5 tips for a stress-free house move

Moving house is commonly regarded as one of the most stressful events in life. From bedroom to kitchen to living room to garage, each room in the house needs to be cleared out and thoroughly cleaned before your move out date. This is a mammoth task not to be taken lightly. Execute it well, you will begin the next chapter of your life in a new home with ease; execute it poorly, you could face an immense amount of stress, and so would the loved ones who live with you.

We’ve compiled five tips here to help you with your house move. There is no shortcut to success in life and last-minute efforts can seldom save you from disasters, especially when it comes to a challenge like this.

Plan Your First Move

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu stipulated the importance of planning in a military strategy,

“Now, the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought.”

“The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.”

This is also true when it comes to moving house. Your battle against the mountain of clothing/shoes/cooking equipment/plant pots will have much better chances of victory if you plan it right.

Planning should be your first move. Figure out all the things which need to be done and how much time you have to get them done. If you live with other people, you could enlist their help and divvy up the work. Simply make a list like the one below to make sure everyone is clear on their tasks and deadlines:

Separate Your Valuables and Survival Kit from the Rest of Your Stuff

This may seem obvious, but when you and your family members start packing, it can be very easy to lose track of where your prized Joy Division vinyl went. So dedicate a drawer or labelled box for each person to put their valuables in. You will save everyone a lot of trouble if you do this before the packing commences.

The same goes with essentials you may need for the final few days in the old home and the first weeks in your new home. Unless you’re taking enough time off, chances are you will be unpacking over the course of a week or longer. So make sure you each have a suitcase packed with essentials to survive for a week or two. This way you will not be looking for socks and clean clothes when you’re about to be late for work.

Donate Unwanted Furniture

Not only is it difficult to dispose of furniture, but it can also be costly to do so. Some local authorities charge a fee for bulky waste collection, and many have exceptions to what they collect. Needless to say, it is illegal to dump bulky items or rubbish on public land. If caught, you could face hefty fines and even imprisonment.

Fortunately, there are many ways in which furniture can be collected for free, all you have to do is use a search engine and search for “furniture donation collection” in your region. Sue Ryder, the charity which supports people who are living with a terminal illness, a neurological condition or who have lost a loved one, runs a fantastic furniture collection operation. Just be sure you send them an enquiry a few weeks in advance of your move day – they need a few days to respond and a few more before a van becomes available to you.

Declutter with the KonMari Method

If you’re not familiar with Marie Kondo and her coveted KonMari method, you’re about to be amazed. Marie Kondo became famous from her best-selling book, Spark Joy: An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying. Without delving too deeply into her theory, the idea of the KonMari method centres around the joy one derives from their things. It could be a book, a t-shirt or even a macaroni necklace your child made in kindergarten. It would probably be much easier to part with a generic t-shirt than to discard the macaroni necklace. So, Marie Kondo suggests one declutters in this order, tackle the things easiest to part ways with first and leave the hardest to last:

●      Clothing, shoes, and books

●      Documents

●      Miscellaneous objects found in drawers and on countertops shelves

●      Personal mementoes

She also advocates putting everything in the middle of the room when decluttering. Then, pick them up one by one and see how much joy is sparked. Finding it hard to declutter? Watch her eponymous Netflix hit, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo and see how others overcome the difficult task and find new joy in their reduced possessions.

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

Congratulations, you’re at the final step to a stress-free house move. As the saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. After you’ve decluttered, you might find that the things you’re forgoing are still of good quality. Apart from taking them to the charity shop, you can also sell or give them away. Depending on where you are, different services could be more popular than others and give you better chances of finding your pre-loved items new owners. The Freecycle Network, a global volunteer-run network lets people list things they want to receive or give away for free. Gumtree and Shpock are some of many platforms which allow people to sell just about anything. These are open platforms. While scams and crimes are not commonplace, you are ultimately responsible for your safety. Keep communications on the platform so that your email addresses and real name can be masked. Don’t go to meetups alone, and as far as possible, arrange meetups in a public place. Follow other safety suggestions on each platform to protect yourself from malice. Here’s a link to safety tips recommended by Gumtree.

This article was written by Fixflo, the market-leading repairs and maintenance management software.