Carry on Beautiful!

Waiting for your moving day can seem like a kid waiting for Christmas. It’s quite an exciting time – it’s the signal of a new beginning, you get to move into a new home and do what you want with it, and if you’re buying instead of renting, the thrill of the process being completely over is definitely one to celebrate. But when it comes to the day itself, you want to make sure that everything goes without a hitch to save on the stress that you want to avoid…

Get Friends Involved

If you have any friends or family that are free and willing on the day of your move, see if they’re available to lend a hand. It’s not a case of too many cooks spoil the broth; the more people that you have to help you when you’re moving house, the better. It’s more manual labour than anything else, so those who aren’t really in the physical position to do so aren’t going to add anything extra. You’ll need help carrying and unpacking boxes, so those who don’t want to move that far can at least sit on the other end and get stuff out. You need to warn them to set aside a whole day to help you. I was lucky enough to have my mum and brother as well as a few people with the van and I have no idea how I would have moved without those 5+ people helping me, and remember I was only moving from a one bedroom flat so we didn’t exactly have a lot of stuff!

Start Early

The earlier that you start, the earlier that you’ll finish. Nobody wants to be giving up their night to help you move, and as soon as darkness hits you’ll notice that everybody will start to lag. There’s just something about doing things in daylight rather than hidden in a coat of night. There’s a lot of things that can be done during daytime hours, such as trips to the real estate office and anywhere else that you need to go to get necessary items for moving; these things can’t be done past a certain time. 

Make Snacks

Nobody likes to work on an empty stomach, and the least that you can do for those who have offered a helping hand is get them some food ready. Make sure that you have drinks on hand during the entirety of the day – the first thing that you should be setting up on the other end is a drinks station so that friends and family can replenish their hydration levels before moving on and helping elsewhere. I’d advise having some juice or fizzy drinks for everyone to swig on while working and setting up your kettle ASAP so tea/coffee breaks are possible.

Get Everything Ready Beforehand

If help is turning up and you’re not ready to move, this will only delay what is otherwise a relatively simple process. Make sure that you’re not sat packing on the day and are ready to spring into action and get your stuff moved over. I’ve helped a few people move and there is nothing more annoying than showing up thinking you’re just going to move some boxes and furniture only to end up helping them pack their kitchen.

Pack Accordingly

It’s quite hard not to be able to pack related items in a box if you’re sat in one room, but you may have a clearer idea in your head of where they’re to go when they get to their new home. Bunch together everything that you want placing together rather than putting them in different boxes for your friends and family to work out.

I hope these tips help you with you’re move, they’re all things I wish I’d known way back when I first moved house…and the few times after that! This has been my tenth move so I’m more or less an expert at this point!

-Dana