Moving house is always stressful. There can be many reasons for moving, whether just relocating to another neighbourhood or upsizing because of a new arrival, but it’s still a stressful time to go through transitioning from one place with your personal belongings to another place.
Things can get even trickier if you have any items that need extra care when handling, such as fragile units or antiques, large musical instruments or valuable artwork. This means more considerations to be taken with your removal company to ensure they are trained to help. Professional movers have the experience needed to transport these items safely. Here are some commonly overlooked yet simple tasks to help your moving experience.
Declutter Your Belongings
Before you start your initial pack, start sifting through your belongings and start to declutter. Decluttering you home is essential to do every now and again anyway, but it’s even more important to do just before a big move. Arrange your old stuff into three piles: The throw pile – being things no good even to donate; the stuff that would be no use to or even offend a charity. Next is the donation pile, followed by the sell or borrow out pile. Decluttering is a good way to keep removal costs down too as you won’t be moving as much.
Create An Inventory
When you have a good foundation to see what you have in your home, next comes creating an inventory. This helps you to keep an eye on all your belongings to make sure nothing is lost throughout the whole moving house process. Your removal company can help you create an inventory and some may offer services to do it for you if they have been hired to pack your belongings, which if it is within budget, is also worth considering.
Pack As Early As You Can
Once you get to the stage where you are to compare surveyors, get conveyancing quotes, and set your moving date – It’s time to start packing.
To be most productive, make a start on packing as soon as you can. Get together a plan of action how you will pack along with all of the different packing material you’ll need. A logical way to start the pack-up is doing it room by room. Start with the rooms you use the least such as the sheds and garage, moving onto the attic/loft space then spare bedrooms (if any).
For larger properties; especially those who are doing quite a distance with the move, renting services such as storage unit rentals. This is handy for those bulky, not immediately needed items that you can plan to pick up late. There is a load more information regarding these services online.
When boxing up, with a marker you should label boxes with the room it’s going to and a brief summary of the items that are in the box. This will minimalize any confusion when you’re unpacking.
Update Your Address
Generally, post can take up to a week to be delivered on a second class stamp. So it’s a good idea to start changing your address with all of the companies or organisations you are associated with, such as your bank, the doctor’s surgery and dentist 2 weeks before you move. Diverting your address is also a service that the Royal Mail offer or if you have a PO Box with your local post office then you would be able to pick them up as and when they arrive.
It’s also important to make preparations and set up your utilities such as council tax, energy amenities and any home insurances, prior to moving house. Not only will this reduce the stress once you’re moved in and unpacking, but you will have more time to settle in and feel at home in your new place.
Next is the big move. When everything is prepped and ready to go, all that’s needed is the removals company to come and take your belongings and transport them safely to your new home. If you are a capable and achievement seeking individual and feel that you can take the task on yourself you could always hire a van. If the stress wasn’t enough though, why risk damaging your prized possessions for not having the correct harnesses.
Moving house has its perks but it is not a glamorous experience. Have you moved house recently and have tips to make it more pleasant and enjoyable? Let us know in the comments below.
