What can be more exciting than moving to a new house? No matter your circumstances, changing houses is an opportunity to try new things, meet new people, and take a fresh start. Yet, underneath all the excitement lies anxiety. For many people, moving houses is a stressful task. From gathering up all your belongings to having them settled in your new home, there are numerous tiny details to take care of. Even if you hire a moving company, you have to make sure everything is ready for them. From packing, moving, and organizing, here are the seven simple tips for a successful household move:
1. Declutter
The first and foremost thing you should do while planning your house move is to declutter all your belongings. It is especially important if you are, unfortunately, moving to a smaller house. Of course, the difference in dimensions won’t allow you to keep all your belongings without making them look like a mess. On the contrary, if you are moving to your dream house, you won’t like it cluttered. The best way to get around this problem is to give away all the useless items. Doing so makes a move easier by having fewer items to pack and move.
You can start by throwing out the broken stuff and donating things that you no longer use. Check all your belongings and separate the items you haven’t used for more than a year. If you have not used them till now, chances are you won’t be needing them afterward as well. It’s better to give them all away.
2. Create an Inventory
Creating an inventory facilitates a smooth household move. Since you are going to move just about everything you own, keeping an inventory helps you remember where you put them. Additionally, it enables you to keep an eye on all the stuff so that nothing goes missing during the move. It also makes unpacking more manageable as you can now organize all the stuff more easily. It is such an essential step that even if you’ve asked the movers to pack your stuff, they’ll compile an inventory for you.
Using storage units to keep personal stuff temporarily is also a common practice during a household move. If you are planning to use one, an inventory will remind you of what you kept there. You can label the boxes and record what’s inside them for creating a detailed list.
3. Hire a Professional Moving Company
The next step is to figure out how you are going to move. If you want to do it yourself, you will need to make arrangements first. Enlist the friends who can help you with the stuff|, or you can also consider renting a truck. Either way, doing it yourself is a stressful experience. So, the best way to go about it is to hire professional movers.
They will help you move your belongings, saving you a lot of time and effort. Such companies have years of experience in handling, packing, and shifting both heavy and delicate items. On the other hand, if you do it yourself, you might end up breaking fragile things or injuring yourself while moving heavy furniture. It’s better to get professional help for a less stressful household moving experience.
4. Keep Precious Items Safe
Being cavalier about jewelry and other precious items is never a good idea. It’s better to remove them from the house in advance. Either place them in a bank locker, safe or give them to someone you trust entirely for safekeeping. Jewelry and similar valuables are small items that can easily get lost in the mayhem. It’s better to secure them before the moving day. Otherwise, you will be frantically looking for them in all the boxes after the move.
5. Dismantle in Advance
While you may assume it to be simple, dismantling furniture is a long and tedious task. Even a simple part of furniture like a crib takes a long time to detach. That’s why you should start dismantling way before the planned day. A good idea is to gradually migrate your entire family in a single room about a week before the move itself. This way you can tackle the furniture room-by-room, and on the last day, there won’t be any rush.
6. Leave Out the Kids and Pets
If you are looking forward to showing the kids your new house, let us tell you something. In your mind, you will be envisioning excited kids running around the house happily choosing their rooms. However, in reality, this excitement does not last long. Soon they will be bored and start getting on your nerves. As for the pets, they might feel insecure in an unfamiliar space and runoff.
However, it’s better to board the young ones with either friends or family. They can come back when you are ready for them. In contrast, the pets can temporarily go to kennels or cattery at least until you have settled in your new home.
7. Start Packing Early
Packing an entire house is no easy feat. It takes a lot of effort and time, so it’s better to start early. You can create a room-by-room plan of action to start packing in a systematic way. Packing away the least used rooms and items is a good starting point. The guest bedroom, attic, or garage aren’t much in use, so it’s easy to empty them first. Afterward, you can move on to the areas in regular use, kitchen for instance. Take along the packing materials from room to room and pack all the stuff in an organized manner. Be sure to leave out everyday items until the day before the actual move. Also, remember to pack essential items, such as medications, separately.
The Bottom Line
Moving houses is an exciting yet stressful process. But with careful planning, you will be done in no time. Above, we have listed the seven simple tips for a successful household move. Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional moving company to do it for you, these tips will surely help. Use some or all of these and make your household move smooth and uneventful.