How to Move a 4-5 Bedroom Family Home
Moving house is an exciting time. But desperately trying to figure out how you’ll get everything from your current 4-5 bedroom home to your new one? Not so exciting.
While moving your family home can be challenging, it doesn’t have to be hard. We at PODS are here to make your life easier.
In this article, we’ll walk you through our top tips on moving a 4-5 bedroom house quickly, easily, and with as little stress as possible. We’ll also hear from one of the families who’s benefitted from our convenient storage. Read on to find out more.
Looking for a convenient storage and moving solution that works around you? Our portable, on-demand storage could be just what you’re looking for. Get your personalised quote now and find out how we can help.
Moving a 4-5 Bed Home – Your Quickfire Guide
Keen to pack up and move minus the stress and hard work? This guide is the place to start. Let’s unpack things a little…
Be Smart – Employ Tactical Packing Measures
Packing up a 1-bedroom apartment? Pretty simple stuff. Packing up a 4-5 bedroom home with multiple rooms and furniture units? You need packing tactics. Here are the two methods we recommend:
Tactic 1 – Pack the least-used rooms first
When moving larger properties, not all rooms are created equal. At the start, you need to pack the least-used rooms first.
In an ideal world, you might be able to smash the big pack out in one day, but unless you want to be moving like Flash Gordon, it might be worth spreading your work out over a few days.
After a hard day’s packing, you don’t want to head into your living room to find a dust patch where your couch used to be. So, start with garages, home offices and other rarely frequented rooms and then work outwards to your most-used areas such as sitting rooms and then, finally, the bedrooms.
Tactic 2 – Start with the toughest spots
As your packing battle wears on, it’s only natural that your motivation for the task at hand is going to drop. As a result, it’s best to tackle the toughest spots first.
Fortunately, the areas that require the most effort are usually the ones that get the least attention. Sure, finally tackling that cobweb-ridden garage might seem like a daunting task at first, but when the biggest decision at the end of your packing mission will be which toothbrushes to bin from your bathrooms, you’ll thank yourself. Buckle up, and get stuck in.
This also helps you make the most of what you’ve got. Earlier on, you’ll have more energy to sort belongings into keep and sell piles, meaning you’ll be far less ruthless with the black bin bags when the time comes.
Priorities, Priorities… What Should You Pack First?
Great question. With larger properties, knowing where to start is often the hardest part. These are our suggestions on the 5 items to pack first:
- Artwork – If it’s hanging on your walls, it’s not going to be essential to your packing operation. Bag and tag it.
- Clothes – Aside from a few pairs of underwear, jeans, socks and shirts, now is the time to go through your wardrobe and pack up your clothes, especially those that are seasonal.
- Extra bed sheets and duvets – Raid your airing cupboard and bag up any extra comforters, duvets and bedding sets.
- Books – Packing up books will take a fair bit of legwork, so it’s good to get it out of the way early on.
- Kids’ toys – To keep your little ones in high spirits, we recommend packing up the majority of your kids’ toys and games last.
4 Customer Tips to Keep Your Move Smooth
Daniel was left high and dry when the property him and his family of 4 were due to move into pulled out at the last minute. Fortunately, he gave us a call and we arranged for 2 of our PODS® containers to be delivered to save the day.
Out of his stressful moving experience, here are the 5 tips Daniel recommends any and all motivated movers follow:
1) Give your driver a heads-up on your location
You might know the quiet, local roads in your area like the back of your hand, but it’s always worth letting your removals driver know. Low bridges, sharp turns, roads susceptible to flooding in wet weather…this information will help to cut down on any delays and help your home move to stay on schedule.
2) Label your boxes thoroughly
If you forget to label your boxes, you’re going to cause a lot of unnecessary stress when you get to your new home. By labelling your boxes accurately from the get-go, you’ll circumvent any stressful sorting and be able to cut straight to unpacking.
3) Pack like Tetris to keep belongings secure
The more tightly you can pack your belongings, the fewer trips you’ll have to make.
“Packing a POD is like a game of Tetras.”, says Daniel. “Trying to find items that fit is easier when they are close to one another.” By employing a tape measure to figure out which items fitted well together, Daniel then used PODS’ tie-down hooks to secure his furniture and fridge in place, preventing them from moving around in transit.
Any empty gaps you have in between furniture should be padded out with spare bedding and duvets to minimise the risk of chips or dents, and don’t be afraid to get more creative with delicate items:
“Using bedding, towels, pillows and cushions to protect furniture, including on the floor, helped avoid damage,” says Daniel. “Having plenty of rope and straps helped us secure each item and section as we packed. We suspended surfboards, fishing rods and other long flat items from the roof to keep them safe as we packed from below.”
4) Expect the unexpected
We all love it when a plan comes together, but it’s always good to have a backup in mind. If you run into any issues with your move, know that PODS is here at the drop of a hat to help save the day.
Daniel ran into a unique situation where the home he was due to move into fell through – mid-move. All of a sudden, he was stuck with a 4-bedroom home’s worth of stuff with no property to move it into.
“Our experience using PODS was very positive but unexpected as our original plan was to use a conventional door to door removalist service. However, our plans were thrown into disarray when the place we were supposed to move into fell through.” Daniel says.
“This is where PODS came to the rescue. Needing to have our items moved and stored is where PODS became the right option for us. Why have your items packed into a truck, unpacked and repacked into a storage facility waiting to be picked up, when you can pack and unpack once only?”.
A quick fix to a big problem
“With limited notice but understanding our situation, the team at PODS was able to talk through our options and provide us guidance with regards to recommended PODS sizes,” says Daniel. “Within 24 hours we had 2 large PODS booked to help us move from our semi-rural acreage property.”
For properties of 4-5 bedrooms, we usually recommend 2 PODS® containers to give you some room to breathe.
Getting your container is quick and easy – simply agree to a quote and tell us where and when you want it. From here, our experienced PODS delivery drivers can either take your belongings straight to your new property to unpack right away or to one of our secure storage facilities if you need a little flexibility. No matter which option you choose, there’s no rush – simply let us know when you’re ready and we’ll do the rest.
“Thank you PODS, everyone we dealt with was helpful and supportive. Our items were safely stored and delivered on time without stress. PODS was a great way to move and store our items.”
Moving House? PODS can Help
Our portable storage solutions take the stress out of moving house. Start your PODS journey – get your personalised quote now.