If you’ve ever gone through a house move before, you know exactly how stressful it can be. You’re dealing with loads of different types of stress as well, such as the anxiety surrounding either buying a new home or getting a new rental agreement, as well as the logistical nightmare of everything, and the physical exhaustion of carrying furniture and boxes.
So if you’re getting stressed just thinking about it, you’re not alone. This doesn’t mean that moving is doomed to be a nightmare, though. While it’ll always be relatively stressful, you can do a lot to make it easier to manage. Here are some tips to help you through your move.
Measure Your New Rooms
Unless it’s absolutely impossible to do so, you should view your new property before you move in or sign any contracts. You should also get measurements of the rooms, as this will make the moving process much easier. One thing that you really don’t want to happen is that, on your moving day, you discover that you can’t actually fit your furniture in the rooms.
Sofas are the most common issue when it comes to awkward furniture, but flatpack furniture can cause problems as well because it’s usually constructed after you buy it.
So get measurements of rooms and doorways, and measure your furniture as well. Some furniture might have to be partially disassembled to get it through doors, so make sure you have the instructions and keep the parts with you.
This can help you plan where things go in your home, which is especially important for larger pieces of furniture that you don’t want to have to constantly move about.
Invest in Good Packaging Material
One thing that people don’t always plan for is how they’ll pack their belongings. While reusing cardboard boxes from deliveries, like old Amazon parcels, is an affordable option, it isn’t always viable for your move.
These boxes aren’t as strong as proper packing boxes for moving, and they might have been damaged when you opened them. This means that you can’t use them for heavy items without risking them breaking.
They’re also often the wrong shape for what you want to put in them, and rarely have carrying cutouts to make them easier to carry. Finally, you’re unlikely to collect enough boxes over time for the full move, unless you want a house full of unused boxes.
Investing in good packaging material, such as boxes and packing paper or peanuts, is the best way to make sure your items are safe and secure in their boxes. You can even reuse these boxes, as they will last longer than boxes from online shopping.
Pack in Advance
Once you have your packaging material, consider packing in advance. While you don’t want to have to live out of boxes for months, you also don’t want to leave everything to the last minute.
As soon as you have an approximate moving date and you’re sure you’re moving, start packing. Start with things you don’t necessarily need all the time, such as ornaments, some clothes, and toys. Pack on a room-by-room basis so everything is kept in the same room and is easier to unpack later on.
When packing fragile items, make sure to use plenty of packing paper and other materials to keep them safe.
Label Your Boxes
Another way to make unpacking easier is to label your boxes. The most important things to put on the boxes are:
- The room the contents belong in
- Whether the contents are fragile
- Whether the box is heavy
- What the box contains
This allows you to pick the boxes up safely and move them straight to the correct room in your new house, saving loads of time when you unpack the boxes. You can also prioritize which boxes to unpack right away if you know what’s in them.
Use Storage Containers
One way to make moving a lot easier is to use storage containers. This is great for when you’re packing in advance, because you can move your packed stuff out of the way and keep it in a safe place. Then, when you do move, you can just send a vehicle to unload the container.
Storage containers are also great if you move out of your current house but can’t move into your new home yet. You can keep all of your stuff safe while you stay in a hotel or another temporary accommodation and wait for your new house to be ready to move into.
Or, if you’re moving long distances, storage containers can break up the journey and allow you to store some things closer to your new property.
Hire Movers
You shouldn’t try moving yourself, especially if you have a lot of furniture. Hiring a moving van will take a huge amount of stress out of the moving process, because you can easily transport large furniture that can’t fit into an ordinary car.
If you also hire movers, you can benefit from extra hands that have a lot of experience in the whole moving process, as well as tools to help carry large and heavy items safely.
Dealing With Pets and Kids
It’s a common saying that you should never work with children or animals. When it comes to moving house, pets and young children can get stressed because they don’t understand what’s happening, and they can also get underfoot and risk getting hurt.
In this case, find a safe place for them. Pets can be put in a room, or, like children, they can go to someone else’s home and get away from the stress of the move.
Settling In
Finally, once the moving day is over, you will want to actually feel at home. Make sure to sort your utilities in advance, so you have electricity and water in the first day. You should also pack a first-night bag so you can go to sleep even if you don’t have time to fully clean the house and unpack right away.
