preparing to move

golfergirl28

Hope this is correct place to post. We're downsizing (2 fewer though larger rooms). I've been in this house for 29 years so the thought of preparing for the removal is daunting. We move middle of April. I've started sorting stuff for charity, tossing etc and I'm quite overwhelmed.
Does anyone have any tips on how to prepare for the removal? Any "must do" suggestions?
How can I reduce the stress as mich as possible?

Yorkie1

Not done it myself but perhaps do one room at a time? If you have a scattergun approach then you'll feel as though you start an awful lot of sections but never finish them, or remember where you'd got to.

I got the removers to pack me up before moving me, which meant I didn't have the stress of trying to pack boxes and then live with them for weeks. Made a massive difference but if you do this, try to get a fixed quote rather than hourly.

olias

Bin as much as possible!

I don't know how I do it, but every time I move I seem to have to bin bag after bag after bag of 'stuff' that I've accumulated. Last move saw 22 bin bags full of 'stuff' taken to the dump. Five years later on, I haven't missed any of it! lol.

I'm not advocating a minimalist approach to living. just don't end up with the 'it might come in useful one day' approach and keep junk for the sake of it!

Olias

indsty

It sounds like you have the right idea already. Declutter, declutter, declutter. Then start putting things you never use into boxes, e.g. books, kitchen stuff, nicknacks. Start living off what you already have in the kitchen cupboards and freezer. Boxes should be labelled and can then get hidden away somewhere. Have a good overhaul of everything you possess - do you use it, need it, want it. Get up in the attic and take everything down and if it has been up there more than 3 years you definitely don't need it!
However, it doesn't matter how much you do in advance, the week of the move will be stressful so try and plan that as well as you can. Be realistic about where you are moving to - and sell the extra beds, furniture etc now.
Look forward to the move, enjoy it.

robedha1

I'll be moving too in the next couple of months once the purchase is completed. I've only lived here 3 and a half years, it's a furnished flat but I seem to have accumulated a lot of stuff since I moved in. It's all a bit daunting to get everything packed. I have a couple of spare bedrooms so that should make things easier for me.

As others have said, try to get rid of stuff you don't use. I have spent today boxing stuff up for musicmagpie and webuybooks, that way I get money for stuff that would otherwise be binned or sent to charity. The cash will come in useful since moving can be quite costly.

yoyoegg

I moved last year after 20+ years in the house. Days and days of bringing stuff down from the loft was most tedious...

Try and find a 2nd hand source of boxes on Ebay, the 'moving packs' from DIY sheds are silly expensive.

I packed bit by bit, but be careful of damp/bugs if stacking boxes in the garage. I stood all the boxes on heavy polythene to stop rising damp.

Take loads to charity shops; books, clothes etc. Quite a lot went via Freecycle.

Don't stint on bubblewrap, you don't want the stuff you do keep to get smashed in transit.

jackomdj

Order bubble wrap from eBay, cheaper by far than getting locally.

We free cycled lots and boxed up early. We used it to get rid of stuff that had accumulated.

As previous poster said go through the loft, ours was so full!

When boxing up write which room you want the box to go in at your new house, this makes life easier on moving day.

I did a first go through in rooms, boxing up stuff we would not use, like out of season clothes, books, certain kitchen items, ornamentsetc. then a couple of weeks before I packed more, ie only leave minimum plates/cups etc in cupboard. This means minimum packing come the end.

getmore4less

Decide if it is a DIY move or getting someone in.

Start with the big stuff.

Furniture you won't be needing in the new place, sell, freecycle, give away, stick on drive with free on it. ASAP.

Use boxes that stack and don't go overweight in each one,

More boxes you can manage and stack to ceiling. 1/2 1/4 size for heavy stuff like books, linen etc.

stacking boxes make the move quicker.

Make lists of what is in boxes and put the room assignment on the box

Start packing now.

Start living of the stocks of food and avoid buying stuff.

Make a moving day box that will fit in a car, kettle, teabags mugs....

Ms-Money-Penny

I moved from my home after 30 years and it was horrendous and with hindsight would have paid for the removals to pack for me, once i'd decluttered.

So declutter, and if you start getting stressed pay the removals to pack for you, i wish i had.

sussexchick

Hi

I moved last year after some considerable years in the same property, and I am about to move again in the next month ! :eek:

Packing boxes are expensive so can I suggest you go to your local hospital and see whether they have any boxes from their logistics department in the theatres. These are normally very heavy duty boxes with strong bases.

I cleared one room completely then used that room to store my many packed boxes ready for the house move. I de-cluttered too but the loft was a nightmare ! :eek: I can only suggest that the only thing you leave from the loft is the Xmas tree. A good friend also recommended using just one plastic large box to keep memorable things in, if it didn't fit in the box, it had to go !

Although you have to be ruthless and its sometimes upsetting releasing goods that mean something to you, its also extremely therapeutic too

Its a new chapter in your life, leave the things that simply don't mean anything to you, keep those cherished goods only, take your memories with you, just not the clutter ! :rotfl:

Good luck and hope everything goes well for.

Hermoine

I've moved a couple of times and would really recommend paying the removal firm to pack. They do it on the removal day with such speed, and it means that you don't have to live with packed up boxes around you for days beforehand. It also means you are likely to be less tired when you move as you won't have spent days packing and lugging boxes around. The only problem is that they are so quick - I tend to put anything I don't want packed in the car (including the vacuum) before they arrive so that it doesn't get swept up and packed before I notice!

Although decluttering is great, don't let it become a source of stress especially with larger items - eg don't spend ages worrying if you're going to find a home for that chair in your new house, or do you really need those curtains. Take things with you which might work, and if they don't you can donate or freecycle them later on.

If you have pets a very good way to reduce stress for them and for you is to put them in kennels a day or two beforehand and pick them up once you've unpacked in the new place.