Moving house is widely acknowledged as one of the most stressful things you can ever do.
While changing your property or relocating to a new area can bring long-term happiness, the period leading up to the move can be a worrying and difficult time. A survey by E.ON found that the stress of a house move typically lasts for around three months.
April is stress awareness month so we have put together some top tips to make your house move a more pleasant experience.
1. Use professionals you can trust
Moving all your worldly goods is physically demanding and often difficult. Attempting to move everything yourself, or relying on friends to help, can be a recipe for disaster and can cause arguments, accidents and bad feeling. By employing a professional removals firm like Andrew Porter Limited to move your items for you, you are giving yourself one less thing to worry about on the day of the move. We can even pack and unpack all your items for you too. You can then focus on all the other important details like getting the keys to your new property.
2. Treat yourself to a takeaway
Don’t even attempt to cook a meal on the first night in your new property. Give yourself a break and order a takeaway – you can unpack all your kitchen items later. By taking a few moments to relax and take stock rather than trying to make everything perfect straight away, you’ll be able to enjoy settling into your new property.
3. Pack a box with essential items
Make sure you put all the items you will need straight away in a box and take it with you rather than putting it in the removal van. This means that even if you arrive at your new home before the removals crew, you’ll still be able to make yourself a cup of tea. Our suggestions for your box of essentials include teabags, coffee, milk, sugar sachets, mugs and teaspoons as well as your kettle. It’s also a good idea to pop in a roll of toilet paper, some hand sanitiser and a pen and notebook, so you can jot down anything you need to remember and take meter readings when you arrive at your property.
4. Watch your wires
Setting up electrical equipment can leave many people feeling frazzled and frustrated. Taking photographs of the wire settings before you pack each item can help make it quicker and easier to set them up when it comes to unpacking. Wind each wire up neatly so it doesn’t become tangled and label it so you know exactly where it belongs.
5. Redirect your post
It is unlikely you will find time to tell everyone your new address before you move so organise a Royal Mail redirection to give yourself the time and space to sort out some of the paperwork involved in moving house later. We’ve also put together a handy check list of who you’ll need to notify of your change of address
6. Label boxes according to room
Buy a set of labels in different colours to represent each room in your new home and attach these to furniture or larger items so it is clear where they should go. Label all your boxes according to room (our removal boxes feature a handy tick list) so they can be taken to the right place as soon as they are unloaded from the van. This will save you a lot of time and trouble and will hopefully make it easier for you to find the things you need when you need them.
