The Smooth Move

Posted by Thame Cars on Jul 5, 2017 4:04:14 PM

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Moving Day

Having moved house 4 times in the past 5 years, I’ve learned the hard way what you can wing and what you really do need to plan.

On more than one occasion for example, I’ve forgotten to tell key services about my change of address, only to receive some stern phone calls a few weeks later.

(Royal Mail’s redirect service is a life saver by the way!)

At THAME Cars many people come to us to hire vans to help them move house, and national statistics suggest that this is one of the most popular times of year to move.

My dad used to say to me ‘don’t put off until tomorrow, what you can do today’.

Which was the kind of wise thing that dads say and get completely ignored until you look back at a situation and say ‘oh yes, perhaps he had a point!’

 

So here are hard learned tips for moving home…

  • Start to declutter. Get out of the house things that you no longer want or need anymore. If you don’t use it, lose it! If you’ve read the Amazon best selling book ‘The Life Changing Magic of Tidying’ by Marie Kondo you’ll be familiar with the concept of getting rid of things that no longer bring you joy.If that sounds a bit wishy washy, then just think of it this way: do you really want to go to the effort of moving stuff you don’t really want to keep? (As an added incentive to get decluttering, one of my friends who works for an estate agency told me a recent survey by mortgage providers showed that a cluttered child’s room can knock up to seven thousand pounds off the property price.)
  • Pack rooms. Begin by packing the rooms you use least first. (This will be really handy for storing boxes in later on as you gradually work your way through the other rooms).
  • Fragile & Sentimental items. Personally I believe there’s no such thing as going over the top by wrapping your valuables in lots of bubble wrap. These items are precious and usually breakable, not everyone will be as delicate when helping you move and accident do happen. I wrapped my fragile boxes in the blankets Thame Hire provided in their Easy Move Package.
  • Choose the right boxes. When I moved out of my last student house I thought it’d be a great idea to put all my books into one big box. Keep them all together, what a great idea. I thought. Until somebody tried to pick it up and the bottom fell out LWon’t make that mistake again – small boxes for heavy stuff and big ones for the lighter items. Much easier!BTW the Thame Hire Easy Move Package comes with a trolley to put all your big boxes on! (It’s ideal for big boxes, and saves trips in and out of the house).
  • Labels. Unpacking is so much easier when you know what is in each box. First time I moved I just boxed everything up with no labels then spent the next week with absolutely no makeup – nightmare!
  • Documents. The one thing I always make sure I take in my car are important papers and documents. You definitely don’t want to lose this stuff!
  • The van. Go for a van a size bigger than you think you’re going to need. Even if you’re really organised it’s better to have a bit of space left over than be trying to squeeze everything in. Blankets make great padding to avoid things bumping and damaging, and straps are essential for keeping things in place whilst you’re on the move).
  • Your new home. Once you have arrived at your new home, if your boxes are all labelled up it’ll be easier to put them straight into the right rooms.. Then you can relax with a celebratory glass of fizz before diving into your next task of unpacking… but that can wait ;)

 

Happy Moving Day!

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