Tips for a Carefree Moving Day

Moving house is one of life’s more stressful events. You put a lifetime’s worth of bits and pieces into cardboard boxes, seal them with tape, and trust they will all turn up at the correct location with your great grandmother’s fine china still intact.

Hopefully these suggestions turn a stressful day into smooth sailing!

• Pack a Survival Kit:  The last thing you want to do at 11pm on Moving Day is realise that you left your phone charger in a box…but you can’t exactly remember which box. Fill an overnight bag with essentials for the first night in your new home: fresh sheets, pillows and towels, chargers, toiletries (including toilet paper), a change of clothes, and the more forgettable items like dog food and a first aid kit.

Pro tip: use the Sleep Pillow app to eliminate the strangeness of sleeping in a new house. 

• Pre-clean the Bathroom: Using somebody else’s bathroom is always weird, especially when the previous owners had a looser definition of “hygiene” than you do. If possible, go over to the new place a couple of days before the move and give it a good scrub. You can never underestimate the power of a long, hot shower after a day of nonstop stress and commotion.
• Floor Plan: Don’t waste the removalists’ time (and yours!) by deciding on the day whether to put the piano upstairs or downstairs. To avoid a kerfuffle about what should go where, have a floor plan of your new place already drawn up, and give your heavy items and furniture their designated spots on paper. This is where the MagicPlan app comes in handy—it creates indoor maps and room measurements through filming with your iPhone camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tc8sSWQ9E4 

• 21st Century Packing: Labelling is a living hell for the unorganised among us, so how can you make it easier? There are checklist apps galore for smartphones, but apps like Moving Day make moving a dream. It allows you to create barcodes, print them out, and tape to your boxes. Instead of unpacking by opening every box to see what’s inside, you can scan each box with your phone and instantly read the contents. What will they think of next!
• Hiring Removalists: Knowing how to identify a bad deal with a removalist company requires research and shopping around. Get quotes from several companies before deciding on one (and definitely pay attention to online reviews). Make sure to read agreements carefully, particularly regarding insurance. 

Pro tip: the Australian Furniture Removers Association has a handy guide for what to do and what not to do when using a removalist.

http://www.afra.com.au/consumer/ds-donts/ 

• Order Dinner: Don’t even bother unpacking the nightmare that is the kitchen on your first night. The spice racks, silverware, plates and pans are all in different boxes. Order from Menulog.com.au so that there is no washing up, and everybody goes to bed happy! This will also give you an exciting look into your local area (and your future favourite restaurant), and is a great way to thank any friends and family members who may have helped you move that day.