Moving house is obviously going to be an emotional journey. For starters – you’re leaving the home you already have in favor of a completely different place. You might be completely overjoyed at the prospect, or there might be a tinge of sadness mixed in with that elation. Or it could be that you’re moving more out of necessity than choice, making that whole thing a sad annoyance. If you’re moving to your new home or apartment, it’s probably a journey full of learning curves, excitement, and a little bit daunting – but in a good way.
There is no doubt that moving home is an emotional rollercoaster, but you don’t want that to kinder the process, nor do you want it to get in the way of your choices; if your scared of leaving home for the first time you might end up choosing a house far closer to home rather than spreading your wings and settling in a new area. You can still be close enough to home for an easy visit, but having to be far enough away to not be able to rely on your parents is always a good idea when learning to be independent.
The excitement of choosing to move…
No matter your situation, when you make the decision to move, there will always be some excitement involved. Not only do you get to start looking ahead and find that lovely new home to move to, but there is also a sense of adventure surrounding it all. You’ll go into planning mode and start looking at all the houses available in the area you want to move to – regardless of whether they will fit into your budget or not and probably a few months too early
The realization that you might have to start again…
When you have already been in a home for a while you have figured out exactly where everything needs to be, how the house functions and how best to maximise the space. If you own the house, there’s a distinct possibility that you have already made some improvements in decorating and even renovating to make the house perfect for you and your family. Yet in a new house you’re going to have to begin again. Even in a newly built townhouse, the neutral decor might not be what you’re looking for, especially if your child is dying to have a space themed bedroom – it’s not often that new builds cater to the astronomical visions of kids.
The elation of finding the right place…
The searching process begins as an exciting one, bit can quickly become an annoying and gruelling process of trailing through one house to the other, with all buildings blurring together. Make it easier for yourself by making notes on all the houses you see so that it’s easy to match the images in your head to the right building. Also, don’t be afraid to go and visit a place more than once. And always remember that you will find your next home amongst all the not right places you see, and the elation you feel is amazing. You might have that moment when you first walk into the house, or it might be that those feelings arise once you have secured the property and it’s yours finally!
The stress bubble of figuring out finances…
Somewhere around looking for places to live you will have to start working out finances. Not just for your future home, but for deposits, moving teams or a van – depending on your preference, travel to visit houses, admin fees, solicitor fees if you’re buying, and even the cost of packing equipment. It’s overwhelming and stressful, and something that you can’t avoid looking at. Sort it out sooner rather than later and work out a structured budget for each spend you’re going to need to make. Sort out your savings to cover all the annoying costs and the deposit, and figure out what you can comfortably afford to spend on rent or a mortgage each month.
The nostalgia surrounding the big sort out…
Now that you’re on your way out, you need to start packing up. And the start of this process is always the big sort out. No matter the size of your house now, you will always accumulate memories in the form of material things – some of it you really don’t need going forward, but most of it will bring up memories and happy nostalgia.
The annoyance of packing…
Packing is annoying – trying to fit your life into a load of boxes, realizing that you have packed things too early, having to search for a single bit of paper in a mass of boxes – it all happens and it’s always frustrating. Start packing things you really don’t need anytime soon, and pack half a room at a time. Label all your boxes with what is inside – like ‘kitchen – utensils, pans and rice cooker’ but also label them so that you know that ‘kitchen #1’ is all the least important stuff, where the last box you packed is all the stuff you use the most.
The buzz of moving day…
When you finally get to move house, it’s exciting and there isn’t a feeling that matches the buzz of moving day. It’s often a lot of excitement and stress in the morning, followed by the tedious filling out of paperwork and collecting of keys, and ending with more moving of furniture and boxes. If you’re smart you will have planned the actual move over a few days so that you have time to settle in to your new place.
The contentment surrounding making the house a home…
Once you’re in your new house you can relax. No more moving and no more planning, you can now set to work on making your new house feel like home. That means unpacking and decorating, but it also involves enjoying the new space and inviting people over to start making new memories in your new home.
*This article was contributed.
