Our Top 10 Tips For Moving House
THE GOOD DAY HOUSE
Moving house can be a daunting task, I know it was for us. The day we moved I was 37 weeks pregnant, our removalists finished at 8pm and we were wrangling a tired toddler and an anxious pup! Despite this, with the right products and proper planning, you can make the process smoother and more efficient. Here are some of our top tips for moving and things we would do differently next time.
I’d like to thank Wrap and Move for sponsoring our build and making a big job a lot easier!
Super cute photopraphy by Kristen Turner MacDonald of Bobby Dazzler Photography
1. Start with a moving checklist:
Create a comprehensive checklist to keep track of all the tasks involved in your move. This will help you stay organised and ensure that you don't miss any important steps. I just had a note on my phone with & the things I had on my list were - house insurance, decluttering, get packing supplies, book removalist, pack, move, unpack.
2. Declutter:
I started this about 2 months before our move and worked my way from room to room in our house. I looked at every item and decided to either keep, sell, donate, or throw away. When it came to packing up the house I knew that everything in the house was coming with us.
3. Gather packing supplies:
Wrap and Move offers a range of packing supplies designed specifically for moving. Stock up on essentials such as moving boxes in various sizes, packing tape, packing paper, furniture covers, and mattress bags. Having the right supplies made packing and protecting our belongings so much easier. Wrap and Move have a calculator on their website where you can punch in how many rooms you have and it will provide you with a list of what you need, I found this amazingly accurate.
4. Pack room by room:
I started with the rooms I used the least, clearly labelling each box with its contents and the room it belongs to. We haven’t finished the joinery in our new house yet and as I write this we’re still living out of boxes… having each box clearly labelled with what’s inside has made our life a lot easier. Also as I am the one that packed everything away I assume it’s saved a lot of Al asking me “Imo, which box is the … in?
5. Use Proper packing techniques:
This is the first time we moved like grown adults, in the past, we’d thrown everything last-minute into garbage bags and into a truck only to unpack on the other end with things damaged and dirty. This time around I wrapped fragile items like dishes and glassware in packing paper to provide cushioning. I packed them tightly in sturdy boxes, and filled any gaps with crumpled paper to prevent shifting during transit. If like us, you have heavy latex mattresses you’d know that they are a pain to move around… we wrapped ours in plastic and used ratchet straps to fold them in half and provide a handle to hold onto. We used porta-robes to transport our clothes which meant we could keep them on their hangers - again this has come in handy as our bedroom joinery is yet to be finished! We also used large bags to transport our bed linen ready to put onto our beds all made up, again this came in handy as we had a late move-in… which I’ll share more about later.
6. Pack an essentials box:
Pack a box with essential items you'll need immediately upon arrival at your new home. Including things like toiletries, a change of clothes, basic kitchen supplies, and important documents. Keep this box easily accessible so you can quickly access these items without having to unpack everything at once.
Wrapping Blankets to stop furniture from getting scratched.
Moving Bags - Make your pillows and quilts up with clean linen and put straight onto your beds.
Wrapping paper for fragile items.
Porta Robe boxes to transport your clothes on their hangers.
Unpack in your own time.
Label each box with what’s inside & mark which room it’s for.
7. Book a removalist (morning):
This was the first time we hired a professional removalist, in the past we’d always hired a big truck and done it ourselves, but being so pregnant it wasn’t an option. We booked ours a bit last minute as our handover was pushed back due to delays with the bank which meant they could only fit us in an afternoon slot which I don’t recommend! The removalists arrived at 4pm, we’d arranged it on a daycare day hoping to have the move completed by the time Goldie got home but instead, it all happened during Goldie’s “bedtime routine” and the removalists left our new house at 8pm. Al worked on setting beds up in the house and getting Goldie organised for bed while I directed the removalists telling them which room to put things in. Not the relaxing first night we’d been aiming for. The moral of that story - book a morning slot with your removalist and makes sure your children and pets are being looked after. Not only was Goldie unsettled but our dog Edwina was freaking out.
8. Unpack in your own time:
It’s tempting to just want to unpack everything straight away. We’ve been chipping away at this slowly and realised how little we actually need, at the moment we have 2 mugs on rotation and most of Goldie’s toys packed away… the excitement on her face when a new box is opened is a parenting hack that I highly recommend! I’ve also been really considered about what we want to put where, artwork - books, styling items etc. So I’ve kept quite a few things in boxes and will think carefully before pulling them out.
9. Regift, Repurpose or Recycle:
Once you're finished with your moving items make sure they either get passed on or recycled. We’ve arefully broken down all of our boxes, folded up the wrapping paper, and bagged up all of the packing items which we’ve donated to a friend who’s packing up their house for a renovation. If you don’t know of someone you could donate to make sure to put it up on Facebook Marketplace - there are always people looking for moving boxes!
10. Celebrate!
Moving is a really exciting time too… despite being really tired and stressed it was a huge milestone finally getting into our new home! Take a minute to sit back and enjoy the start of your next adventure! Thank you to Kristen of Bobby Dazzler Photography who came over during our moving week and snapped a couple of photos - it was absolutely the last thing we felt like doing at the time but gosh, we are so happy to have these photo memories!
The Good Day House
G’day we’re Al and Imo, husband and wife duo building our dream lifestyle one project at a time. I’m a carpenter turned furniture maker and I’m Imo, a designer and welcome… to The Good Day House! We’re on a mission to help educate and inspire young Australian families to make more sustainable choices when it comes to building and renovating.
The Good Day House is a modern, all-electric, 7.5-star, energy-efficient family home situated in the beautiful seaside town of Torquay, about 5 minutes from Iconic Bells Beach. For more house build, design and DIY content make sure to hit subscribe to our YouTube channel.
G’day, we’re Al + Imo
We’re a husband and wife duo, building our dream life one DIY project at a time. We are proudly self-taught, furniture-makers, business owners, designers and stylists.
DIY RUNS IN OUR DNA
We firmly believe what you learn should be shared which is why we created our Journal. A place where you can learn new skills and be inspired by other creatives.
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