Lighten your load
Moving to a new house can be a great opportunity to get rid of unwanted items that have been stockpiling in the garage for years. Having a garage sale is a wonderful way to encourage recycling of unwanted items. (don’t forget to get permission from the local authorities first) If there’s still stuff left over, make a donation to a local charity. Wipeout cupboards and dust as you go to save time on cleaning once everything is out of your home. Remember that reducing our carbon footprint through recycling and reusing initiatives is key to protecting our environment.
Plan ahead
If you think ahead and do a little bit of packing every day, your move will be much easier. Make a detailed plan with realistic deadlines – don’t forget to allow enough time for inevitable disruptions to the plan. Whatever you do, don’t leave all the work to the last week! Most people recommend six weeks from the date you first start organizing your move.
Boxes
Label them on every side (you never know which side you’ll be able to see); don’t put too much into each box (you don’t want to give yourself a hernia!); and write a list of what’s in each box on the outside of the boxes too (it’s easy to forget ‘what’ is ‘where’ otherwise!).
Many hands make light work
Enlist the help of everyone in your family (and friends if you can!). Assign them roles. You shouldn’t have to do it all on your own! That said, you might want to arrange for a relative to look after very small children on the day of the move!
Don't pack Everything
There are some things that you’ll need to keep to hand for the day of the move. These include a few kitchen items (like cups for drinking tap water – moving house is thirsty work!); scissors (for opening boxes); screwdriver and hammer (for reassembling things); and basic cleaning items (for cleaning the empty house). Leave a box for these items so that you can pack them all up at the very end.