10 Steps to Make Your House Move Easy
The time of moving homes is often one of mixed emotions. It can be a wonderful time for new beginnings as you venture from old stagnant waters and onto new adventures in a new home. It can also be quite stressful if you are trying to juggle work, signing a lease, or finalising financial matters with banks as well as getting ready for a move.
It might be that you are fortunate enough to have plenty of time on your hands to prepare for your newest relocation or it might be that it has been thrust upon you in a most unexpected and unwanted manner. You may elect to call professionals, such as TheMovingGuys or you might want to roll your sleeves up and do as much as you can by yourself.
Here are some helpful tips to take the hassle out of moving and help make the process smoother and stress-free.
1. Start early
Start the packing and moving process as early as you can so you don’t have to panic and rush through the procedure. It can be liberating and fun to embark on a new move, onwards, and upwards to new beginnings, leaving the old behind and ushering in new energy and good times!
You can never start too early. Gather boxes from supermarkets and local businesses to cut down on costs. Moving boxes can be quite expensive and if you pack up a whole house, you’ll be surprised at how many you’ll need.
2. Take inventory
Make lists of all your furniture and personal effects. Do this room by room and take photos of everything before the move. This will protect you if anything unfortunate happens to any of your possessions such as accidental breakage or if they go missing.
3. Inspect the new premises before relocating
Measure up all your furniture items and attend to your new premises before the moving truck arrives. It’s an idea to do this a few weeks beforehand, so you can ascertain where you’ll place things and what you may not have space for anymore. This will take the guesswork out of where you want things to go.
Write the names of the rooms on a piece of paper and either blue tac or tape it to the doors of the corresponding rooms. You might have “Parents room”, “Study”, and “Kids Room: Having this marked will assist your movers in where each room is.
It’s also an idea to take photos of your new premises before moving in to record any damages or other issues before moving in. This protects you and the moving company should any damages occur or should there be any issues down the track.
4. Get rid of what you don’t need before the move
This is why it’s best to start early. You may think that you’ll get rid of everything once you move into your new home, but that may not happen. This will save you time on packing and potentially some money on moving costs as well.
View it as an opportunity to start fresh and renewed with nothing holding you down or taking up space and energy when you enter your new home and begin that awesome fresh chapter in your life.
5. Label all your furniture
Whilst moving homes can be a very fast-paced and hectic time, if you let the put labels on your furniture to the corresponding rooms in your new home, this might be helpful. In some cases, the movers may not be able to check the labels, but if you have another person helping you, having that information readily available can help them direct the movers to the right places.
Getting the right furniture in the correct rooms straight away will save you time and energy later.
6. Make your moving boxes ultra-secure
Wrap the bottom of the box in thick tape in both directions and go partially up the sides to make the box sturdy and safe. Don’t overload them and be sure to label each box with a general description of what’s in them and what room they belong in. An example of this might be “book study”.
In all honesty, boxes are most likely to end up in various locations, they might not always finish up in the rooms they are meant to due to time and space constraints. But having the critters labelled will take the guesswork out of what is in each and where you want to move it to.
7. Wrap your breakables and consider using a different coloured tape
Be sure to wrap your breakables such as glassware and ornaments in newspaper or other paper and tape up the paper to hold the paper in place. When you pack glassware and breakables, take care not to over pack the box.
Ensure the items in the box can’t move. You may want to consider padding the inside of the box with pillows and towels to accommodate this.
8. Take anything personal and valuable in your own vehicle
Most moving companies do screen their workers, but if you truly value something or it’s personal in nature, move it yourself. Pack it in your car and transport it on your own steam. This will give you peace of mind and you’ll know exactly where it is.
If you have children, pack their favourite toys or a few crucial toys so they have something to play with and distract themselves with. Medications and other critical items should be included in this journey.
9. Unpack the bedroom and kitchen first
Moving can be truly daunting. The first night in your new residence, just focus on getting the beds made and a few key essential items in your kitchen, such as the kettle and other appliances you use regularly, and let the rest sit til the next day.
10. Pizza for dinner!
Don’t stress about cooking on the first night. Chances are there will be boxes and assorted bits and bobs everywhere. Order in and enjoy your first night home.
