Moving house is an exciting time, but it can also be one of the most stressful things you can do. More often than not, however, the stress of moving house is preventable with a few simple measures. Here are some tips for making your house move as stress-free as possible.

1. Start Packing as Early as Possible

The time to start packing for your house move is the moment you decide to move house. Start by packing non-essential and out-of-season things that you won’t miss for a while such as:

• Decorations (both ‘regular’ ones and holiday-specific ones, unless there’s a holiday coming up that you want to decorate for)
• Winter or summer clothes, depending on the season
• Your collection of magazines, books, comics, videogames etc., as you may not have that much time for entertainment in the run-up to your move
• Spare stuff, such as your spare duvet.

2. Use a Moving and Storage Company

Most people think that you only have two options when it comes to moving. Option 1 being packing and moving everything yourself, usually by renting a van. Option 2 is hiring movers and sitting back while they pack and move everything for you, potentially at considerable expense. However, you can also use a moving and storage company, which will drop off storage boxes, of the size you choose, at your home. Once full, they then collect and transport the containers to your new address. This hybrid approach will be the best for you if you want to save some money but are unable to or don’t have the means to easily move everything yourself.

3. Label Your Boxes

One of the biggest favours you can do yourself when moving house is to label every single box and bag. On the label, you should write both the room in which the box should be put and the contents of it. This way you can easily find what you need again at your new house. To label bags and suitcases you could either use luggage tags or stick a strip of masking tape on the bag and write on it in permanent marker.

4. Pack a Bag With Essentials

When you finally get into your new home and you’re exhausted from the move, there are few things worse than realizing that you don’t have a change of clothes, toiletries, toilet paper or your toothbrush to hand. To make those few days post-move as easy as possible, pack a bag with these essential items and keep it somewhere easy to remember:

• A few changes of clothes
• Pyjamas
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Shower gel and shampoo
• Hand soap
• Toilet paper
• Snacks and drinks
• Tea or coffee, something to make them with, and a couple of mugs;
• A couple of sets of cutlery and crockery
• A duvet and bedding set
• A hand towel and a bath towel.

5. Give Yourself Enough Time to Clean Up

When planning your move, you should make sure that you are leaving yourself enough time after the move itself to clean up your old house. You will need at least a day, so try to time things so you can move, say, on a Saturday and commit the Sunday to do the cleaning up. Both moving and cleaning always take longer than you think they will!