Moving house is never easy, In fact, I could probably go as far as to say it’s up there with one of the worst experiences of my life. I have only ever moved house two times in my life and unluckily for me, both these times were within the first year of Shaniah being born. I know! Madness.
The first time we moved Shaniah was only 4 months old. It was the easiest move out of the two. Simply because Shaniah was so young and I was able to pack during her many naps and well she was just genuinely easy which made the whole experience slightly more bearable.
The second move was extremely hectic. It was the week before Shaniah’s first birthday, she had hit a load of milestones which are absolutely cute when you aren’t busy trying to pack your home into cardboard boxes. The amount of stuff you accumulate in a mere half a year is absolutely mind-blowing.
There is no doubt in my mind that I will, of course, move again in the future and I do hope that when I do, I do so in a more organised and stress-free manner.
If there is anything I learnt from these removals it’s:
Use this opportunity to de-clutter.
If there is one conversation that EVERYBODY has with themselves at least once a year, it is “I need to declutter”. Let’s face it, it’s a task that nobody enjoys doing. It is one that is on all of our lists yet it’s one that we push to the bottom. Take packing for the move as an opportunity to get rid of things that you no longer have use for. Put them into bags for recycling, charity or even to sell on. After all, one mans trash is another man’s treasure. Who doesn’t want extra money when moving into a new home?
Label the boxes (and stick to it).
It seems like a rather obvious one, we all know to label the boxes but towards the end of packing it can become a little tedious. You just want to see the back of the whole packing process so you shove all your items into any old box. This may seem clever at the time, I mean you are saving time and time is very much needed when there are a million and one jobs to do before moving day. But I can tell you, from experience, that once you get into your new house it is an absolute nightmare to unpack. In fact, we ended up living out of a couple of the boxes for a few months as the task just seemed too stressful.
Budget for some professional moving help.
If you are able to, I highly recommend hiring a removal man with a van to make the switch between house A and B easier. Sure, the family are there to help, but if you can get all your boxes into one vehicle in one go, the day is made far easier. There are many removal companies out there that all ranging in price, you are bound to find a company to suit you.
Note that the hardest part is getting the new home how you want it.
I needed to follow my own advice here. During the build-up to our last move, I was constantly planning how I wanted the house to look, where I wanted everything to go and everything in between.
It turns out that making the house a home takes time but you will get there. The move is just one day and to perfect your home will take weeks if not months.
Build the beds first.
You will thank me later.
I do hope that this has given you some ideas on how to move with ease? I am certainly going to take note of my own advice!
