Preparing to move house with kids
Parenting

Preparing to move house with kids

Moving house is said to be one of the most stressful things you ever do, which is not what I want to hear right now. I’m currently at a stage where we are starting to consider moving from our London flat to a larger property that will give us so much more room for our daughter to run around, and space for her toys. I’m not happy about the thought of all the organisation (and costs!) involved between saying yes to a house and actually moving in.

I’m only in the very early stages at the moment, but from past experience I know that the fun only really starts once you’re unpacked and moved in. I thought I’d share some things I learnt from the last time I moved (7 years ago) that I will certainly be doing again, now I know what to expect:

Declutter, declutter, declutter

I cannot emphasise this enough, but the less you have to move, the easier everything will be on moving day. Don’t leave it until packing to realise how much junk you’ve accumulated since moving into your current place, and have a plan to get rid of anything you don’t need well in advance of your moving date. Whether it’s selling bits on eBay, donating clothes to charity shops or taking a trip to the dump/recycling centre, try and get rid of as much as possible as soon as possible. If you’re getting rid of larger items, Shiply is a great website for sending things up and down the country to family members or far-flung buyers.

Get boxes from local supermarkets

Buying empty cardboard boxes is so unnecessary (unless you’re opting for using a professional removals company who do it all for you). Last time I drove around my local supermarkets and asked staff if they had any empty boxes they didn’t want, and came out with loads! You might feel a little silly asking at first, but once you see the results, your embarrassment will fade away. The boxes might be an interesting mixture of shapes and sizes, but it beats paying through the nose for something you really don’t need to.

Pack in a logical order

Pack the things you use the least often first. This will enable you to get some packing done without affecting your day-to-day life. As moving day approaches, you can pack things that get closer and closer to the items that you use everyday.

Label each box with its intended room (kitchen, bathroom, etc) so you won’t need to open each one to determine the contents. Try and keep rooms together as much as you can to avoid too much confusion.

Have a ‘moving day bag’

Make up a moving day bag for each family member containing essentials for moving day and the first few days of living in the new place. In the bag can be snacks, toys, books, some water, a change of clothes and a toothbrush. This will prevent the need for rummaging through sealed boxes when you’re exhausted and trying to get to sleep on your first night or couple of nights. 

So those are my top tips for preparing to move with kids. Have you ever moved house with children? I would love to hear what your top tips are, and maybe I could use some of those too.

Claire x

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.

One Comment

  • Joe Andersson

    We recently moved and I completely agree with you when it comes to emphasising declutter, declutter, declutter. We kind of did it the cheat way though and hired a removals and house clearance company in one (recommend them by the way, for anyone up in the north-west! http://wooltonhouseclearance.co.uk/).

    It was super-handy – we had an attic and garage which, in our eyes, was basically full of rubbish. I think if we’d have done it your way, we probably would have saved more money, but due to the moving dates we didn’t have much time. If you get a house clearance company to deal with it, they clear it all out and pay you for any specific items they want which they will then sell on.

    Handy if you’re time-restricted, especially with kids!

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