Professional movers part 2 - When someone is doing your packng for you....

[fishnet]

How tidy are you beforehand.

We have a million things to do before we move next week and so the house looks like a bomb has hit it but I know I'm going to want to have an immaculate house when the movers arrive. Kind of defeats the object though if I sort everything first.

Do people generally make sure everything is tidied and sorted out before moving?

IMO the only reason to tidy is to make unpacking a bit easier. Don't bother making the house tidy but do try and get things in the right room so that similar things get packed up together. I went round with a marker labelling each box they did according to which room in the new house it should go to. I also dumped a whole load of non-essential stuff (ornaments etc) in one giant heap so that it all got packed up together and then stayed boxed up until everything else was unpacked. It looked horrendous when the movers arrived but worked really well.

Good tips thank you!

Neither time we've been packed have we tidied up at all, apart from the vital thing of putting everything that shouldn't be packed (blow up bed, duvet, clothes for a few days, nappies) in the cars. The movers marked the boxes with their origin room and contents, and then DH stood at the door of the new house and directed each box.

The guys doing the packing don't care if the house is immaculate or not as long as you give them tea !

Sort out "Stuff we will need the first evening" (e.g. kettle!) and pack that yourself, but otherwise don't worry too much.

This is good. My house is very rarely immaculate! I was worried I'd be in breach of some unspoken house moving rule!

Get rid of all your rubbish beforehand, and try to get stuff into the appropriate rooms. Don't kill yourself though.