Think about it well in advance. The first thing you need to do is decide what you are moving, selling or just giving away. Go room by room and start a notebook of information. Be ruthless as all the things you don’t want should be gone by moving day! For example, do you really need to move all the things which have been lying untouched in your attic for years into your new attic? And remember if you’re packing less, it can save you time and also money as you won’t need as many packing materials. We can help you to work out how much packing materials you’ll need when we do our quote.

Make an inventory. It’s wise to make an inventory of everything you pack, then you’ll know where things are when you need them at the other end. You’ll also then know if anything has gone missing during the move. You could do this digitally or in a notebook, whichever you prefer.

Label boxes. Colour coding is the easiest way to know at a glance what goes where. Use a different colour for each room (this could be a marker or different coloured labels or tape) and add numbers to the boxes, on the sides and on the top. If you have fragile items, then add an extra label so that the removers are aware. You could also make a plan of where the furniture will go in each room for the removal team to follow.

Use packing materials. You could use sheets, blankets and clothes to wrap around your more delicate items, but we’d recommend buying appropriate packing materials which have been designed for the job. There is a list of materials available to purchase, please contact us for more information.

Use the right boxes. It’s crucial not to put too many heavy items into one box, which could either lead to the box collapsing or make it too heavy to lift. This is why we sell two box sizes, large ones for clothing, bedding or china, and smaller ones for heavy items like books. If you only have larger boxes available then mix lighter objects with heavier ones so that the boxes don’t get overloaded. Remember you can start boxing up things that you rarely use well in advance to lighten the work you’ll need to do nearer to moving day.

Keep things together. If you need to disassemble furniture or shelves keep all the screws etc. together in clearly labelled bags to avoid confusion. You could attach them to the items themselves or keep all the bags together in one box so that you know where they are.

Make an essentials box. When you arrive in your new home you’ll need some things right away, like the kettle and teabags, a box knife or toilet paper! Put all the things you think you’ll need first in one box (or two!) and label it clearly so that you can find it. Point it out to the removal team so that they can load it near the end. It’s advisable to carry valuable or crucial items such as jewellery or medication with you when you move rather than packing them with everything else. 

So that’s the packing, what about unpacking?

Clean your new home. Hopefully the previous owners will have already cleaned your new house before they left, but if not make sure that you give it the once over before you start to unpack.

Find your essentials box. You’ll definitely want your kettle before tackling anything else! Don’t let this important box get buried where you can’t find it when you really need it.

Check your inventory. Make sure that everything is there before you unpack. You can check off your numbered, colour coded boxes on your list before you start.

Do one room at a time. If you unpack one room at a time, it’ll feel less overwhelming, as you’ll be able to see the progress as you go. It’s a good idea to start with the bedrooms as you’ll certainly need a good night’s sleep at the end of moving day! Then the bathroom and kitchen. Unpack your more essential items first.

Get some help. We can add unpacking into your quote, but if you choose to do this yourself, why not have an unpacking party? Relatives and friends could be more than willing to help and then the job will be more fun and won’t linger for weeks.

Recycle your packing materials. If we pack and unpack for you then we will take away all of the packing materials for you. Remember that you can’t put bubble wrap in with your plastic recycling. You can sometimes find bubble wrap and plastic bag drop-off points in larger supermarkets, otherwise it will have to go in your general waste. That means that you’ll need to do a lot of bubble wrap popping to fit it in your black bin!

Hopefully our advice will make the process of packing up and unpacking your home a less stressful and more enjoyable process, but if not, remember that you can always arrange for our experienced Perry’s staff to do it all for you!