Last month, I promised to pass on some tips I’ve gathered from my recent house move.

Never let it be said that I don’t fulfil my promises!

I believe that moving house offers us a beautiful opportunity to declutter and bring some fresh energy into our lives – in short, to improve our vibration, which, in turn, helps us feel great and naturally attract great experiences.

Moving makes you come face to face with the ‘hidden’ in your life, which can be painful, but it’s so cleansing and liberating!

My top tips:

• As soon as you know you are definitely moving, start sorting, culling and packing. The earlier you start, the better, especially if you’re a hoarder. Put packed boxes into a corner of the room nearest your front door.
• If your move date is a long way off, start sorting and culling anyway, even if you don’t start packing. Make the most of being able to space out the throwing out of rubbish each week, without needing to make trips to the tip!
• Create a master (what’s the female equivalent of that? Mistress? Gaa!) organisation list, so that you know in what order you want to pack certain rooms (start with packing the least-used cupboards, the attic and the garage).
• Create a master list in Excel of all people, companies and organisations who will need to be notified of your change of street address, telephone number and email address (this list is handy for subsequent house moves, too).
• Take the opportunity to get rid of a LOT of stuff (if you’ve forgotten you had it, it can probably go, unless it’s a family memory thing) – either give it away to friends/family/charity, or sell it on EBay etc.
• If you have a lot of larger items that you’d like to ‘get rid of’, consider holding a garage sale a few weeks before your move. It’s also a great idea to combine forces with neighbours, to make it a bumper event. Do a leaflet drop, make signs, make homemade lemonade to sell (which my girls did, at ours!) etc.
• Give potted plants a hard pruning a couple of days before the move, and don’t water them for a few days before the move (not watering makes it lighter for the removalists to lift them, and the removalists are less likely to be pricked by the plants if they’re pruned).
• Nurture yourself throughout this process of moving. Yes, it can be a grind, but it doesn’t have to grind you down. Keep it light, and give yourself MORE than enough time to do everything.
• For move day itself, have healthy snacks on hand (easy to eat fruit, nuts etc), and eat out at healthy restaurants (or you might be lucky enough to be invited to eat at the home of a nearby friend or family member).
• Have a box of ‘essentials’ that you keep with you on move day, containing things such as: a folder with all the documents you’ll need; your address book, including phone numbers of new utility providers; tissues; a bag for rubbish; loo paper if necessary (not all previous homeowners leave any in the new house!); healthy snacks (see above); bottled water; mobile/cell phone; equipment chargers; keys to new house.
• Keep a luggage bag aside with PJs, a towel, clothes and toiletries that you’ll need for a day and a night.

I’d also recommend having a feng shui analysis of your new home as soon as possible. However, before buying (or renting) a new home, consider having a feng shui analysis carried out for your current home, so that you find out your most auspicious directions etc. This helps when you go to look at new home – I have also found Vicky White’s guide to buying a home very, very handy. Check it out here. It also talks about how to make your home more appealing to buyers, if you’re selling.

Yes, moving house is one of those top 10 stressors of life. But, if you view it positively, you’ll see just what an amazing opportunity it is. I learned a lot from my most recent house move, and I’ll definitely be using my own guidelines for the next move, which will be within a year or so.

Do you have any house-moving tips? Feel free to share them with us, below!