Top tips for moving day
Moving house is one of the most stressful events in your life, or so we are told. So, how can you make moving day just a little easier? With a little bit of pre-planning, we’ll help you take the pain out of packing and help your first day in your new home happen without a hitch.
Label your boxes
It sounds obvious, but labelling the outside of your box with basic information makes moving a little bit simpler. Write down the name of the room the box needs to go into, and a simple summary of the contents. It saves you having to open all of the boxes in each room just to find a pillowcase or the urgently needed loo roll.
Prepare a box of essentials
Speaking of loo roll, prepare a box of essential items that you know you’ll need as soon as you arrive. Top of the list will be the kettle, teabags and some cups. You’ll also need a handy tool box of screwdrivers, hammer and other tools that will help put your furniture back together quickly.
Don’t forget your camera
Our houses are a nest of electronics, with wires travelling under carpets and along walls as we add new gadgets to old. It may all work perfectly in your old house as you’ve added one new piece of equipment at a time. In your new home, however, you’ll suddenly find a variety of TV’s, speaker systems, satellite boxes, games consoles and so on, an excess of mysterious wires and no idea where the remote control is.
Take a photograph of the back of the devices before you unplug them, and you’ll have a handy reference of which wire goes where to help you plug it all back in again. Adding a simple label to each one helps as well. No matter how carefully you try, you will also have to search for the remote though.
Book your pets into daycare
We are a nation of animal lovers. Our houses are full of cats and dogs, fish and reptiles and the odd parrot or two. Moving house can be just as unsettling for your pets as it is for you and the last thing you need on moving day is to have to hunt down a frightened feline or clear up after a nervous dog.
Before you move home look at local services and book your furry family members into day care. You’ll be able to move boxes and furniture in and out of the house without having to worry about constantly shutting doors, speeding things up considerably.
Bedrooms first
As you wander through the piles of boxes and wonder where to start, we recommend you go to the bedroom. Get your beds screwed together, fresh sheets in place and pillows plumped. At the end of a busy and tiring day, instead of being faced with another job to do, you’ll be able to fall straight into bed. A good night’s sleep, and you’ll be ready to start the rest of the unpacking in to the morning.
Plan your evening meal
After a very long day of carrying heavy boxes and setting up beds, the last thing you will want to do is cook. You could always opt for a takeaway, of course, but why not just prepare something simple in advance? A nice chilli is easy to reheat, and makes your first meal in your new house a little more homely.
A few last things to consider:
Don’t forget – make sure you have set up your redirection notice on your old home, so your post is sent on.
Ask the previous owners to make a list of preferred takeaways, bin days, the location of the stop cock and their recommended plumber, so you know the basics from day one.
And as always if you need extra storage when moving we highly recommend using a self storage unit.
Make moving a little simpler – pack all of the non-essential items ahead of time and place them in storage until you are ready for them. You’ll have less to carry about on moving day, and more space in your new home to manoeuvre the sofa, build wardrobes and unpack your clothes, and less chance of essential school uniforms getting lost in the pile.