How do you move house?

[aloha]

We have a pretty certain move date of 5 August. This, I have now realised is Soon. Too Soon.
We have booked a removal firm who will come on Thursday and pack and put things in their van, then come back on Friday morning to finish off (I think) and move us (only ten minutes drive away).
So what should I be doing now? House is in total mess and I cannot face tidying a house we won't be living in much longer.
I need to persuade dh that if we plan to take chandeliers (only Laura Ashley/bhs, not family heirlooms) we should be doing that now and replacing with plain light fittings. But aside from that, what from your experiences, O Mumsnetters, should I be doing to prepare. I am paralysed with horror, indecision and general being crapness at present. Help!

I'm a bit of a paradox. I'll hoard and hoard until I reach a moment of crisis when I suddenly become a radical chucker-outer.

I've kept all the baby things from dd and ds, because we plan to have a third at some stage. Now we're moving overseas I've ditched everything, and wish I'd done it 2 years ago. Grrr. I could have been living with space!

toys are hard though. I don't want to leave the children with nothing familiar, so we will take some. But why is it that the thing they've not looked at for months becomes a firm favourite just before you tell them it's consigned to the charity shop? Weird.

Don't forget to consider your loft. We did.

Have a look at this link from the MN webguide.

ooops.

I am moving too that day and nothing no nothing is done! Cannot face it!

Anyone moving to Amsterdam by any chance??????????
maybe we can start a group?

Having moved only a few weeks ago here are my suggestions (sorry if they have been repeated)

1. On each box have a general list of what's in it. where it's going and also how urgent it is - so that the removal men can put the most urgent in accesible places

2. Have a list on paper what's in each box to hand

3. Have some cool-bag and ice-blocks ready so you can fill it with last minute fridge and freezer items

4. Prepare a suitcase for each member of the family that they need for the first couple of days including toiletries, towels, bedding, spare clothes and emergency items like precious soft toys and take them with you in the car - not in the removal van!

5 Aim to have a takeaway the night before and the day of the move!

I am sure there are lots more and I will come back if I remember anything!

GOOD LUCK!

Jules x

Oh yes and check out the insurance the removals firm are offering.

It seems now with some firms you have to buy a separate insurance policy, when you are probably already covered through your house contents policy - check with them, otherwise you may be paying twice.

Sorry I'll rephrase that - they don;t MAKE you buy their insurance, they offer it, and you may not realise you are already covered.

inform utilities moving out and give notice for Sky/cable.

inform companies and friends of new address.

register with post office to get post redirected to new address as this takes a week or two to sort out.

aloha, we're moving in the next couple of months too, thanks for starting this. good luck with it all....

Get removal co to include assembling beds at new place before they leave.

PLan for cleaner to come in after removal co have finished packing / loading - if you have any desire to leave your old house nice and clean for the new owners. Have help on hand to clean new place as you arrive so that you don't have to unpack into dirty cupboards.

ahem, I don't think your house IS a mess!!

Found this thread again at last ! How did it go Aloha ?

We finally did move and have been here almost 2 weeks. The packing end went ok but the unloading/unpacking is a nightmare. Unfortunately we weren't there when they started to load the truck , which meant it was in a very haphazard order. The kitchen boxes were first on so last off, apart from the kettle and tea, furniture in the middle and loads of boxes stacked around. Otherwise logically we could have been unpacking the kitchen whilst the furniture came off ready for the boxed contents. It was also not helped by the fact we were moving somewhere smaller - so the removal men had attitude at the thought of trying to get the stuff in and unloaded. They had never asked what the property was we were going to nor had their company (a big international relocation firm) been to view ahead of time. As a result we had to take it all off in one day, they dumped boxes anywhere they could find space (bathroom ones in the attic for example, so ds had no electric toothbrush for a week) and we still have boxes in the garage, attic and back bedroom 2 weeks on ! Even their attempt at unpacking ( ie. can you put those books on those shelves) was so pathetic that I rapidly gave up on their "help".

So the moral of ths story is to brief them exactly what order to load/unload and prepare them for any potential difficulties - limited space, tight stairs etc. This was our second move in a year and we may well do it again next summer !!