Moving House 101

By Caitlin Booth

Uprooting your life and realising the horrific amount of stuff you’re capable of accumulating is never fun. Sure, you might be super excited about where you’re moving to. New-home energy is always great.

But, you have to get through the piles of old-home energy first.

Here’s the do’s and don’ts for your next relocation.

Do put off changing your sheets for at least three weeks before moving. It’s nearly impossible to perfectly time all of the necessary pre-move preparations. Indulge a little and become the slob you know you are at heart. Those clean sheet feels will be amplified ten-fold in combination with that new-home energy.

Don’t start packing until you’re in panic mode. If you leave yourself too much time to pack, you lose your ruthless touch. Most of the stuff you’ve accumulated, you probably don’t need. If you’re too prepared you’ll find a way to take it all with you. Save space in the moving boxes and throw the shoes you haven’t worn in four years on the donation pile.

Do remember that there are other means of transport if you forget to organise moving boxes well ahead of time. Begging for milk crates from your local café is a great hack. So too is cramming as much as possible in to the 50L travel backpack that you paid top dollar for to use only once (turns out suitcases with wheels are less strenuous). And, if you’re feeling extra crafty and particularly underprepared, there’s always the ‘toss it all in the middle of your bed sheet and tie it up Blinky Bill knapsack’ trick.

Don’t pack your toothbrush. Or toothpaste. Seriously. Put them in a zip lock bag and keep them in your pocket. Or wherever you keep your wallet. The last thing you want to do is to make it to then end of the most stressful day of the year and not be able to locate your toothbrush. That fury mouth-feel will completely counteract that clean sheets, new-home feel.