Start to plan ahead of move
Stoked about your new place? Avoid the moving-day chaos by following this list,
Congratulations! You’ve bought your new home, and now it’s time for the fun part: getting organised to move in.
To make sure it stays a joy, instead of a chaotic nightmare, take the time to get organised.
First things
Last-minute jobs: Do you need to repaint, retile or clean the carpets or have any other odd jobs done? Try to organise them before you move in. Declutter: Work out what possessions you’ll take with you, sell, give to charity or chuck out. Some furniture, for instance, might not fit your new place, or you might plan to buy a couch to suit your new dimensions.
Set the date: Resist the temptation to move into your new home on the same day as the current owners or tenants move out. There are always delays, and you might find yourself, and your expensive removalists waiting, for hours.
Gather your troops: Book the movers, or your own van, for the move and investigate where you’ll be able to park.
Second things
Utilities and admin: Connect the utilities like electricity, gas, water and internet, and change your address with your doctor and dentist, employer, banks and credit card companies. Redirect all your mail.
Protect your assets: Organise home and contents insurance for your new home, and check to see if your car insurance might change with your new address. Ask your removalists if they insure against damage, or if you need to do so.
Check and measure: Check the measurements of your new rooms and, if you plan to buy furniture, consider ordering it now so it arrives on time. Make sure, however, that it will fit into the dimensions of the rooms, that staircases are wide enough to manoeuvre things and, if it’s an apartment block, the lifts will also accommodate the pieces.
Third things
Get packing: Take a plan of your new home, divide it into numbered areas and make a number of copies. Then, when you pack, mark each box clearly with the number of the area you want the removalists to leave it in, as well as its contents to help you with the unpacking.
Use ‘‘fragile’’ stickers on your glassware, crockery and any other valuables.
Lock it up: Consider changing the locks to the new home. You never know how many spare keys are in circulation from the former owners.
Secure your valuables: Pack your car with your most delicate, or valuable, items, like laptops, jewellery, photographs or documents. Transfer those items into a pre-determined out-of-the-way spot in your new home as early as possible. Separate your essential items: Put the items you’re going to need soonest – like your toothbrush, hairbrush, any medications and a change of clothes – in a suitcase or holdall so you’ll know where they are. Another suitcase could hold all the bedding everyone will need for the first night.
Moving day
Last checks: Count the boxes and suitcases, and keep a running tab on them, to make sure you leave nothing behind and nothing gets lost.
Fuel up: Buy some snacks to keep the family going and in good spirits. Plan an easy-to-eat takeaway for your first evening, like pizza, that doesn’t need knives, forks and plates.
Say hello: Greet any neighbours who come out to say hello. Be friendly and genial, however rattled you might be by this stage.