I confess - I'm a serial house mover. I have moved house
nearly 20 times in five different countries. Most of the
time I've done it myself with the help of a few friends.
While the process is very stressful, I've come up with a
few ways to cut down on the hassle - and I'd like to
share these with you.
1. Take it down (or up)
Everything you move has to go through your front door,
so it makes sense to have your belongings as close to
the exit as possible. Make sure you get everything down
from the attic (or up from the cellar) before moving
day. Anything that's there, you probably don't use every
day, anyway.
Put the boxes in a room you can do without for a
while and stack them three or four high. Try to keep the
piles relatively even, so they won't fall on you or your
children. (This has happened to me before and it was a
pain to have to re-stack all the boxes).
2. Clear the clutter
When you're moving things out of the loft or cellar, be
ruthless and clear out anything you haven't used in the
last two years. The same goes for the garage and for the
garden shed. Every piece of junk you keep is one more
thing to load and unload. By the end of move day, you'll
wish you hadn't bothered. This is one my partner learned
the hard way. The last time we moved, he insisted on
moving a rickety piece of furniture which we ended up
taking to the dump on move day. Take it from me, the
last thing you want to do is add any extra trips to the
schedule.
There is one advantage of moving, though. It's a good
time to lose that unwanted Christmas or birthday
gift. (Remember not to look too sad when you explain
what happened or you might get a replacement.)
3. Spend to save your back
When hiring a van, don't cut corners. Spend a bit more
and get a van with a tail-lift. That will cut down on
the backache and will be invaluable, especially for the
larger furniture items. Buy or borrow a heavy duty
trolley of some kind and you'll have almost all the
bases covered. When booking a van, look for a company
that will allow you to either pick it up the night
before the move (to get a head start on the loading) or
return it the day after (so you can collapse into bed at
night without watching the clock).
4. Think inside the box!
Keep packing boxes small and manageable and your back
will thank you. Paper boxes (you can get a few from your
office) are perfect for packing books, CDs, DVDs, tapes
and other small items.
Confectionery boxes are also a good size for packing.
Ask your local shop to save you a few. They will need to
be reinforced, though.
If you have a baby or toddler, you've probably bought
a Pampers multi-pack box at some time. Save them - those
boxes are strong and solid (and they have handles).
Finally, your local bookstore may be able to supply
some small book boxes. These are very strong and you can
be sure that your stuff won't fall out mid-move.
5. Bubble, bubble ...
Fragile items should be wrapped very carefully. The best
packing items are newsprint and bubble wrap. Beg or buy
large sheets of unprinted newsprint or ends of rolls
from your local printer. A dirtier (but still effective)
alternative is the good old Sunday paper (the bigger,
the better). There's always more stuff to be wrapped
than you think. If you prefer to keep it clean, use
bubble wrap - if you get really bored, you can pop a few
bubbles while you pack.
Mattresses are quite heavy, and you'll usually drop
at least one corner during the move. (After three moves
in the rain, my old pale yellow mattress was quite
filthy.) I recommend that you wrap all mattresses,
otherwise you'll be sleeping on dirt for years. Garbage
bags and packing tape are useful for wrapping large
items such as these, but even better are big dust sheets
from your local hardware store.
6. Make your mark
Most people label boxes according to where they want
them to go in the new house, but I recommend that you
also mark where they've come from in the old house.
You'll have a much better idea of where to find that
elusive vase for the welcome flowers the new neighbors
have brought you, because you'll know exactly where that
was in the old house. Labels should be placed or written
on the top and at least two sides so you won't have to
lift every box to find out what's in it.
Help your move-day helpers to help you by making some
signs for the new house (Bedroom 1, Bedroom 2, Office
etc) so they will know where each box should go.
Otherwise, they'll just put stuff down anywhere and
you'll struggle to find it.
7. Essential services
Get together a move day essentials box. This
should have a bottle of mineral water, a couple of snack
bars and a roll of toilet paper, as well as tea and
coffee fixings and a kettle.
Put your hammer, drill and screwdriver set as well as
a few nails, screws and wall plugs in another essentials
box. A couple of light bulbs may also come in handy, as
will a roll of garbage bags and some large dust sheets
in case it's a wet day (you don't want mud all over the
new carpet, do you?)
I have to be honest. Moving is still a stressful
process, even for me, but I don't tend to break anything
I need and can always find my belongings easily. Give
these steps a try and your house move will be much less
hassle.
Happy moving!
Sharon Hurley Hall is a freelance writer, ghostwriter
and editor. Sharon worked in publishing for 18 years,
writing articles and editing and designing books and
magazines. She has also lectured on journalism. For more
information or to contact Sharon, visit
http://www.doublehdesign.com/ Read more of Sharon's
writing at
http://www.doublehdesign.com/blog/
