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?

Pack a box with the kettle, teabags, coffee, mugs, teaspoons, milk, sugar, biscuits and make sure that is put in the new kitchen straight away, so that when you're flagging halfway through unpacking you're not desperately looking for them in 6 different boxes.

First job when you've moved everything into the house is make up the beds, so when you're exhausted you don't suddenly realise you've no bed ready to get into.

another vote for paying for the removal people to pack, they are worth their weight in gold and will be through the house before you can even blink!

Do you need to apply for a parking bay suspension? Common in London, and some councils require a minimum 14 day notice. So get on that if applicable.

If funds allow I would highly recommend booking a packing and moving service. It takes all the stress out of it. It’s not cheap, but I thought it was worth every penny.

Pay the removal people to do the packing. Unpack outdoors next to a skip, only take into the house what you actually want to keep.

Print a map of the new home. Give the rooms numbers. Put notes on your furniture so that the movers can see which piece of furniture goes to which room.

Possibly also give the rooms in your present home numbers if you hire someone to pack for you.

Do NOT pack plates and glasses in newspaper. Then you'll have to give them a proper clean instead of a rinse when you unpack them.

We hired a storage unit and put as much as possible in there that we didn’t need straight away

Thank you so much everyone. I feel a lot better. We’re downsizing from a 5 bed to a 4 but this house also has a huge basement with additional living and storage space and I just haven’t had to throw a single thing away since we moved here - so I mostly haven’t.
Have taken the advice to use a packing service. And spoken to 2 removal firms who didn’t seem to think my timescale was mad.
Have booked a skip and will start madly decluttering.
This house has built in wardrobes and chests of drawers so unpacking will be a challenge until we buy some more furniture.

My main tips- Look for BAR registered movers. Use “thrift” to get rid of clothes and “we buy books” for books etc.

Take medicine, essential documents, water and light bulbs in car

Declutter - hire a skip, it’s fun, and cheaper than paying to move things you don’t want.
Charity shops or Anglo Doorstep Collections are free and very useful
British Heart Foundation collects lots of things in the van from home

Eat the freezer and throw everything in the cupboard that’s out of date.
Give each room in your new house a letter eg kitchen = A
each box for each room is labeled A1, A2 etc
Make a spreadsheet/list of each box

Redirect post
Make a list of who to tell

LPs and books weigh a lot more than you think. Fill boxes half way only

Declutter

Pay your movers to pack

Declutter as if your life depends on it.

Pay packers if you possibly can. Be aware that they will pack absolutely everything, so get your first 24hrs stuff hidden in your car before they start!)

Colour code each room and colour in floor plans to match.

Write on all 4 sides and the top of the boxes in the correct colours for the relevant room.

Get hanging wardrobe boxes for moving clothes. (You can so keep using them when you're waiting for new furniture to be delivered.)

Blutak the plans on the front door or in the hallway of the new house.

Make signs for each room in the right colour and blutak them to the top of each door frame in the new house.

Get a floor plan of each room and draw on it where you want the big furniture to go, then blutak it on the relevant door in the new house

Put little colour stickers on the furniture so that it ends up in the correct room in the new house.

Be very aware that garages, sheds, attics and basements take forever to empty and contain far more shit than you could ever imagine. Double the amount of time you think you need to deal with them.

Your basic plan for moving day is to minimise the number of questions that anyone needs to ask you, and the colour coding plans thing works brilliantly. (I've moved house over 20 times, including internationally, so I've learned a thing or two.)

Good luck OP! You've got this!

Declutter and purge. Take it to dump or charity shop
give each new room in new house a number and number each box or item.
Print out floor plan with number on it and pin up at new house.
On the day remember to bring kettle and some cups/tea etc in car to new place. Also bedding in a suitcase and change of clothes, pajamas etc.

Declutter (ruthlessly) during packing. And then again when unpacking. Storage way before moving day. Since you’ll have the keys 2 days earlier, spend those 2 days deep cleaning the new place and planning what goes where.

Buy a pack of cable ties and tie up anything that dangles, especially on big appliances. Make sure the pipe from the washing machine is emptied out and tie it up in such a way that it can't drip on the floor.

Plan meals so that fridge and freezer are empty a couple of days before and defrost the freezer.

Any furniture where doors might swing open, tie them shut.

Assign each room in the new house a colour. Put a coloured sticker on the box for each box for that room. Then when unloading all the red boxes go in the lounge, all the pink boxes in the kitchen etc.

Don't mix boxes even if they are half full. Only stuff for that room should be in the box.

Start eating all the food in your freezer and cupboards now. No point moving with it if you can.

We have a local Freecycle group on Facebook. Start posting what you need to get rid off. Books, toys, beds, wardrobes etc.

Don't get sucked into the thought you can sell stuff on vinted etc. That's adding more stress to an already stressful time. Your either keeping stuff or getting rid of it.

Put kettle, a few coffee cups, tea/coffee in a box to go in the car. You will likely need to make drinks for yourself and/or removal guys once you arrive.

Arrange a grocery delivery for your first night or morning. Get all the household essentials for cleaning, bathroom etc. Use up what you have left so you don't have to take with you.

Plan for a takeaway on your last night in the old house and your first night in the new house.

I wish you the best of luck. It's the most stressful thing I have ever done but also the best decision we made to move.

Spend the extra money and get them in to wrap and pack it

Get more boxes than you think you need

label them in detail

pallet wrap from Amazon is good for wrapping soft furnishings so you can move them without scuffs and damage

Yes, this.

Declutter as much as possible.

Then get the removers to pack. It saves so much stress on the day.

When you unpack, declutter again 🙄

I always use clothes instead of bubble wrap (maybe not for very very fragile precious things but general things like mugs, plates etc). Less clothes to pack and saves using loads of bubble wrap

Sprinkle all carpets with flea powder even if the previous owner didn't have pets. Use neutrodol powder on all carpets afterwards, it's really good for removing other people's smells.
Clean before you move in if possible.

@SandrenaIsMyBloodType
Hire a skip and have a serious clear out, be brutal.
Don't keep anything for "just in case" if you've not needed said item for 6 months the chances are you you'll never need it.
Start wrapping and boxing ornaments, books, pictures, mirrors and label the boxes and stack against a wall.
Do you have sisters, I have two local to me, they were like "house moving machines"
We hired a big van with a tail lift and moved ourselves, we too were able to move stuff in before the official moving date, we did most of it before the big day.
We did sort of camp out in our old house, basically roughed it but it made it loads easier on the day.
When you move in, get the beds set up first, have tea, coffee, kettle handy and plan a takeaway for tea

My house moves always start really well with labelling, etc. At the tail end with the last boxes it goes down hill fast. So I could easily find ramekins and Christmas napkins but the basics required for that first cup of tea remained elusive. Tip, keep your energy up and retain concentration.

Yes, anything you need for the week, such as bedding, pillows, quilt, coffee, sugar etc, work clothes and shoes, school uniform, stick it all in suitcases and put in your car on packing day and leave there until you're in your new place, I moved in October last year, and it was the best idea I had!

Make a week’s worth of dinners and freeze them, so you aren’t juggling unpacking, settling in, and getting to grips with a new kitchen.

Do some imaginary cooking (or real, if you can be bothered) in new kitchen before unpacking. Where did you instinctively reach for a pan/wooden spoon/whatever?

Label all main drawers and cupboards with a small strip of painter’s tape on the outside. This way it doesn’t matter who unpacked into it, everyone knows where to find a mug/cereal/their pants. Leave the labels on for a week or two (or 18 months if you’re us…). Enjoy!

We printed floor plans as box labels, so they didn't have to remember which bedroom was which.