Moving Home
Moving home hassle free, is it possible?
Yes! However, it does take some preparation.
What you are effectively taking on is a stage production. Your own one!
Do you want to take everything with you to your new home?
Can you downsize before the move?
Are you going to attempt this yourself, or source relocation help to make the entire process feel far more manageable and less stressful?
A few helpful tips….
Let things go
Collect/buy boxes – always get 50% more than you think you will need. Make sure you can take them back and get the full price if not used. It takes the steam out of your momentum when you run out of boxes. Better to have more than less.
Ask friends and family if they will help you pack and/or unpack. You can go a bit bonkers after a few days of packing.
Do you have children that need to be cared for? If you can, I would highly suggest they are looked after. Bring them to your new home when the removalists have left, for the excitement and fun of setting up their new rooms.
Know which are your messy cupboards. Pack them first. It’s often the kitchen cupboard under the sink. I have done everything else but these messy cupboards, and right at the end discovered they are still full. My shoulders have dropped with what would have been a simple task, but it felt like the straw that broke the camel's back!
Set aside priority boxes that you need to come off the truck and be identified quickly. These are your toiletries, towels and bedding for you and your family, plus the kettle, coffee/tea and snacks to keep you going at the other end. Plus, your perishable items. Either put them on the truck or in your car.
Have a cleaning company or generous friends & family come in and clean your old home. You will be so grateful this was handled for you.
Your new home…
Set the beds up as the number one priority. As the day goes on, you will be very tired and wish they were ready for you to fall into.
Unpacking – if you have a garage or a spare room, put the boxes in there to be sorted. Or use the lounge room and stack up against the wall. I have found this to be a practical solution. Otherwise, you are navigating around boxes, and things can get broken. I have done this the hard way myself many times, thinking I would get through a lot more unpacking than I did. Then for days I have lived with boxes everywhere. This way a box comes in, gets unpacked, flattened, stacked and then goes out. Have the removalists put the furniture in situ, and then you bring the boxes into the room you are working in, as you are ready to unpack them.
If you have super heavy boxes and you want the removalists to handle those, mark them so that they move them for you. If you have an upstairs, ask them to take everything up that belongs up there, but stack it into one room if you can.
If you are lucky enough to have lots of helpers, you can have the boxes delivered to each room. Then you can assign a room to an angel helper, and like magic, the room is unpacked.
Always get 50% more boxes than you think you will need!
