Top Tips for Moving Home

Prepare to disassemble your furniture

When it comes to taking furniture apart, make sure you stock up with small transparent bags (freezer bags are brilliant), so all the nuts and bolts can be kept together and either taped to the furniture or labelled clearly so you know where it goes. If it helps, take photos too, so you can easily see how things were arranged before you took them apart.

Pack one box which is first to be unboxed

This is always an exciting thing to do – pack your “open first” box, with all the basics, like a kettle, cups, tea-bags/coffee, biscuits and any other essentials you may need. Seal it up well, and make sure it goes onto the van last so it’s the first off when you get there.

Pack an overnight bag for each member of your household

To reduce stress, make sure you have a separate, easy to find overnight bag for everyone, including all the things you’ll want before you to go to bed – toothbrushes, phone chargers, and anything else you use in your daily routine. Keep the bag in your boot or somewhere else that is readily accessible for when you need it.

Order an Online Shop

When you wake up on your first morning in your new house, the last thing you’ll want to do is head out to the supermarket - depending on where you are moving to, you may not even know where the nearest supermarket is! Save yourself time and stress, and order yourself an online shop a week in advance, scheduled for delivery on your first morning – it will free up valuable time to let you finish the unpacking.

Take photos of your meter readings

Rather than write down your meter readings on a scrap of paper, take photos on your phone, so they’ll be much harder to lose during the move. If your phone backs your photos up to the cloud then that’s great, but if not, email them to yourself so you’ll always have a backup if the worst happens and you lose or damage your phone.

Prepare a list of questions to ask the previous owner of your new house

There are some really simple questions that can save you hours of trouble if you remember to ask them when you move. Some common questions include:

Where's the main stopcock for the water supply?
Where are the utility meters?
When are bin collections?
Where is the thermostat?

Also, if you are feeling helpful and want to save time, you could prepare a list for the people buying your house, and then just hand it over with the answers pre-written when they move in.