Not filler, and not “remember to label your boxes”. These are the six habits that separate a calm move from an expensive one.
Write the room it is going to, on the side of the box, with a one-line contents note. Removers stack boxes, so anything written on the top is invisible the moment the second box lands. Buy a roll of coloured tape per room and the crew will place every box in the right place without asking you a single question.
Kettle, mugs, tea, milk, loo roll, soap, hand towel, bedding, phone chargers, medication, screwdriver, scissors, bin bags, painkillers. It goes in your car, never the van. On the night you move, the difference between coping and not coping is a cup of tea and a made bed.
Gas, electricity and water, at the old house as you leave and the new house before you boil the kettle, with the serial number in the shot. Those six photographs are the only evidence you will have when a supplier estimates your final bill at three times what you actually used.
You have no idea how many keys exist for your new front door — previous owners, builders, cleaners, an ex. A euro cylinder is cheap and takes fifteen minutes with a screwdriver. Test every smoke and carbon monoxide alarm the same day, and replace any you cannot put a date on.
Floor sanding, decorating, rewiring, damp work, moving radiators. Every one of these is faster, cheaper and far less miserable before the furniture arrives. Get quotes during the dead weeks of conveyancing so trades can start the day after you complete.
Completion runs on bank transfers moving through a chain, not on the time your agent promised. Keys at 2pm is normal and 4pm happens. Give yourself the following day as well — that is when the broadband engineer, the beds and the first proper shop actually happen.
Double-wall for books and kitchens, wardrobe boxes for hanging clothes, and real packing tape. Supermarket boxes have no vertical strength and fail when stacked three high in a van.
LinkPacking materialsBooks in a big box become a box nobody can lift, including the removers. Small boxes for dense items, big boxes for bedding and cushions.
Label it “LAST / FIRST”. It gets packed last and opened first, and it holds the things that make that room usable on night one.
Flat-pack furniture, cable bundles, curtain fittings. Bag the screws, tape the bag to the item, photograph the assembly.
Passports, birth certificates, deeds, insurance paperwork, medication. One bag, in your car, never in the van and never out of sight.
Every box costs money to move and time to unpack. If you wouldn’t buy it again today, it isn’t worth paying to transport.
The full 44-job plan, phase by phase, with your moving date at the top of it.