Our Home in Woodstock: Moving Day. No 71

Its fast approaching our one year anniversary of living at no. 71. We have created so many memories and really have enjoyed our home. Iv been longing for an entire year to get Melissa Louise up and running so that I can share this adventure with friends and family that live afar.

Here is a little flash back of moving day. 29.06.2012

Moving day was so exciting. I couldn’t sleep for nights before, this was something Id been wanting for the longest time. The weather a little overcast and June being winter we wished the rain away. I unfortunately had to work that Saturday morning from 9am-1pm (gotta love retail). It was a bizarre feeling leaving one home that morning and arriving at another some 4 hours later, one that was all ours. James and I both lived with our parents before the big move, we were very excited to start this new adventure together

We were so blessed to have the help of loved ones that day. Many hands create light work and with that, I arrived just after 1pm and all the manual labour had been done. (Promise I didn’t plan to get out of that one) But I was just in time for the delivery of our fridge and washing machine and the unpacking of everything.

Tafelberg Furnishers were so great, from step one. Efficient, well priced (we even managed a little discount) and even year later their after service is prompt and friendly.We then had a very informal but delicious lunch and spent the rest of the day unpacking, cleaning and basking in what was ours.

That evening we sat on a borrowed couch in our lounge cluttered with boxes, we lit a fire and stared at each other. What fun we are going to have we both agreed. That was a premonition like no other, one year later we are so happy and have achieved so much together.

Although this was a very exciting day for us and we only really had two bedrooms to move, others may find that physically transporting the contents of an entire home and other belongings to your new home can be the most stressful part of the whole moving process.

With some careful planning and a little preparation, much of the stress can be avoided.

Here are a few tips and some advice for when moving:

1. Have help. Packing, unpacking, moving, carrying- That’s what friends are there for.

2.Pack by rooms. Try to keep similar room items together, for example books, CDs, clothes, kitchen utensils etc. This will make unpacking much easier

3. Label your boxes efficiently. This helps when it comes to unpacking. I had one last box, until last month, that I just couldn’t tackle. The label read ‘ADMIN’, but when unpacking I found treasures I thought Id thrown away. I would have unpacked it ages ago had the label been more precise.

4. Cleaning. Wash your linen, crockery and miscellaneous items as you pack them away/put them in their place. This will create lighter work at a later stage.

5. Prioritise. Where to unpack first? My two were the bathroom and the bedroom. Its a good idea to make up your bed first, that way you can crash when all else seems a mess.

6. Food. Consider ordering your favourite takeaway to keep everyone happy and avoid the hassle of preparing food on your first night. KFC was our lunch time snack and we celebrated by going out for dinner.

7. Recycle your cardboard, surprising just how much cardboard you’ll have after the move. To avoid being surrounded by empty boxes for days, spend an hour dismantling them and take them to the recycling centre.

xxx

Images: All by Melissa Louise