It’s exciting buying your first house, or moving into a new home, but the packing and logistics of moving are never much fun. Your new house doesn’t feel like yours while everything is in boxes!
So here are our tips for making your move as pain-free as possible!
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• Lighten your load. Throw out. Throw out. Throw out. Have a garage sale. Put things on eBay or Gumtree. Use this as an opportunity to declutter.
• Getting a whole heap of cardboard boxes free from the supermarket sounds like a good idea – but don’t underestimate how proper removal boxes make life easier. Uniform sizes help when you’re stacking things in a truck, and they shouldn’t break.
• Start early. Pack the small stuff in advance. Kids toys. Books. DVDs. Photo frames. Label everything on the boxes and add a tag, like ‘kitchen’; ‘bathroom’; ‘kids’.
• Ask for help! Ask grandparents or friends if they might take any kids or pets to keep them from getting underfoot. For the blokes – don’t expect your wife or girlfriend to be as strong as your burly mates… recipe for disaster right here!
• Make a box of essentials and take this in the front of the car with you. The things that you will want when you get there. (Like the kettle, teabags, sugar, spoons and a couple of cups – or red wine and two glasses, if you’re that way inclined!)