Today I welcome Stephanie from Expert Home Tips to the blog. As I few of you may know, I am moving house tomorrow and Stephanie has moved house more times than she can count. All that moving have turned her into somewhat of a packing pro. Here are eight of her most relied-upon packing tips to help make moving home a breeze.

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Packing Tips for Moving House

1. Don’t pay for boxes – get yours for free

Moving is expensive enough without adding overpriced cardboard to your list! Rather than paying for cardboard boxes you’re only going to throw away in a month’s time, consider sourcing them for free.

The shops nearby are likely to be inundated with delivery boxes every week. They’ll be more than happy to get rid of them, so don’t be afraid to be a little cheeky and ask.

You could even ask in the shops in what’s to be your new local area – a great opportunity to introduce yourself and meet some friendly faces.

2. Involve the kids…or don’t

Choosing what to do – or not to do, as the case may be – with the kids during the moving process is an important decision. If your kids are a bit older and like getting involved with things, try assigning them certain, simple tasks to help with the move.

Stay away from complicated tasks like actual packaging and instead set them ‘hunting tasks’ to gather certain items. Try and make things fun, by involving stickers, colours and writing – they could help label boxes, for example.

If your children are younger, they may be more hindrance than help. Organise to have Aunties, Uncles, Grandparents and other friends take them off your hands on numerous days leading up to the move. This will give you time to put all your effort and energy into packing – you’ll get loads done.

3. Put things in things

When it comes to packing, make sure you’re doing it right.

One of my best tips for fitting as much stuff into your boxes, is to put things inside of other things. This doesn’t just mean filling storage baskets and tins before packing then, it literally means using all available space.

Pots, vases, blenders, cups – every space that can be stuffed, should be.

4. Label both the top & sides of moving boxes

Most of us know to label the tops of boxes, but what about the sides? When your boxes are all stacked up, be that in the moving van or the new house, you’ll really appreciate the extra effort you put into double labeling.

Label the sides too, and identifying boxes will be much easier. Save yourself some time, energy, and a whole-lotta frustration too!

5. Colour coding is key

The trick to successful packing is making unpacking as easy as possible. I know talk of unpacking before you’ve even moved may seem daunting, but don’t worry – I’m here to help.

Colour coding is something you should get into the habit of doing from the moment you decide to move. Write yourself a list of all the rooms in your new house, and assign each one a colour. Then purchase stickers that correspond to each colour.

Once your boxes are labeled, they can now be doubly labeled, this time with a coloured sticker. Although you, as head packer, may know by the contents of each box where it should go, your helpers may not be as savvy.

Double-labelling each box with colour-coding is almost guaranteed to make unpacking run smoothly – almost.

6. Label plugs and wires

All those TV cables may seem pretty self-explanatory when you’re unplugging them, but plugging them back in again is another story.

Take the time to label your cables up when pulling them out. Place them in bags with yet more labels, such as ‘TV, Wii, Computer’ etc. You’ll thank yourself when all you want to do is sit back and watch EastEnders on the first night in your new home.

7. Heavy to light

The first thing to do when your boxes are all packed is to give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back.

The next thing to do is to get back to work! When you do, always bear in mind that you want to stack from heavy to light when loading your boxes. This will prevent damage to items at the bottom of piles

8. Order food

The last thing you want to worry about when packing to move home is food. On the weeks up to your move, you should plan your meals around the remnants of your cupboard and use up as much of it as possible. If there’s lots left when you move, consider giving it to neighbours – a 39p tin of beans is not worth the hassle – or weight – of taking with you, trust me!

Instead of trying to take a fridge-worth of food with you, make life simpler by doing a food order. Plan for it to arrive on your first evening in your new home, and you’ll be all stocked up for the days that lie ahead.

You can get more home hacks from www.experthometips.com and follow them on social media:

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Thanks for all of those tips Stephanie! This is the first time I have moved house in 11 years, so I am finding it all quite daunting, so I have found your tips very useful.