The Moving Planner Blog

If time is important during your move, and it almost certainly will be, you’ll want to do everything you can to make sure the process goes as swiftly and smoothly as possible. Moving to storage or to a new city might seem daunting- as we all know, even switching from one building to another can be a logistical challenge – but there is a huge difference between an efficient, fully-thought through move and a chaotic nightmare. You can make sure yours will fall into the first category.

First of all, pack well in advance but leave a few necessities til last. Have a special box for things you’ll need the night before the long distance movers arrive and make sure everything else is neatly packed and sealed away before the big day. Every item in the overnight box should be essential- don’t use it for last minute things that didn’t fit in anywhere else. Check cupboards and underneath beds for any item that might have been forgotten.

All boxes should be sealed and labelled with the contents and where they need to go in the new house. This doesn’t do much at the beginning of the journey but it certainly helps at the other end.

Plan how your biggest items of furniture are going to leave the house. The legs may need to be taken off beds and chests of drawers. This doesn’t necessarily have to be done in advance, but make sure you’ve got any necessary wrenches, screwdrivers, and hex keys close at hand. Empty all heavy or fragile items from drawers and cabinets. Some movers don’t mind if you leave light items in the drawers- check this in advance and if there is anything left in there, make sure to tell them before the item is picked up.

Grand pianos and other large, valuable things may need extra moving equipment. If in any doubt, hire a specialist piano mover or ask your regular mover if they have the experience and the equipment for the job. Before you hire and packers or movers, make sure they can handle all your belongings safely.

Stack your boxes neatly. There are two reasons to be as tidy as possible when moving. It makes it much easier to see if anything has been left behind and it also helps keep pathways and corridors clear. This will be important for the movers, and anything you can do to make their job easier will help you stay calm and on schedule.

The movers will also need somewhere to park. The nearer your door, the better, but it can be quite hard to find a good parking spot for inner city apartment blocks. If you don’t have a dedicated parking spot moving trucks can use, you might want to consider reserving a good spot the night before or very early in the morning. The easiest way to do that is to park your car somewhere close by and spacious and move it when the truck arrives. Make sure the movers know this is what’s going to happen or they may waste time looking for a space.