Moving home can be one of life’s most stressful experiences. Follow our tips for staying sane!
For most of us, moving is one of the biggest household tasks there is, and it can be an extremely stressful and trying.
However, if you get organised early and work systematically, you can reduce much of the stress that comes with this mammoth job.
Here are some tips to help you cope before and during a move.
Get organised early
Chances are that you will have one to two months to plan your move beforehand, so avoid leaving things until the last minute.
It pays to spend a bit of time strategizing before your move, so make a list of what needs to be done each week, and stick to it for a less stressful move.
Plan for moving day
The first item on your itinerary should be to organise transport for moving day. If you plan to use a professional moving company, contact them asap.
If you plan to leave your kids or pets with a sitter on moving day, make arrangements for this now, so that you don’t have to stress about it right before the move.
In the week before the move, you should confirm dates with your moving company and sitter.
Tie up loose ends
Change your address at least a month before the move. This is also the time to schedule disconnect dates with your local utility company, and arrange connect dates for your new home.
Get rid of clutter
The more you clear out of your home, the less you’ll have to pack, move and unpack as part of a move.
Before you start packing up your home, go through each room and clear out any unnecessary clutter. Be ruthless with items that you no longer use or wear, and resolve to start life in your new home without clutter.
Take inventory
Once you’ve decided what you’re packing and have discarded or donated items that you no longer want or need, take inventory of your home.
It’s a good idea to create a list of what will be going in each room in your new home, as you can use this as a reference when packing up.
Stick to a system
Make your move easier by sticking to a packing system. It’s a good idea to keep boxes and containers room-specific so that you can find and unpack items easily.
Consider using clear plastic storage bins instead of boxes so that you can easily see the contents of each container, and use clear sandwich bags to hold screws, hooks and any other small items that can easily go missing.
Use pre-existing containers
Cut down on the number of boxes and containers that you have to transport by packing items into your laundry hamper, cooler box, dustbin and suitcases.
If you have a dresser, simply remove the drawers and cover the contents with a layer of plastic. This will reduce the amount of packing and unpacking that you’ll need to do, and make moving the dresser itself more manageable.
Label your containers
Save yourself time by labelling each container with the name of the room that it should be taken to when it reaches your new home.
Label the sides of boxes and containers – rather than their tops – so that you’ll be able to easily identify the contents of each one if they’re stacked.
Pack breakables carefully
Use bubble wrap to protect breakables such as glassware, crockery, ornaments, TVs and computer monitors.
Buy a roll of stretch wrap to cover furniture such as tables, couches and cabinets to prevent them from getting scuffed and scratched during the move.
Never pack breakables in a box with heavy items such as books and kitchen appliances, as this makes them more likely to sustain damage during the move.
Pack separate supplies
Make the move easier by gathering a kit of items that you’ll need when you start unpacking. These include box cutters, paper towels, trash bags and adapters.
It’s also a good idea to pack a bag with the essentials that you will need on the first night in your new home – such as eating utensils, toiletries, toilet paper, towels, pyjamas and a change of clothing – in case you haven’t unpacked these items yet.
Making moving simpler with XtraSpace
XtraSpace can make moving day a whole lot simpler.
You can use our storage service to:
- safely store valuable and breakable items, like jewellery, antiques, vases, glasses and ornaments, until a moving company has finished moving heavy furniture into your new home
- store important documents, CDs, DVDs and other media to keep them secure and undamaged
- get clutter out of the way so you can focus on moving and decide what to sell or give away later, when you have the time
- store bulky individual items, like bikes or surf boards, to keep them safely out of the way.