First things first: Make your Bed
Yes, it’s moving day and there are a thousand things you need to get done that feel very urgent – and the idea of making your bed is likely right down the bottom of the list of must-dos. BUT there is NOTHING worse than having a stressful day of moving, then finally getting Uber Eats before you’re ready to fall into bed… only to discover you have no idea where your bed linen is and/or zero energy to be bothered making it. Do yourself a favour and make your bed early, so when you hit the wall and need to go to bed, you can do just that with no fuss.
Don’t leave it to the last minute
Oi vey, I have definitely not taken my advice here a few times and it has been DIRE. Moving day is tiring enough, without having stayed up the night before to actually start packing. Take it slowly over a few weeks – put on a podcast each evening for 30-60 minutes and pack as much as you can while you listen. It’ll make it SO much easier in the long run.
You don’t need to spend loads on packing materials
Yes, bubble wrap is amazing for protecting your items, but it’s a nightmare environmentally – and expensive! Instead, when you’re packing your crockery and delicate kitchen items, instead use tea towels, pillowcases and towels to protect them. It does a perfect job AND you’re saving space by packing two things at once. Another hack is to put a paper plate between your plates to protect them.
Don’t overpack your boxes
Moving companies, or storage box shops often give you MASSIVE boxes and then you find yourself filling them up (which if you’ve got fragile items is actually wisest) but then HOW are you supposed to lift them without needing to open an ACC file?!? You’re MUCH better to get smaller boxes to spend less time (and less back pain) in the long run.
For things like books, which can get heavy quickly, I always avoid boxes and pack them in supermarket tote bags instead. The easily stack up for a layer or two inside and are much easier to deal with when you can carry a few over your shoulders at a time.
Take pics!
It’s amazing how quickly you can forget how things used to look. If there’s a certain way you’ve set up your bookshelves that works, or how everything fits into your TV cabinet perfectly, or how that kit-set table is supposed to look once you’ve reassembled it – take a photo, so that when you get to the other side, you have an easy reference of how to recreate it.
Leave your clothes on their hangers
Don’t bother trying to pack your clothes away – keep them on their hangers and just buy a pack of big black rubbish bags. Put your clothes into bunches on the rail and then use a rubber band or hair tie to keep the hooks together. Pull the bags up over your clothes – if they’re big enough, just tie the closing strings of the bags up around the hangers, or cut a little hole in the bottom of the bag, pull it down over your bunch of clothing, and pull the hooks of the hangers through the hole. They’re now super easy to transport – and, you can just put them straight on the rail at the other end!
Invest in some good appliances!
We’ve gone from a small one-story hardwood floored villa to a larger, entirely carpeted two-story house and my god, if I still had my Briscoes vacuum to deal with this situation I would be in tears. A fancy pants Dyson vacuum has honestly changed my life. It’s so fast, so powerful and so easy to use – I would have otherwise spent a great portion of my life going over the same patch of carpet trying to pick up the constant trail of my hair, cat fur and potato chip crumbs that tries to cover the floors. Plus, it makes this Star-Wars-esque sound every time you turn it off which makes everyone want to actually use it just to hear it. I 100% recommend the splurge if you can, OR borrow one from a friend to do a first clean of your house. We had our carpets professionally cleaned, but still pulled a full cylinder of white pet fur from the carpet afterwards. It’s magic.
Label your wires
How do we accumulate so many cords and chargers and WHAT DO THEY ALL BELONG TO? Keep on top of what you have by attaching a label to each of them so that when you unpack on the other end you actually know what is what.
Check your dates
Write them down in your calendar and put some reminders in for the weeks before so it doesn’t sneak up on you. And, just make sure your move isn’t happening when you also have a big event to attend or during a significant time. Speaking from experience, you don’t want to be moving across town on a Friday afternoon just before a long weekend. Don’t do it.
HAVE SNACKS AVAILABLE
While everything is packed up and you’re in a hurry it’s easy for people to get hangry. And hangry is when accidents and arguments can happen. So, make sure you keep yourselves (and any helpers!) fed and hydrated. Run out and grab something nutritious for lunch, or start the day with a big breakfast and have a bag of snacks on hand at all times. Also make sure you have snacks for any little people or pets involved in your big day!
Good luck!
