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While the most important days are the months before moving day, Moving Day feels the most stressful.

Help with organising the broader preparation for your move is available in our Moving and Downsizing Tips

Take these steps to minimise the strain on Moving Day.

The aim is to arrive at your new home and settle in with the maximum comfort possible. For the first night you will want your bed made up, your sleepwear and toiletries on hand, to know where your medications are, and to be able to get up and have breakfast the next day, ready for the exciting work of making your new home your own.

If there are a number of people in your household, it’s a good idea to make a list of their needs for each one. That way the gym clothes they need for school, or the dental plate needed at night, doesn’t get packed away with everything else.

So, here’s a plan to make this happen:

Day before Moving Day:

Ensure everything you are taking to your new home is packed except:

In the kitchen 

For the last 2 meals you will have in your old home and the first 2 in your new home you will need:   

1.  Food to your taste – something easy. You will be having dinner, breakfast, lunch, another dinner, and another breakfast in “camping” mode.

2.  Crockery and cutlery for your household for a meal. Probably plate, bowl, mug, glass (wineglass?), knife, fork, and spoon for each person.  

Even if you’re planning on takeaway or eating out over the moving period, it’s a good idea to have your kettle, mugs, a teaspoon, and tea/coffee/milk/sugar.

3.  Cookware as needed. Probably a kettle, maybe toaster, 1 or 2 saucepans, possibly a frypan, maybe a serving bowl, and a few utensils and a sharp knife.  

4.  Refrigerator. Contents of the refrigerator will be packed on the day. It’s best to have reduced the contents as much as possible, throwing  away anything past it’s use-by date, eating most or all of your frozen meals, and using up all the half empty packets of cheese, half empty bottles of olives / chutney / herrings!

 Set all these kitchen items aside before your kitchen is packed. It’s a good idea to have them all together, especially if you have people helping you pack or move, with a note saying, “Leave here” to avoid mix ups.

In the bedroom and bathroom  

1. Clothes for moving day and the first day in your new home. Sleepwear for the first night.

2. Toiletries, including soap, comb / brush, toothbrush and paste, any makeup required, and towels. 

 3.  All medications you will need before you unpack.

4. Bed linen, pillows and towels.

In the laundry

It’s a good idea to leave some cleaning supplies in the house if you’re coming back to do a tidy up before settlement.

My final tip about Moving Day? Be sure to have breakfast, you will need the energy!