HOW TO MOVE HOUSE

I moved house two weeks ago and now we are through the majority of the unpacking, it feels less like we’re living in someone else’s air bnb and more like our home, I thought I’d put together a little ‘house move guide’, while everything was still fresh in my head, because this is the kind of thing I would have loved to have read while we were in the thick of it.

Pack an overnight suitcase:

We had our entire house packed up the day before we moved, which was stored in the removals van overnight. All that was left in the house were our mattresses, so we camped out on our final night, with fish and chips on the floor for dinner. I made sure that I’d packed us each a small suitcase with everything we would need for that night, plus the next couple of days (PE kits, underwear, clothes, toiletries, favourite toys), which lessened the pressure the other side too as I knew where everything essential was.

Try to get ahead of the game:

Which leads me onto the movers. The guys we used were absolutely incredible and a joy to have around. They took such care of our items, they were fun and helpful, and took all of the stress out of the situation. We decided to pack up the house the day before we completed, which took them from around 9am until 3pm. They stored it all in the van, and came back the next morning for the final bits. This meant that as soon as we got the go-ahead that we had completed (1pm in our case), they met us at the new house and could immediately start the unpack, rebuild of bed/sofas/tables. We used GTR Removals – we were recommended them by a friend, we paid full price and I would recommend them 10x over.

Keep the essentials to hand:

Packing/moving is thirsty work. Make sure to keep mugs (or recyclable hot drink cups) to one side, along with a jar of coffee, box of teabags and milk. Crisps, sweets and biscuits will go down a treat too – for you and for your team. That first cup of tea in the new place tastes like heaven. You don’t want to be hunting through the boxes to find the caffeine.

Roll and go:

The morning you move, roll your bedding up into a sausage (pillows on the duvet, lift up the sheet and roll), then pop it into bin bags, straight into the car and then roll it straight onto the beds at the next destination. This will save vital minutes on the most stressful of days, and ensure that when you’ve finally stopped unpacking boxes around midnight, you have somewhere ready made to lay your head.

Think about the logistics:

For us, it made total sense to move mid-week, while the kids were at school. This meant that they were taken care of between 8.30am-3.30pm on move day, and the following days, giving us seven vital hours to get unpacked and sorted out before the weekend hit, when we could enjoy the new house with them. We also made their rooms our priority on moving day, making sure they were properly unpacked before they came home from school, followed by the kitchen. Everything else was secondary.

Unpack once:

It might be tempting just to unpack everything to get it out of the boxes, and then think about where it should live later, but in reality you will regret that. The best piece of advice I was given, was to take a minute to think where something should live (particularly in terms of the kitchen) and unpack it into its proper place. You will thank yourself so much for doing this the next day.