Two steps you can take to make your upcoming house move easier
Moving house can be both physically and mentally exhausting. Although this experience is bound to be a little bit challenging at times, there are things you can do to keep stress to a minimum; read on to find out what these steps are.
Begin packing at the earliest possible stage
Many people who have never moved before tend to make the mistake of vastly underestimating the length of time it will take them to pack up their belongings. This is usually because they do not realise how much 'stuff' they actually own. Wading through the items you have accumulated over the years and then organising and packing them up can take several weeks, if not months.
As such, you can make this daunting task considerably less stressful simply by beginning your preparations the moment you know for certain that you will be moving. The first step you'll need to take is to buy some supplies (such as labels, bubble wrap, cardboard boxes and sticky tape).
Then, start packing. It's best to begin with the items that you are unlikely to need during the run-up to the house move (things like old paperwork, books, seasonal decorations and artwork, for example). Gradually, as time passes and your moving day approaches, you can start to put more of your possessions into boxes. If you have a lot of personal belongings, try to spend at least 15 minutes each day organising and packing up a few things so that when moving day finally arrives, you won't be faced with an overwhelming mountain of items that still need to be dealt with.
Be careful when packing fragile and valuable goods
One of the most effective ways to make your moving experience less distressing is to put plenty of thought into the way that you pack your most fragile and valuable belongings. Scratching a piece of antique furniture or tearing a painting will add a lot of unnecessary stress to an already challenging day.
Even if you have the help of a skilled and experienced furniture removals team, your belongings could still end up damaged if you don't pack them correctly. If one of the removalists slips whilst carrying an improperly packed, expensive dining chair, for instance, the item could end up covered in scratches. Likewise, a crystal figurine that isn't secured into place inside a padded box could end up shattering whilst in transit.
As such, it really is worth taking extra care when it comes to packing up your more valuable and fragile possessions. Invest in double-walled cardboard boxes for these belongings (these are far less like to collapse under the weight of bulkier items than their single-walled counterparts). Additionally, use plenty of padding, the form of newspaper, bubble wrap and thick moving blankets, to protect fragile items from impact-induced damage.