Aargh. Talk me through packing please, before I have a meltdown

[Thurlow]

Two adults, two young children, a bazillion books (literally), a loft that has been a dump repository for a decade, and just one week to do it during which we are all working

Let alone the fact that our poky little terrace isn't actually big enough to store all the bloody boxes once they are packed!

Need half the house packed for Saturday, the other half for the Monday after.

What's the best plan of attack? Decluttering the loft, shed and understairs cupboard this weekend, obviously. Kitchen the night before the final move.

I'm feeling completely overwhelmed, we had meant to have several weeks between exchange and completion but for various reasons it's ended up being a week, and now I'm flapping like a headless chicken... Hit me with tips, please!

It doesn't sound like you have time to declutter so you will have to pack everything and declutter the other end.

I always pack an essentials box with tea, coffee, pet food and dishes, mugs, milk, loo roll, the kettle and a bottle of wine. I put all important documents in my work bag. I pack a suitcase with bed linen for each bag, towels, toiletries, pyjamas and an outfit each. These three things go in the car with me.

Once you have moved and the movers have built your beds you can make them up to just fall in after a takeaway.

I agree, I packed a big three bed house all on my own in a week.
i bought several giant rolls of bubble wrap from amazon and loads of packing boxes from the removal company.
i worked from attic down, chucked all the junk in the garden and took it all down to the dump at the end of the week.
I could not afford a skip.
I was ruthless and threw about half of everything away.
Boxes were lablled with what room they came from and all the bubble wrapped fragile stuff was marked fragile with red marker pen on the box.

Are the movers supplying packing materials, at least?

Make sure you get wardrobe boxes - they have a hanging rail so you just move everything from the wardrobe into the box, still on the hanger. Saves lots of folding time (and needing to iron out the inevitable creases afterwards!).

Get packing paper! Lots and lots of it. Definitely the best thing for packing delicates.

Also invest in a couple of tape guns for making up and sealing boxes quickly, lots and lots of rolls of parcel tape, and a pack of sharpies for labelling.

Buy more boxes that you think you could possibly need, and in lots of different sizes. You'll probably still run out.

Also consider specialist boxes to make packing awkward stuff more quickly - wardrobe boxes are great, and will make packing and unpacking hanging clothes the job of minutes.

I also agree with the pp who said to keep checking with the movers if any packers have become available as other people's move dates shift around.

Good luck!

We moved at the beginning of the year during a lockdown.
We could only book 1 tip slot a week and all the charity shops etc were closed. We ended up getting a tip (and then another one!) and just had to throw some stuff away that could have been re-used but we just didn’t have the time with everything closed.

Lifewit Clothes Storage Bag 90L Large Capacity Organizer with Reinforced Handle Thick Fabric for Comforters, Blankets, Bedding, Foldable with Sturdy Zipper, Clear Window, 3 Pack, Grey www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Q75RL93/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_g_EBRMFCEXWP63HSWZV788?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

These are brilliant for clothes, bedding, towels, curtains. I used them for my last move and still use them as storage.

Put a box in each room, walk round asking "do I need you in the next week?" If no it goes in the box. And just keep going.

LABEL YOUR BOXES WITH MORE THAN JUST THE ROOM

Good luck! I find moving very satisfying

Thanks for all the tips!

It's frustrating that we don't have the time or space for a proper clear out (we don't have space for a skip really) but going to start trying our best here...

Have you got enough boxes? Make sure you have enough boxes NOW - you will use far more than you think. I got loads from FB marketplace. For a 3 bed with full attic and cellar we used over 80 boxes.

Order a 100m roll of bubble wrap from Amazon, it will arrive tomorrow and plenty of parcel tape and sharpies and scissors.

At this point I don’t think the order matters as everything needs to be packed. It takes much longer than you think (sorry) so you will need to be packing in any available moment. I would get a skip if you can, I ordered one which arrived the next day and it will save time doing dump runs. No point packing things which need to be binned.

Stack boxes in the room they came from, it’s only for a short time.

Label boxes with everything inside - eg lamps, books, toaster. Then write the room on the top and all 4 sides. You will thank yourself for this at the other end.

