Moving house 1st time in 18 years

[Lotty32]

Any top tips apart from the obvious?
Have a removal van booked - and am dealing with cancelling utilities but feeling a bit in limbo!
Moving in 3 weeks.
Thx

You downsizing?

Upsizing

Chance to declutter. I got packing boxes from removals people some stuff went to charity. Label every box. I bought two rolls of FRAGILE tape to indicate to removers and me to be careful. When you move is so much easier to direct men to right room

My top tip - get a skip. And be ruthless. You may be upsizing but you don’t want to transport a load of crap there with you.

If you are packing yourself, look into getting coloured packing tape for your main rooms - means all your boxes go straight to the correct room and much easier for the removals to know what goes where. It’s saved us a ton of time on the day and when it came to unpacking.

Put anything you’ll need for the week after moving separately together and keep together on the day - thinking duvets, clothes, any chargers, important paperwork and toiletries etc.

my top tip is to consider everything in the new house and make a plan about where everything will live - down to which drawer etc. it helped me get the new house in order very quickly as I had already worked out where everything would go.

Start with

Loft
Garage
Shed

The house you’re moving to- likely to be clean enough to move in or need cleaning around all your boxes and furniture? If budget and time allows I’d hire a company to go and clean it so you can walk straight in and set up rooms.

Pack beds and bedding into the removal van last so they are first to come out and set them up straight away so you can fall into bed that night as soon as you hit the wall.

Have as much as possible boxed, labelled and grouped by room and stored in the room nearest to the exit you’ll be moving everything out through. Load all that stuff first into the van.

Have everything packed and ready to go by the day before moving. Have rooms as empty as possible and clean as much as you can before the removals van arrives.

Super helpful many thx x

Definitely have a clear out so you're not taking any shit with you! It's the perfect opportunity! I've moved 8 times in the last 7 years (a renter 😢) be ruthless - I love chucking stuff out before a house move!!

Hope you don’t mind me lurking. Also haven’t moved for 18 years and have accepted an offer.

All really helpful!
Should be moving in the next couple of weeks so starting to box stuff and this is a helpful thread.

Don't forget to redirect your mail and change the default address on anything like Amazon.

If you aren't able to get cleaners to do a clean of your new place then take your vacuum, duster and polish with you rather than have it packed. You may have time to do a quick clean before the removals van arrives.
Put pets in boarding for a few days. Our cat managed to go AWOL about 15 minutes before we locked up.

@Livingintheclouds

Don't forget to redirect your mail and change the default address on anything like Amazon.

Yes, and if you have any recurring Amazon subscriptions, for some reason you need to update that address separately to your main one.

There are lists online to give you ideas of all the organisations you need to inform.

Old threads on here really helped me organise a move a few months back after 14 years in the same house.

I agree with getting a skip. And a tape gun - these save loads of time. Also, some plastic wrap (like giant rolls of clingfilm) so you can wrap drawers and move them as is instead of packing the stuff in them. Big laundry style bags are great for bedding and coats.

I always declutter before moving. Label each box. I put all my important documents in my work bag. Pack a box of essentials like the kettle, mugs, tea, coffee, a bottle of wine and the cats dishes and food. I also pack a suitcase with the bed linen for each bed, pyjamas, a towel each, toiletries and a couple of outfits each. These three things and the cats come in the car with me.

Once you are in and the beds are put together make the beds. So all you have to do is eat and get in!

Fab top tips many thx