When you’re planning on moving out of your current home and settling into a new one, moving day is the most important (and stressful) day of them all. There’s so much to plan and take care of it can easily start feeling overwhelming. This stress can lead to forgetting things, leading to even more negative feelings.
To avoid that, you need to organise your move carefully. The most crucial moment, besides the moving day itself, is the day before. This is why we’ve prepared a little list of things you should take care of before the big day!
Plan Your Journey
The last thing you want happening on a moving day is you getting lost. Map the way to your new lodgings in detail. Find the easiest route with the least traffic so both you and your movers have a hassle-free ride.
Make sure to avoid any roads that are overly narrow or have very sharp turns, as the movers’ van or lorry might have a difficult time along that route. Scout out one or more alternate routes to your new home, as any construction or traffic accidents might leave one or more roads closed.
After you’ve carefully planned your journey, you need to make sure you avoid rush hour, so set off accordingly. To avoid rush hour, see how long you will be travelling and what that means for your time of arrival, depending on when you get going. Things can always go awry during travelling, so leave some extra time if anything happens.
Your car is just as important as the vehicle of the movers. Ensure you’ve prepared it beforehand – leave enough room for all the luggage with you and all your family members. Check whether the car is in perfect working order and fill the gas tank to the brim.
Check If Your Movers Offer Furniture Disassembly
Some furniture needs to be disassembled before moving, so it’s easy to move and doesn’t take up too much space in the lorry. If you’re afraid of deconstructing them yourself, then the movers could do it for you.
Many moving companies offer furniture disassembly, but you should always check with your movers to make sure. Ask if they offer it and whether it’s included in the price or is an additional charge.
Clean Your Old Home
All the assembling of boxes, packing of belongings, moving stuff around, etc., can get quite chaotic… and dirty! Whether you’ll be ending your rent lease or selling the home, you should still clean up after yourself and leave it ready for the new tenants/owners. When it comes to end-of-lease cleaning, it could actually end up costing you your security deposit if you miss out on it!
Utilise any nearly used-up detergents you have – don’t pack them, but use them to clean up your former residence. Ensure you leave out all your microfiber cloths, mops, and buckets so that you can use them in your cleaning efforts. Only put them into the boxes after you make sure that everything is spick and span.
Organise Boxes for Loading
Organising your boxes properly will make the whole moving process much easier. Label everything according to which room it belongs to and mark how many boxes are allocated to that room. For example, if you have 10 boxes with kitchen items, label them “Kitchen 1/10”, “Kitchen 2/10,”…“Kitchen 3/10”, and so on.
Always remember that the first boxes to go into the moving lorry will be the last ones to come out, so plan accordingly. Otherwise, you could be left waiting for all the boxes to get unloaded until you can access the things you need immediately.
Prepare Your Appliances
If you take any of your old appliances with you, you have to get them ready to travel. Disconnect them from the grid and prepare them for the road. Some appliances may have transport posts that need to be put in (washing machine), others may need to be cleaned (oven, refrigerator), and some might need to be disconnected by professionals.
Ensure you’ve properly prepared all your appliances for moving and transportation before the big day. You don’t want to stall the whole moving process because of one forgotten appliance. Any work you forgot to do yourself might incur an additional cost from the moving company.
Take Valuables and Important Paperwork with You
We all have valuable items and documentation that we seldom use, which can lead to them getting lost in transit. Find and take out any passports, deeds, medical records, contracts, etc. and put them all in a folder. Store all your jewellery, small antiques, and other precious items together in a secure container.
All these important items should be travelling together with you and not in any of the boxes that are going in the moving lorry. Documents and valuables are often fairly small and can easily get misplaced. Pack all these items together and place them with any other essentials in your personal vehicle.
Double-Check All Rooms
No matter how diligent you’ve been with your moving checklist, we’re human, and things can get forgotten. The night before moving, check all the rooms and see whether everything has been put away in its respective box. Take care of any oversights you find, so you can sleep easy and wake up feeling fresh and ready for the big day!
On the day of the move, double-check all the rooms once more, so you’re absolutely certain that you’ve taken everything and nothing will be left behind. You don’t want to get all the way to your new home and find out that you’ve forgotten something, especially if you’re moving long-distance!
Prepare Snacks
The whole moving process is long and arduous, so you need all the energy you can get! Prepare different snacks – cold drinks, protein bars, caffeine-containing foods, drinks, etc. for each family member. You can always prepare some snacks for the movers, too! They will definitely appreciate the kind gesture, and it will help them get through the hard work day.
Don’t forget to take any important medications for yourself and your family members with you, as it might take a while before you manage to pull them out of the boxes in the truck. Pack some general essentials and cosmetics, too, so you can easily access them without having to unpack all the boxes first.
Conclusion
Moving can be an absolute headache and lead to many sleepless nights, especially the night before the big move itself. But if you properly plan and prepare everything, you will feel much calmer about the whole process. And now that you’ve read our article, you have a good idea of what to take care of before moving day!
Almost all of your belongings will be in the hands of the moving company, so choose your service provider carefully. Whether you need a man and van or a crew of removalists, always make sure to research at least several options before you select the best one for you.
