Staring at the fifth move in four years, we have learned some lessons.
Don't worry about packing a room all in one set of boxes. Mix it up, so if one box disappears, gets wet, crushed or badly shaken, not all of the teacups will be lost. Amid the books, put in a set of bells, and the small toy Gromit.
Use bedding, towels and clothes to wrap breakables, use bowls and other hard hollow structures to cushion them. Think of form and material, instead of normal use, when packing.
Don't be afraid to repack to make items fit more securely. Shaking can cause as much damage as insufficient packing.
Several breakable teapots packed loosely in a large box will find each other, and smash each other to pieces. (This was a previous move, from long, long ago.)
Small boxes, really, especially when packing books.
A tape gun. Oh, gods in heaven, a tape gun. Always. Will get lost every other time I put it down, but it's still oh so worth it.
Ruthlessly get rid of all excess stuff.
Pens into a zip locked plastic bag.
Don't move in three hours or less. Take at least a week to shift stuff from one place to another. Unavoidable if moving across country, or with movers. Gah.
Don't let D pack any boxes. At all. Ever. No matter how much you love him.
Think about what small, necessary comfort will be most needed upon arrival. For me, a mug, tea, and a way to boil water. For D, a glass to drink very cold milk from.
Spring for extra toothbrushes.
15 comments:
I got to this and just burst out laughing: Don't let D pack any boxes. At all. Ever. No matter how much you love him.
xoxo
the tea-making things, yes, always so crucial, often so lost...
when I helped my mum move last year we spent a lot of the evening searching for cutlery to eat our makeshift evening meal with...
Ooo, good idea on the pens.
T-shirts make the best packing material!
I've moved a great deal earlier in my life and I think you've nailed it!
Only thing I could add, since we have 3 cats, not just one, is never try to move them all in one carrier...no matter how well they usually get along!
i feel for you...and, excellent advice; i remember packing a box that must have been about 4 cubic feet with books only to find we couldn't lift it
Moving piece by piece via London public transport has its own quirks, I found.
Even carrier bags for books is good, my sister did a lot of house clearances in one incarnation and recommended this. I could never get Tom to adopt it though, it offended his sense of something or other, and as he was always the packer-in-chief, I was too easily sidetracked, he prevailed...
Good luck, sounds like you've got it taped!
The teapots smashing each other to pieces got me. Hard lessons won. Wishing you as smooth a move as possible and as leisurely an unpacking as you can tolerate.
I recall moving from our 3rd floor apartment to our house...the stuff at the end we didn't want was tossed ever so happily off the balcony to the lawn below.
It was such a stress relief...a mess, but so worth it to clean up after :)
I agree on the tea prep...it's funny how the little things are most important when all is in a box...
dale,
I put that up with permission.
tg
my first place, I ate off a frisbee with my fingers.
p/h yes they do.
bb,
You made D spit his milk.
mark,
that much paper is heavier than lumber.
p,
D asks "Seriously?"- incredulously.
lucy,
actually, we don't have that many, but that could really help
mbick
actually they were the ex's, which I felt terrible about at the time, now... not so much.
geo,
Oh, that sounds amazing. Wanton destruction...
See? I knew I'd get some good tips and stories from this bunch of extremely intelligent and amusing folks.
Yes, seriously. Although there was no furniture involved, I hasten to add.
Pacian,
The "seriously" was about there being "quirks" in moving that way. Meaning, how could there not be, and he could almost imagine, but, wow.
Glad there was no furniture. I've moved three blocks away, third floor to third floor, without a vehicle. But had nearly no furniture either.
Tea is VERY, VERY important anywhere.
You ate off a frisby? How clever and if I may say so how very Black Books ( ie eating eggs out of a shoe with a comb)!
herhimnbryn
I did wash it first...
Yes to all of it. Especially the tea. I would also add: keep the bar low and expectations of oneself minimal. Survival is the key. :-)
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