Moving/packing hints and tips please

9 replies

MrsCosmopilite · 23/03/2014 10:30

We're due to move soon from a very poky flat to a house.
We've been at our current place 10+ years and needless to say have accumulated stuff. We have also acquired a cat and have a small child.

I'd be really grateful for any hints and tips on how we can get the packing started without completely disrupting everything. I have very little storage space, which means that if I pack things up into boxes, it's mostly going to be be in the way. A friend has offered to store some things in her garage, but I don't want to take liberties.

OP posts:

HandbagsandSnotrags · 23/03/2014 10:35

If you can in anyway afford it, pay the movers to pack you. 1 man packed our 2 bed terrace in less than a day and everything was organised and labelled and delivered to right room at other end. Bliss (especially as I had dd1 on the packing day!).

Can't remember what it cost, few hundred I think but I will never pack myself again. If we move it'll be coated into our moving budget.

specialsubject · 23/03/2014 10:47

if your friend has made the offer, say 'thank you'! As long as it is only for a certain time, accept it in the spirit in which it is made.

the other option is a storage unit, but TBH a packing service will cost about the same.

Original poster

MrsCosmopilite · 23/03/2014 11:33

Unfortunately paying the movers to pack us is not something we can afford, nor storage. When we move we're paying off our mortgage so we're strapped for £££s. :(

Will definitely take the friend up on the offer. My 'plan' as such is to pack up stuff that's in our loft first (and get rid of what we don't need). Boxed items we do want can stay up in the loft until move day. Any stuff we don't need around the flat in the short term can then be boxed and taken to friend's garage.

I was thinking of packing up a suitcase with essential clothes for a few days, and a couple of boxes with essential foods/cutlery/kettle/toaster/crockery etc.

Definitely the boxes will be labelled.

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JumpingJackSprat · 23/03/2014 11:37

I'm doing the same. We have done all the main rooms and cleared out some s pace in the loft so stuff we don't use every day but still want are going up there and we are being very brutal with what we are taking and what e are chucking. You have to ask yourself if you really want to find space for this in the new house ... if no, chuck it!

cattypussclaw · 23/03/2014 11:39

From a feline perspective, I'd say put the cat into a cattery from a few days before you leave until a few days after you've moved in. Saves a huge amount of stress on both sides.

PigletJohn · 23/03/2014 11:41

The translucent plastic crates are handy. They will stack, keep stuff clean, and you can see what's inside.

Original poster

MrsCosmopilite · 23/03/2014 13:35

Cat hasn't had jabs so she'll be moving the day we do. However, there is ample room at the new place to have her shut away from any removal people, boxes, noise, etc. with her food, water and litter tray. The room I'm thinking of has a laminate floor too. We're only relocating 5 miles up the road. :)

Plastic crates is a great idea, Piglet, and Jumping will be clearing etc. as of next week I think. Space is not an issue when we relocate thankfully, as there is a garage and a shed. However, I'm loath to take things we don't actually need.

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WhoNickedMyName · 23/03/2014 13:43

We moved our cat on the day. Shut him up in an empty room the morning we were moving out, with food, water and litter tray, and he was the last thing to be brought out of the house we were moving from. We did what you plan to do at the new place - a room with tiled floors, food, water, litter, and kept him in there until everything was in.

As for 'stuff' - be really ruthless. If it's lived in the attic for ages, then how much do you really use or need it? We did lots of selling on a local Facebook page and made enough to cover our removal men costs and as we're unpacking we are still finding things that we've realised that we don't actually want or need in our new home.

TheBitterBoy · 23/03/2014 13:47

I had a system where I numbered each box, and I had a notebook where each page was numbered and had a general list of what was in the corresponding box. It was useful for months afterwards, especially when hunting for something in the loft, I could look in the book for which box it was in before going up, so I knew which box I was looking for.
As far as packing and storing the packed items, when we moved from our small two bed flat, the week before the move we sacrificed our second bedroom, moved DS in with us and used the bedroom to store packed boxes.

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