Pack as if you are going on holiday for essentials - keep suitcases back for toiletries, clothes for a few days, hairdryer, toys etc. Also keep a box of kitchen essentials, tea bags, basic first aid etc and keep it separate. Don’t let anyone touch it!

Clothes/bedding/cushions can go in bin bags. Towels and sheets can also be used to pack fragile items or to pad out heavy boxes.

Banana boxes are amazing for books if you can get hold of some.

Be super ruthless about what you will need in the next week. If it means you need to live on takeaways then so be it. The kitchen takes ages to pack to I would start here with DH clearing the attic.

Also if you possibly can I would try and organise some time off work!

Buy a tape gun. It will save you SO MUCH time

Friends around, loft cleared at least, even if it's all piled in our nedroom! Dining room mostly done, will finish living room today as well. I'll start on the kitchen tomorrow and be ruthless - 4 plates, 4 cups etc.

The skip isn't a possibility unfortunately but we have an alleyway where we are piling dump stuff and will pay a man with van to help there if needed.

I only have a half days leave left to take but will pack in the day and work in the evening next week, I think - at least then the kids will be out of the way!

Oh, and we will have about 150 boxes i think!

We recently moved - from 3 bed. Also loads of books. Packers came and packed fir us - took them 1 whole day and there were 4 of them. They used smaller boxes for books, so not too heavy to move. As a guide, I think we were 140 boxes in total!!

Friends around, loft cleared at least, even if it's all piled in our nedroom! Dining room mostly done, will finish living room today as well. I'll start on the kitchen tomorrow and be ruthless - 4 plates, 4 cups etc

Good work!

Get a skip (or 3 over 3 weeks in our case). If you do get a skip, get the stuff ready before it arrives, we had a skip sized area on our patio to gauge it. Then fill skip in 1 day and make sure they return in the morning to pick it up. Then prepare stuff for next skip.

Chuck anything you don't need again - not the books, we had over 30 boxes of them when we moved!

Pack stuff you are least likely to use first

Mark the boxes with the ROOM then CONTENT on the top and 2 sides.

If moving a long way pack an emergency box, we found out after they loaded the van that they weren't going to the new house until the next day. Night on floor with some sleeping bags from tesco.... not fun.

Good luck!

Awwww what lovely friends

Call charity shops and see if they'll collect, BHF used to if you had enough. Any furniture items, books, dvds you don't want to move, send them off to a charity shop.

@ChristmasPlanning

Awwww what lovely friends

When I'm panicking I have to remind myself that we are very lucky and have plenty of friends around who will help if we need it!

Or gumtree /FB marketplace too

I downsized by about 70 percent but admittedly I did that over 6 months. Just start and keep going every single day. A skip is a brilliant idea. Start with the loft and the places with the most to go.

I think I would do my best to take a couple of days (or more) off work.

Have your removal co brought you a load of empty boxes? Ours came in 2 sizes: book boxes and others.

If you're in a high footfall area just stick stuff you don't want outside. If it's useable it'll be gone in the day. We hired a skip during lockdown when we were decluttering but only used a third of it as we gave first dibs to anyone walking by - bar a couple of items we got shot of everything that way.

If you can be ruthless now it'll be less of an arse ache at the other end. Books are a good one for this - we got shot of over 100 fiction books (that had been read but weren't worth another re read) this way. Of course you can also charity shop them but if stuck for time I'd go down this route first.

OP, if you can't accommodate a skip, could you locate one or more Hippo Bags? They're smaller and much much lighter

www.hippowaste.co.uk/hippobag/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA47GNBhDrARIsAKfZ2rBo5cYyAI3g7twOo92TY-scnrMG22NLnymYtErm2eg0WsXbmplCeeEaArhjEALw_wcB

Seconded to get a tape gun (though I hate the things, they are very irritating to use, but still far faster than having to cut or tear tape).

Be sure that any medications you may need urgently are kept separately and stay with you. Keep duplicates in places known to everyone and easily accessible during the move if you can. I have heard of a tragedy where medication was packed up and was needed urgently and wasn't findable in time.

How's it going @Thurlow? Surviving? Been wondering how you were getting on. Totally overinvested as I've just moved