On the move: a stress-free guide to moving house

I have moved 11 times in the past 13 years. Of those moves, two were international and one was interstate.

Over the years, my husband and I have refined our approach and now tackle a move with nothing short of military precision. We have, however, made plenty of mistakes along the way.

To lose is to learn, apparently, so in the interests of education, here are some of our more noteworthy blunders.

Consider your moving dates carefully  

When moving between rental properties in the past, we have always ensured some overlap between leases to allow us time to actually move. Earlier this year, when buying our family home, we had a few months left on our lease so agreed on a 90-day settlement period with the sellers. We then, unexpectedly, found a tenant willing to take over our lease. Gleefully proclaiming that it would “all work out in the end”, we agreed to transfer our lease before receiving confirmation from the sellers that we could move into our new home early. We ended up moving out of our rental property with nowhere to go, still frantically trying to convince the sellers to grant us occupation. The result was two moves instead of one. We moved all our worldly goods into storage, and then from storage into our new home. As far as moving mistakes go, this was a whopper – storage, cattery and accommodation costs add up quickly.

Ensure that your move does not coincide with big family or life events: I would strongly advise against moving during the first or last trimesters of pregnancy. In fact, the middle bit is best avoided too. My husband can confirm that trying to pack up a house around your wife while she is under the influence of powerful nesting instincts comes with its own set of unique challenges. Similarly, we discovered that hosting an offspring’s eighth birthday party while moving between homes is not conducive to healthy levels of stress. In our defence, party invites went out before our move dates were confirmed. Clearly, the sensible course of action would have been to cancel the party, but we opted to go ahead. It turns out that even low-key party catering, when effected from the boot of your car, is immensely stressful.

Do not lose track of your new house keys 

During one move, in a fit of efficiency, we dropped off our newly acquired front door key at a local key cutter to have copies made. We were patting ourselves on the back for being ahead of the game right up until we arrived, with packed car and mewling cat, at our new home. The keys, of course, were still in our previous suburb, a good hour away. This particular mistake may have led to some mild marital discord.  

Keep track of those keys.
Photo: crafthubs.

Labels, labels, labels 

We have moved so many times that our boxes have numerous content descriptions scrawled down their sides. There are few things more frustrating than triumphantly ripping open the box labelled “kettle” only to find that it contains cricket bats and an old flying jacket. When reusing boxes, either use new stickers or date the content descriptions. If you are numbering your boxes and recording their contents in a list, it is probably wise to keep that list well away from toddlers and textas. Alternatively, embrace technology and take a short video clip of the contents of each box. However, if you use this system and download the clips onto a hard drive, keep the hard drive accessible. Failure to do so could lead to a lack of appreciation for the sheer brilliance of this idea.

Use small boxes for heavy items 

This is a basic rule which hardly seems worth mentioning yet, 11 moves down the line, we still cannot seem to grasp it. Every single move, we manage to fill a big cardboard box with books. The result is either an impossibly heavy box or a box without a bottom. Having a box dump paperbacks all over your feet does little to improve the mood on moving day.

For heavy loads use small boxes or wear foot protection. 
Photo: Stocksy.

Return all library books before you move 

This is especially important if you are moving internationally or interstate. You will need to make this mistake only once before library borrowing becomes a banned activity.

Try not to stab anything 

Opening boxes in your new home should be carried out with extreme caution, particularly if there is any kind of sharp implement involved. Similarly, if you plan to cut handles into the sides of cardboard boxes, do so before you fill them up. Take my word for it – cutting holes into already packed boxes does not end well for teddy bears.

Keep children entertained 

If you are moving children, especially young children, keep the puzzles, DVDs or sticker books on hand until the bitter end. And whatever you do, keep their most treasured belongings accessible. If you have accidentally not only packed up everything they love, but also sent it in a crate to a different country, expect to find yourself buying exactly the same talking Elmo that you were not overly keen on purchasing the first time around.

Last but not least 

Never, under any circumstances, light a scented candle made of maroon wax two days before your lease ends. This rule applies even if the carpet in your rental property is not expensive and beige. Just don’t do it.

The stress of a move is epic, irrespective of whether you are moving internationally or just a few doors down. We have learnt to laugh when the wheels fall off and to dole out extra doses of tolerance and kindness in the more challenging moments. And given our impressive and lengthy list of moving mishaps, forgiveness is chief.