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Moving house can be one of the most stressful times of your life. Finding a new property, going through the sales process, packing up your belongings and finally arriving at your new home only to find you’ve forgotten your keys…! Countless things can go wrong, so check out these common mistakes made by homeowners and how you can avoid them happening to you!
When it’s time to move house, try to downsize your belongings, even if you’re moving into a bigger space. Nothing ruins the excitement and ambiance of a fresh start like that ugly old bookcase that you’ve secretly hated for years taking up valuable space in your new living room! Try to see your new home as a blank canvas and only take items that you really need and love with you to start the next chapter of your life.
Before you start throwing things away with reckless abandon, write a checklist of the essentials for each room of your new home. As tempting as it may be to throw away those half-empty bottles of shampoo in your bathroom or that tea-stained mug taking up space in your kitchen cupboards, remember that these are the items that you’ll probably reach for first when you move in!
You can throw away broken or stained items, donate anything salvageable to charity or even sell some of your higher end pieces to earn back a little spending money for decorations for your new house.
Although saving money is great, moving house isn’t the time to scrimp and save. Your friend’s cousin might have a van you can use for cheap, but are they going to take care of your belongings the way a professional moving company will? Cutting corners at such an important time can negatively affect your move. Instead, shop around for a quality but affordable removals service that offers insurance for your belongings and packing services for cumbersome furniture. Your wallet might not thank you right away, but your future self definitely will.
Not labelling your boxes
You arrive at your new home, flop down on your sofa, and decide you fancy a cuppa before you start to unpack. There’s only one problem. You didn’t label your boxes and now your kettle is lost somewhere under piles of clothes, laundry detergent and cutlery.
To solve this nightmarish problem, make sure you label your boxes clearly when you’re packing them. Even if you just write what room the items go in, that’s better than nothing! Ideally try to write a few key words such as “kitchen – bowls and plates” so you can quickly glance over your packed boxes and know what’s in them.
If you want to be super-organised, pack an ‘essentials’ box for the first night or two in your new home. Pack up your kettle and some tea or coffee, a glass for cold drinks, some toilet rolls, shampoo and shower gel. Pack your chargers and important paperwork in this box too, so it can serve as a one-stop shop for everything you’ll need on move-in day even if the rest of your boxes end up in storage.
It goes without saying that moving is stressful. However, if you plan ahead and allow yourself plenty of time to get each step of the process done properly, you can relax a lot sooner at the other end!
When it comes to packing up your belongings, try to dedicate a few days to organising, decluttering and donating unwanted belongings before you try to tackle the house as a whole. Although this seems like you’ll be spending more time than necessary seeing if your belongings still spark joy, it’ll save you time in the long run as you’ll know where everything is, and know it’s earned its place in your new home.
Make a list of all the jobs you might forget prior to moving day. You don’t want to be frantically trying to defrost your freezer last-minute when you should be relaxing in your new living room – and remember to pack up everything from the loft too!
Though it’s sometimes unavoidable, trying to juggle moving day with your children and/or your pets running around can send stress levels soaring. If you can, have someone take care of your little ones (the two-legged and four-legged varieties!) on moving day so you don’t need to worry about looking out for any packing-based disasters, forgetting to walk the dog or breaking up arguments over that toy they haven’t played with for years but don’t want to throw away..!
When you know your move-in date and your new address, contact your service providers to let them know. This can prevent too much down-time without broadband or TV packages, but can also ensure that you’re not billed for the services you’re no longer using at your old house. If you’re moving into a rented property, check to see whether bills are included in your rent, and who the service providers are, so you’re not paying twice.
There’s nothing more frustrating than not knowing which cable is for which appliance. Before you pack away your TV, games consoles or computer, label the wires or take a photo of them with the appliance so you have a ‘cheat sheet’ when it comes to setting up your electronics at your new house!
You can prevent cables from becoming tangled by wrapping them with an elastic band (or a hair tie if you can’t find any rubber bands!)
Moving house is a learning curve and you’ll find the best way that works for you, your family and your situation. Even if it feels like everything is going wrong, try to focus on the positive – you’re moving into a brand new chapter of your life and it’s time for a fresh start. Even if you forget to follow all of these tips, we hope you enjoy moving day as much as possible and finally get to relax in your new home!