, change of clothes, wash bags

Also carry TV remotes, chargers and cables with you. As need to charge phone up

Pack a case to live out of for a few days, clothes, toiletries, chargers, purse/cash, tea coffee etc mug, plate set. Bedtime book or whatever.

good luck!

Imagine you're going on holiday, pack for that first.

Make up 3 boxes:

Label name of box: e.g. Bedroom 1
Charity
Tip

For complex rooms e.g. kitchen label by destination e.g. bottom drawer, fridge.

Buy thick colour Sharpies for visual ease, e.h. kitchen in red, bathroom in blue....

Play great music and don't start new hobbies at this time...

Put cats and dogs in cattery/kennels for a few days before you move until after you are unpacked (I had a cat who went AWOL 15 minutes before we were due to lock and leave the old house).

My biggest tips are:

• buy a tape box dispenser gun and box cutting tool (it makes taping and opening much quicker)
• pack a small suitcase each with essentials
• write on the outside of each box what is in each box and which room it's going into

+1 to tape gun

+1 to start a donations box and keep a black bin to hand at all times for rubbish. A box for recycling as well. Facebook Marketplace is a good place to shift stuff quickly if you prefer to sell - price competitively. Local “freecycle” groups are good too esp for bulky things like furniture.

For packing, we ALWAYS do a proper packing inventory, with numbered boxes

Every box is numbered, and labelled with the room it needs to go in, plus sometimes a word or two about contents eg “books”, “crockery”.

We then have a shared Google Doc or Apple Notes which lists every box by number, and a full list of what’s in it. Sometimes it’ll just say “books” but sometimes it’s quite long. Helps MASSIVLEY post move with all the “where is X” conversations, or wondering what’s in that box you haven’t unpacked yet.

Start a list of organisations to inform that you’ve moved, and services you need set up at the new house. Get broadband organised early - there can be lead times - or get data on phones or mifi device to cover first few days.

Every box you fill, write a list of contents and tape it to the top. Saves loads of time when you need to find something. As we tend to pack similar items together it doesn't need to be too detailed if you cba but 'children's books' rather than just 'books' if you have ten boxes of books! Or 'cookware incl blue casserole dish' or baking tins, round and square only. Sorry for the pathetic examples but its all I can think of !!

We got packers. That was incredible. Highly recommend and wasn't that expensive. Due to a family death we hadn't been able to declutter - I'm still finding stuff that we should have chucked 6 years later.

De clutter!!

Best thing we ever did. We had a load of camping gear and bikes etc and just carted it all there in our own time leaving a very straightforward move. We then emptied it within two days of our move..

Hands down hiring a removal company to pack and move us was amazing. Took away all the stress and I will never move without booking this service again.

Banana boxes!!! Get them from supermarkets, I did the rounds for a few days in the morning and picked up LOADS. They are superb for everything as they are super strong cardboard, nice strong lids. Made everything so easy!!

PAY FOR PACKING I can’t stress this enough

and declutter before the packers come

honestly it’s a game changer

As everyone is saying pay for packing (which I agree with), if you go down this route, please note that they are ruthless and will pack everything.

Last time we moved, they came round the day before and started in the kitchen. I popped out to do the school run leaving my husband at home, and when I had got back they had packed everything in the kitchen. ‘Great!’ I hear you cry….. they had packed ALL of the cutlery, which was fine for dinner, got a takeaway we could eat with our hands, not so great in the morning of moving day when I realised I couldn’t make packed lunches because I had no knife to cut the cheese for the sandwiches 😂 and have kids that won’t eat school dinners

I went in holiday and got the movers to pack everything. Absolutely no brainer and worth every penny.

When we moved I was ruthless in packing about if I really wanted to find a home for this item in my new house. Even more important for you downsizing. Start with cupboards. Pull everything out, decide what you are getting rid of and pack the rest. Boxes back in cupboards out of the way. As it is only 5 weeks, I would suggest doing some each night. Regular trips to the dump with what you are getting rid of.

Agree with clear labelling on boxes with room detail plus now/later if you don’t want to list contents. I also found these bags from Ikea brilliant for packing bedding and towels, off the bed and into a bag https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/goersnygg-bag-blue-60499261/

Pack a suitcase each with enough for a whole week not just a few days. Clothes hairdryer shoes and pyjamas toiletries etc

first night tea make it a takeaway with paper plates.

paper cups for cups of tea during t the day

bring as many boxes as you can downstairs before moving day. We put all of ours in the garage but put them anywhere -especially the loft.

Work out which stuff will go in each room in the new flat and colour code the rooms - buy coloured stickers for boxes and furniture or do it in big writing with coloured felt tip pens on white labels. If you are using a removals firm, you could give them a floor plan with the colour coded rooms marked on. This worked well when we helped Pils to reloclate.
Keep kettle, mugs, teabags and loo roll handy at all times in their own separate box. 😀