First time moving (properly, that is) tips?!

[RagingJellyBean]

So I'm moving house, and I've done this before but it was never furniture. Just boxes of belongings from one rented flat to another. But the house I'm in now was empty so we've filled it with proper furniture, big sofa/coffee tables/beds/wardrobes etc.

I'm dreading the move because we've taken it on on our own, and rented a van for the day we move. We'll have to dismantle the furniture and load it onto the van ourselves etc same at the other end.

So, my question is - any tips?! Anything to make this go as smooth as possible? Moving is end of this month and I still haven't gathered up enough boxes. Eeek!

tip - don't. We all make this mistake once and say never again, so save yourself the trouble.

unless the two houses are under a mile apart, and you have people to leave in each to save endless locking/unlocking, you'll kill yourselves doing this.

get a man with a van at least.

Unless you are on a very strict budget, pay for packing and dismantling/reassembling beds/wardrobes etc.
Otherwise call in some favours, get some help, and yes at the very least 1-2 persons with a van. It is easy to get quotes, we were pleasantly surprised.
Good luck.

It's fine! I did this for the first time at about 18, and at 37 I've never yet moved any other way. See if you can recruit any friends to help in return for pizza and beer, many hands do make light work, and even having someone who can watch a pile of stuff by the van is really helpful. Hire the biggest van you can legally drive - it takes stupid amounts of planning to fit everything in a smaller van and the savings isn't worth it. Get a trolley if you need to move any appliances, one that does stairs if you have any stairs to handle. Get way more boxes than you think you need and pack ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING before you start the move. Pack bedding and clothes double bagged in garden binbags so you can use them to stop stuff falling over and for padding in the van. If you have appliances or other really heavy stuff try to get a van with a tail lift.

I'm sure there's more, but that's a good start.

Oh, when disassembling furniture, put all the screws etc for a piece in a sturdy bag, label it, and tape it to the furniture. for things like beds, tape together sides, slats, etc to make them easier to move.

Pack the kettle last, together with everything you need to make tea/coffee, so you can unpack it first and at least in all the chaos at the other end you will be able to make yourself and any helpers a well deserved

Freecycle / charity shop / chuck away as much as possible before you move!

I have a tip - get the van for 48 hours, not 24. We did this, DP packed it the night before, left it on the drive, drove it over and was ready and waiting at 8am. Worked great.

Also, as others have said, lots of help - we had both sets of parents helping, so dp and fil did the heavy lifting, mil at new house directing and cleaning, me and mum at old house cleaning as they moved furniture out, worked great. We ended up at pub for couple hours for lunch as we were out the old house and finished too early!

well, if you must; Luton van with a tail lift if you are legal to drive one.

I really hope your move is end July and not today... get packing and chucking NOW, and if you can beg local garage/shed space for things (garden tools, pot plants, boxes of stuff you don't immediately need) do that and collect it afterwards.

ask on freecycle for packing materials (re-gift afterwards) and get boxes from supermarkets. Get lots of packing tape and label everything. Clean out kitchen cupboards as you empty them, then stop using them.

also get your post redirect set up and get organised with the things you'll need to do on the day.

Thank you all so much!
Invaluable tips and it's already helped. I've recruited loads of people & also a babysitter on the day to make things go smoother!

Go to new house the day before / first thing, with a new kettle (5 cheapy from Asda, can be kept afterwards as a spare), tea, coffee sugar, squash, biscuits, a few mugs etc and set up in a corner of the kitchen.
Label every box in some way - last time we used colours

Sorry, posted too soon.
Each room had a colour, each box had a corresponding colour. Big x on the top with a sharpie, means you can see at a glance where it's to go.
Take apart as little as possible.
Make sure you know exactly where the bedding is. Pack it in bin bags, labelled, and a bed per bag - duvet covers and pillowcases still on. Dead easy to make the bed at bedtime.

Unless you're having someone in to clean the house you're leaving, then don't underestimate the time it'll take for you to clean the empty house once you've removed everything. Literally everything needs cleaning - skirting boards, cupboards, carpets, bathroom, windows, doors. It takes AGES.

^^ plus:
Box with tea/coffee making stuff, milk, sugar, kettle, mugs, spoons, biscuits, loo roll, kitchen roll, bin bags, spare light bulbs, cleaning wipes, menus for local delivery take-ways so you don't have to cook or collect a meal - keep that box with you.
Make up the beds first so you can fall into them when you are knackered at the end of the day.
Expect it to take longer than you planned.
Good luck.

Place marking as we will be doing this soon too, very keen to minimise stress

you don't get access to the new house immediately and certainly not before you've sold yours. Which means you need to be out of the old house first.

so the idea of setting up the kettle won't work, sorry.

Well it's a council house & a mutual exchange - we're both swapping on the same day so we will have access early on and she has also said we can drop off any boxes filled with non-essential items before the swap so we don't have so much to take :)