Moving House Old Style

claireabelle_2

Hi Toonie - where are you in London? I moved last month and though I recycled lots of the boxes I used, I have two smart archive boxes with lids (medium from Big yellow) - great for kitchen stuff - and two of the blue ikea bags which hold tonnes of clothes. I'm in wandsworth/clapham junction so PM me if you'd like them
Claire

trolleyrun

Boxes- Head to your nearest greengrocer or veg shop. They usually have to pay to get rid of their boxes so will be delighted if you take some off their hands.

Put bulky stuff such as duvet/pillows/blankets etc in a large bin bag. Pop the hoover nozzle in, tie the top of the bag around the nozzle (tightly), turn hoover on. Takes away the extra air and saves space. Also, these things won't get dirty in transit.

Re post. Good advice so far. Can you arrange with your ex about picking up stray mail, say once a week/fortnight? The redirection from the PO isn't fail proof unfortunately, so if you could arrange a couple of mail picking-up appointments, that would be good.

Label each box, so you know which box goes to which room in the new place. Put them along the wall in a room if possible, then it doesn't end up looking like a dumping ground and the task of the unpacking won't be so overwhelming.

Transport clothes still on their hangers in your car. Saves time and effort of packing them all up.

Don't forget the loo roll :rotfl:

You can do it. It probably seems too much at the moment, but it's definetly do-able. It's great that you have friends to help you. Good luck and I hope it goes well for you. A new start - very exciting, no?

HelenYorkshire

Supermarkets give away boxes, and banana crates are particularly sturdy.

I tend to use clothes, bedding, teatowels as padding around delicates, meaning my boxes aren't room-specific. However, mark on "fragile" or "heavy" or "electrics" so you know how/if to stack and which ones to rescue from a rain shower! Wrap power cords, cables, stringy things neatly, else they magically tangle inside the box. Sounds obvious but try to pack each box so it's balanced in weight and bulk, put your heavier items along the edge that will be held closest to your chest. A central weight might break through the box bottom!

If all else fails - binbags Get some anyway, to use as splashproof covers if needed.

Are you moving any appliances?
If so, mind your backs, and check the "feet" - I've managed to gouge chunks out of lino while "walking" a freezer across a kitchen.

Furniture - if flatpack, put your screwdrivers and any instructions somewhere safe/obvious.

In your primary/emergency box I'd also pack a few cloths, to damp dust with. Because in my case, that's the only time during my tenancy that I'll think to do the top of the door frames! Seriously though, unoccupied homes collect a fair bit of dust.

I'd agree with sorting your bed out first, then your basics to get you through a couple of days.

Good luck!
(If you miss anything, it sounds like you may be able to go and retrieve it in the next couple of weeks? Although obviously awkward and painful, it's a bit of a buffer)

[Deleted User]

In the first three years of marriage I moved 9 times so I got it down to a fine art .Basically after you have everthing you can think of redirected by Royal mail when it comes to packing do it room by room and LABEL the outside of what room you want the box to go in .One seperate box for kettle, tea bags a couple of cups plates and knife,fork & spoons & essential a bottle opener for a dollop of vino to celebrate and loo rolls & towels for a bath before collaping into bed first night. than everything else you can sort once you've moved in make you beds up the minute your through the door then when you are too cream crackered to do anymore you can just shut the doors on it all and go to bed and wake refreshed in the morning to start again
What ever you do don't try to sort everything out at once 'cos you'll just get fed up and ratty.I moved for the last time 16 years ago when my OH and I downsized from our large four bedroomed house to one a quarter of the size.It was a bit of a squeeze at first, but I soon sorted out what was important to keep and what to get rid of after we moved in.My late OH kept walking around muttering 'think caravan' meaning the less stuff we had the more room we had Good luck with your move and I hope by Christmas you will be settled in and looking forward to a new life and future
Cheers JackieO xx

daveys_2

I you or your friends work in offices, try to get a load of the boxes taht photocopier paper comes in. They are big enough to get a reasonable amont of stuff in, but not so big that they are difficult to lift (esp with your back problem).

I've found them good for packing books during my moves

krlyr

Freecycle can be fab for finding/requesting boxes on, seen loads advertised on mine. I was lucky enough that someone I know offered me an unlimited supply of boxes from her work, nice sturdy ones. We invested in a couple of plastic boxes from a "pound" shop (where hardly anything is actually a pound, lol!) that was closing down, but even discounted they're too pricey to get loads of, so we just packed delicate/expensive stuff in them to keep them a bit safer. Oh, and all the kitchen stuff so we could easily see through the clear plastic to know where it all was!

zippychick

we do have a moving house Old style thread which should help

Good luck and we will merge this after you move

Zip

Pink.

Hi Toonie,

Sorry to hear your news. I hope the new home will bring you lots of happiness.

I second the idea of looking on freegle for cardboard boxes, they are always being offered and requested on my local group.

This thread has loads of ideas that may help:

Moving House Old Style

I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

brighteyes1987

Hi,

I'm also moving next week :eek:
You MUST get to a very popular high st toy shop!!!
Perfect time of year for huge, strong and unlimited amount of boxes!!

Has been my saviour, most things neatly in boxes, with room written on where they will be goin.

Also the best de-clutter I've ever had :rotfl:

Good luck xx

Toonie

claireabelle wrote: »

Hi Toonie - where are you in London? I moved last month and though I recycled lots of the boxes I used, I have two smart archive boxes with lids (medium from Big yellow) - great for kitchen stuff - and two of the blue ikea bags which hold tonnes of clothes. I'm in wandsworth/clapham junction so PM me if you'd like them
Claire

Thanks for the offer, but I'm the other side of London, I do really appreciate it though :beer:

Thanks for everyone's help so far, I guess what doesn't help is I'm also at work for five hours a day and have an hour and a half each way travel, so it's really limiting my time. My sister managed to find me a load of boxes, so it's just a case of getting things in them. I think I'm going to have to do it quite haphazardly as I just don't have any more time to sort through things, so it'll just be if it fits in a box, its in!

Right, bagel finished now, so best get in another half hour packing before work!

Thanks again! :T

Oh...the only appliance I'm moving is my little freezer, I'm guessing I need to put food in a cool bag on the day and turn it off first thing? I defrosted it the other day, so its not too icy, any ideas?