Moving house people often say is one of the most stressful life events along with divorce and bereavement. I think though like anything its alot easier if you know how to go about it and what to expect. I think its also really good even if not moving to have the occasional life laundry and have a fresh start as clutter and mess is stress.
You possibly already know this about me but in case you don't, I have always loved making and styling things. I'm a serial house mover, I love interiors so much that when the house is finished I'm itching to move on to the next. I love to pass on savvy interior ideas and anything that helps save people time and money round the home.
Our current house is finished and the challenge of another project is far too tempting and once again in a few weeks we will be moving to a house that needs a bit of TLC.
This will be our 7th move so moving cant really be that bad after all can it!. I thought while its fresh in my mind i would share the secrets of why I'm not getting stressed and how you can avoid it too.
I will be doing a weekly post from now on called the room set to include interior and home tips to save money, time and for living stylishly for less . If you would like to find me on twitter im tweeting @theroomset.
The room set Top tips for stress free moving ............
1. If like me you hate filling in boring forms and making numerous phone calls to call centres to sort the mortgage etc etc let some else do it for you. Most Estate agents have a financial adviser linked to them and more often than not its a free service but obviously check this first. You can even still use the financial adviser when porting your existing mortgage like we are. This lovely person then fills in all the forms etc for you leaving you free to get packing.
2. Although someone is doing the form filling for you during a move you will need to keep finding various documents and often this is where stress kicks in. Unless your a very organised person or like Monica out of friends chances are your not going to easily find them when asked and get stressed looking.
Therefore before you even pack a box sort and edit your filling cabinet throw away anything you no longer need and neatly file the rest. Get all the lose documents from drawers all round the house and put them in one place properly filed. This will also give you a fresh start when you get to the new house.
3. Now you have all the documents to hand grab your diary and write a moving list. A record of all the suppliers you need to inform your moving give meter readings too on moving day etc etc write their telephone number and your account number down ready so you don't need to have the document to hand when ringing them a few days before moving.
4. Make a moving tub saves hunting a round for the parcel tape etc every time you pack a box.A Moving tub is a small box that includes parcel tape, scissors, marker pen, newspaper, and a notebook and pen rubbish bags and charity bags. This then moves round with you as you pack saving you time and energy trying to remember under what pile of mess you left the parcel tape .
4. Many people start packing by clearing the loft i think its better to start in the spare room or office as you can then create a room for packing and keep normality in the rest of the house as long as possible this is really important if you have children or pets. You then have a cleared room ready to bring the loft junk down into.
5 Start packing the spare room by bagging up items for the charity shop as you go. Pack things by type and clearly label the box with a black marker pen which room its for in new house and describe contents briefly on the box so you don't need to rip open ten the other end just to find your hairdryer on the first morning.
6 Next empty clear and pack the garage again this is a little used room that generally attracts clutter more than it attracts parking cars. Once clear again you have a space that you can put the packed boxes from other rooms in without having to live looking at them.
7 now its time to tackle the loft as you have cleared space in spare room and garage to sort it into, most things in the loft aside from Christmas Dec's tend to be destined for the charity shop as if its made it to the loft it suggests you did not want to see it anymore!
8 Drawers and cupboards get sorted and packed next and your house still manages to remain looking like home a little longer. Wardrobes be ruthless if you have not worn it in a year do you really need it. Pack away and label items not for the current season this will then only leave a small bit of wardrobe packing nearer move day.
9 Book shelves and units this will be the start of the house starting to feel empty so try not to do this till 10 days before the move especially if you have small children as change can make them more twitchy than usual.
10 This should now just leave you to pack at the last min everyday items you use all the time. These last boxes i use a red marker pen to identify them the other end as last packed. Generally last packed are first needed.
If you have children i definitely recommend using a removal firm on the day as much quicker and less stressful. I always take the hoover and a few cleaning products in my car rather than loading them in the removal lorry this is just in case the last owners did not leave the new pad as clean as they should of.
The other thing to definitely take in the car is the kettle a few cups, tea milk etc as you will definitely all want a cuppa when you get there. Making the removal guys tea and biccies always goes down well.
These tips are also really useful if you are not moving as they are a good basis for a bit of a life laundry and we all need one of those occasionally.
Hope you found this useful , its always lovely to hear from you so feel free to leave a comment or add additional tips.
Happy moving
Thought of the day.................... A change is as good as a rest.
