Ten Tips to Reduce Your Moving Home Stress

At Homefulness we’ve helped with many home moves over the years and have learnt plenty about what’s important to consider in the lead up to, during and after moving day! We understand that uprooting your home can be an overwhelming time so we’re sharing our top 10 tips to help make sure your move is as organised and stress-free as possible.

1. Create a moving Folder

As soon as you know that you’re going to be moving home, we recommend that you create a dedicated moving folder. This should be a physical folder where you can group together all checklists, plans and your moving schedule (which should include all key dates) along with any other moving paperwork. Keeping everything grouped in one handy place will allow you to feel organised and in control of your move.

2. Block out time in your calendar to work on your move

It’s really important to block out time in your calendar to work on and coordinate your home move. This should include requesting time off work on and either side of your moving date as well as blocking out time in your schedule leading up to the move to work on any moving admin.

3. Book appointments with people who can help with your move

As soon as you can, you should start booking appointments with companies / people who can help facilitate your move. This could include:

• Movers (to provide packing materials and help pack-up and move your possessions to your new home)

• Professional organisers (to help manage your move, declutter beforehand and set up your new home)

• Handymen (to dismantle furniture / build or re-build furniture, hang artwork etc. in your new home)

• Cleaners (to clean your new home pre move-in and your old home post move-out)

• Childminders (to take care of your children during the move)

• Kennels / Catteries (to take care of your pets during the move)

It’s a huge task to coordinate and complete a home move entirely on your own, so book these services in early to avoid missing out. Be sure to check with friends and family who have recently moved for any recommendations.

4. Start decluttering early

You should begin decluttering as far in advance of your move as you can. Purging each room before packing up will help you to eliminate any items you no longer use or don’t need in your new home. You should sell, donate, or trash any unwanted items before your move so as not to waste time or money packing them up. Additionally, take this opportunity to move any item you come across that is in the ‘wrong’ location within your home to the correct location so that when packing does happen, all items will be packed (and unpacked) in their correct location.

5. Contact utilities companies

Get in touch with your current utilities companies to let them know the date you will be moving out of your current home. Also set up installation / start-dates for utilities in your new home. This should include gas, electricity, water, phone, tv and broadband.

6. Let people know your change of address

Make sure you let people know your change of address. As well as friends and family, you should let royal mail know, along with your banks and any subscription services you use.

7. Note existing damage to furniture

It’s a good idea to note any damage to your furniture before it is moved. Take photographs of any existing damage and save all images together in an album on your phone or computer. This way if a piece of furniture takes a knock or a bump during the move you will be able to check the damage against your records.

8. Pack room by room and stay organised with labels

The best way to pack up your home is room by room. Begin with rooms that contain the fewest daily use items, for example the garage, then dining room etc. You can start packing these rooms up to three months in advance, just be sure to label all boxes as you go; both by room and sub-section within the room. Your movers will appreciate having this information clearly labelled and it will make it easier for them to unload into the correct room without your direction.

9. Pack a ‘last in, first out’ box

This is the box that will be packed away last and unpacked first. It should contain all the essential items that you will need for a comfortable first night in your new home. Think logically when packing this box; eating, showering, and sleeping are the essential first activities you are likely to do in your new home so include food, toiletries, medications, towels and bed linens along with pyjamas, a change of clothes and kids’ stuffed animals!

10. Unpack your most-used rooms first

Once you and your belongings are safely in your new home, it’s best that you begin by unpacking the rooms you use most frequently first. This normally includes bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen followed by the home office, laundry room, playroom, dining room etc. A detailed labelling system (as previously mentioned) will have assisted your movers in placing the correct boxes in the correct rooms so now all that there is to do is start unpacking and setting up your new home.

If this still all sounds a little too overwhelming, don’t hesitate to reach out, Homefulness is here to help. We offer various all-inclusive options to suit your needs:

• Pre-move Purge + Packing Prep

• New House (Pre-Move) Prep + Organising

• Moving Day / Packing-Delivery Oversight

• Unpacking + Organising

We aim to perfectly meet your needs, so feel free to let us know which options you are interested in. Please also let us know if you are interested in additional services that you don’t see listed here.