So …(deep breath)…. we are finally ready to take
the first tentative steps on the road to moving house. After a month or so of
talking, in hushed voices (for fear of jinxing it!!), about the plans we have
for our ‘house to be’ we are now having to put ourselves out there and think
about making some more concrete plans!!
First up – physically moving ourselves
from A to B along with 10 years of accrued stuff valuables.
One quick internet search later and I had equipped myself with a couple of
possible moving companies both conveniently located just down the road. The
first company Headington Carriers contacted me within 2 hours to arrange a visit to
assess the contents of our house. Knowing that I was going to have to be
brutally honest about the amount we have accumulated over the years I helpfully
pointed out to ‘Dan the Moving Man’ that we also needed to move the contents of
one rather large shed and one rather full loft. I was reassured to discover
that he had seen a lot worse...
The second company Bishop's Move helpfully provided a link on their website to get a free online quote. So far
so good until half way through completing the online form they wanted to know
where I was moving to….horror of horrors I was going to have to tempt fate and
actually write down the address of our ‘house to be’! I have to admit that I
filled in the form 3 times before I could finally commit to entering our
potential new address. I was also required to fill in information about each
room in the house and decide whether I wanted to pack up the house myself, pay
for my china and fragile pieces to be packed up or pay for the whole lot to be boxed
up. I selected the ‘half-way house’ option and decided to get the china and
fragile bits packed up. Within 24 hours a quote had popped into my inbox, however
upon close inspection I decided that it was just too cheap. So cheap in fact
that I couldn’t work out whether Bishop’s Move were literally going to turn up
and only pack up my china before moving just those boxes to the ‘house to be’
or whether they really would take everything else too. Cue a phone call and a
same day visit at which I was delighted to discover that they also offer an
unpacking service too. Every cloud……
So whilst we await the quotes the
question remains do we pack ourselves or bite the bullet, pay the extra money
and surrender all our possessions to the moving company? All advice gratefully
received!!
Sprout’s House
xox
Having moved house a billion times I couldn't resist sharing my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteDon't do it with a mate and a van unless you're 20 years old and have no possessions, though I think you know that anyway!
Getting a magic fairy to do the lot sounds wonderful but do bear in mind that they'll also probably pack all your junk and you'll move with that, you'll only have to sort it out later.
I would start sorting and doing a 'cleanse' so you take the minimum junk. Pack a box and be really virgo-like by making a list of what's in it. Mark on the box a brief description and mark clearly which room you want the removal people to put it in on your moving day, rather than them dumping it all in one room. If you want to take it a stage further you could even number the box so you can reference it to the contents list.
Think of it as a cleansing ritual, it may also keep you occupied so there is less time to fret on the other aspects of moving house.
So that's my two-penneth, hope it helps and good luck with it all.
Kate :)
Hi Kate,
DeleteThank you so much for writing my first ever comment!!
I totally agree and have already been warned about renting a van and doing a DIY moving job!! I'm definitely not 20 years old any more and have at least 10 years worth of possessions to move!
I have started a mini-cleanse already, but I love the idea of making a list of each boxes' contents referencing to a central contents list. Genius!!
I have used Bishop's Move for storage and they are really efficient and friendly. Not too expensive either!
ReplyDeleteGood Luck with it all.
Sarah
Thanks for your recommendation, Sarah. I am leaning towards them too, but need to look at all the quotes in more detail before making a decision. Will keep you posted on my final decision.
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