Top Tips When Moving Home

When I walk my dog at the weekend my steps always seem to take us past my childhood home.  I lived there from birth to the age of 16 and I have many wonderful memories of living there.  

The garden where I spent many an hour on the swing.  The sitting room where we all used to vie for our favourite seat on the couch (I never seemed to win).   The built in wardrobe and shelves in my bedroom that my dad built for me.  The cherry blossom tree from next door that used to tap on my window on stormy days and that I used to spend hours sitting on the large window ledge staring at (think gloomy teenage years!).

I was utterly distraught when we moved from that house and despite moving since, it is and will always be, my favourite house in the world.

Each time you move house you learn something different about how to do it better.  Can arranging a house move be anything less than stressful?  Well yes, it can, but it takes planning and forethought.

Declutter

When you decide that it is time to move house, the first thing that you should do, before you start looking for a new home, is declutter.  Be ruthless and go through everything.  From clothes that you haven't worn for the past ten years to the five whisks in your kitchen that you have accumulated (yes even that one you've had since 1994 that is somehow sentimental but belongs in a museum).

The longer you live in a house, the more that you will accumulate.  

This will not only help with the packing process but when it comes to the time when you sell your house, a decluttered, tidy home will sell faster and hopefully, for a better price when the buyer can see what they are actually buying.

Save the Memories

This isn't a tip for moving home, it is preserving memories.  Be ruthless in your declutter, but save your photographs.  All of them.  The silly ones, the old ones, the ones with your family where you hate the way that you look.

5, 10, 25 years down the line, you will miss them.  Put them in a box for attic storage in the new house.  Your future you, will thank you.

Removals

Order your removal company ahead of time.  Get as many removal quotes as you can and get recommendations.  Everyone you know will have moved home at some point and everyone has a different experience.  You want a good price with a recommended firm that won't break your valuables and won't take all day with the removal.

Notify Everyone

Sounds obvious doesn't it?  Which it is, albeit very, very time consuming.  But we live in 2018 now, not 1960.  Embrace the power of the internet and use a website like I Am Moving where you can put your details in and notify all the companies you use.  Utilities, credit cards, internet shopping providers like Amazon, subscriptions and insurance.

Create a Fact File & Ask For The Same

Pay it forward by creating a fact file for the buyers of your home.  Things like reliable trades people, who your utilities are with and when you last changed them, what make your boiler is, the best local takeaway, when the rubbish is collected; where the best place is to walk your dog nearby and most importantly, which is the best local pub.

Have a conversation with the people you are buying your new home from.  Ask for the same and mention you are doing this for your new buyers.  Maybe even offer a cash incentive.  In all the costs of moving, what is another £50 to gain this sort of information at your fingertips when you first move in? (Particularly the best local takeaway when you are surrounded by boxes and losing the will to live and cook).

Create a Survival Box

That first night that you are in your new home you are going to be exhausted, bewildered, tired and hungry.  Get a big plastic box that you can transport on your lap to the new house.  Put in tea, coffee, sugar, a kettle, milk, toilet rolls, a DVD (if you manage to set up your TV system), scissors, warm socks.  Yes I said socks.  Working out the heating system on the first night, if the owners didn't leave you a fact file, may be confusing and you will be cold.  Socks.  Trust me.

Lastly

The obvious things.  Don't over pack your boxes and LABEL.  Label everything.  Try and get a good night's sleep the night before.  If you are working full time, hire a company to pack for you.  Again, someone reputable and recommended.  Have a glass of wine to calm the nerves of moving (the night before, not on the day!).  Breath.  Just breath.  You are organised.  You will be fine.

*Collaborative piece

Decorating Your Dream House

Let’s paint a little picture, imagine your dream house, a cottage in the countryside? A villa vista in the heart of Spain? Or a deluxe apartment in the hustle and bustle of New York? No matter what it is, we will take a ponder over the decorations which are to make it look beautiful and majestic.

Image Source

For the Inside

Now, we all like displaying some ornaments, especially the cute crystal animals, but the question is, when do we stop collecting them? We can all go overboard with the bric-a-brac, but the saying ‘quality over quantity’ applies here. Use shelving and bookcases to save on space and display cabinets to store your favourite trinkets. By doing this, you’re not overloading your dining table with unnecessary objects and putting the correct things on it...Food!

How about the Flora? Just by perusing the exotic flower range on floraqueen reviews, this can give you an idea of the various types of flowers which can adorn your dream home. From tulips to daffodils, carnations to roses, flowers can brighten up a home without much hassle at all. Also, flowers don’t last forever (except the fake ones), this means you can keep replacing them, introducing a different contrast of colours to your house every time.

Artwork is simple yet a beautiful addition to any room in the house. It can bring a room alive with vivid and vibrant colours. There are various ways you can decorate with artwork. One of these ways is wall murals, which can leave guests with a hanging jaw. Whether you’re a Van Gogh lover or a Banksy fan, your creative juices will flow and show as you begin to decorate.

Image by ATBO

Mirrors are often overlooked when it comes to decorating, but sometimes they can be the most important feature of a room. They can make a place seem much bigger, brighter and better, especially if the room is cramped looking and lacking in natural light. The bathroom is a place which always needs to look good, especially for guests, which is why various mirror designs can give the bathroom a grand feel to it. You can even watch yourself as you go to the toilet (sorry that was uncalled for).

Image from Pixabay

For the Outside

Decorating the garden is the best part. You can personalise it and add your own quirky, original style to it. You don’t even need to splash out too much on what you buy. By using old rusty buckets to plant flowers, patio furniture, and retro lights, these simple things can give the exterior of your house a funky and unique look!

And then you have the more classy look. The water fountains, the sculptures, and the intricate pavements. The garden which everyone wishes were theirs, these require a lot of time and patience in creating. But it is worth it in the end.

Image from Flickr

Now you’ve created a perfect image of what your dream house will look like, let’s start making it for real.


*Collaborative piece