by Sharon Hurley Hall
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/
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