Are you moving home? Inevitably you’re excited about the move but are you feeling calm and under control? I suspect there are moments when you’re not. And I know this as I moved home every 2-3 years as a child and now help families move into their new houses from abroad. There’s plenty to juggle!

I’ll leave the school choice and doctor’s surgery to other specialists, this blog will help you with your home.

Are you upsizing or downsizing?

If you are moving to a smaller place, it is necessary to review your current furniture and see what you can keep and what you need to let go of. Do this as far in advance as you can, ensuring things go to good homes. We can be sentimental about our goods and you don’t want to feel like you’re simply dumping them at the least minute.

Some quick check points:

• Will the corner sofa fit in the new living room?
• Will your super king headboard get up the stairs?
• Do all the items you consider ‘best’ actually work together as a scheme? Can they be easily adapted (re-painted for example?)
• How much storage space do you have in the new house? How much of your current attic contents do you honestly need? It’s time to be robust.

If you are upsizing, what new items of furniture do you need, and do you need them immediately? Bedrooms tend to need a standard list of items, only growing if you have very generous rooms. Do you have sufficient beds, tables and lamps to get you started? Do they match? Does that matter to you?

Kitchen & bathroom

Many people buy new homes knowing they’re going to be changing the kitchen and bathrooms. If this is the case, don’t bother unpacking all your blenders and specialist pots. Take this ‘organizing time’ to understand what your essentials are and only unpack them. Put the rest in storage, your garage or your attic, for when the rooms are ready.

Curtains

Have the previous owners left you their curtains – even if you’re only to keep them a short while? It’s difficult to sleep in a light room and you’ll need to resolve this issue as soon as possible. If you are choosing a new fabric for the blinds/curtains, it’s important to understand the scheme for each room in advance. (For example, dark wooden bed with neutrals and greens, light birch bed with light greys and blues, white bed with pinks). Have fun on Pinterest and allocate a scheme to each of your new rooms.

Natural light

You won’t fully appreciate the light in your new home until you’ve lived there a while. We like to encourage clients to live in a home for a year before making drastic decisions about changing walls and room usage. It’s important to appreciate how the winter morning light works and where you like to sit on a summer’s evening. A professional designer can estimate these things of course, and you might like to get help in advance if you want to walk into the house in its best state from the off.

Lighting

People’s taste in lighting varies widely and the likelihood is that you will be left with a pendant or a chandelier which is not to your liking (read ghastly). We would recommend you live in the space a while before making a choice though.

Tip: create a list of ‘what we can live with’ items vs ‘what absolutely has to go, now!’ elements.

Floors

Does your new home have the same type of floor as your current home? Hard stone floors can be a surprise to those used to carpets. Do you have sufficient rugs? This is particularly relevant to the stairs which can feel very slippery if you’re not used to wooded steps.

Basics

While it’s nice to think about the new space and its finer details, it’s imperative that the basics are in place – the electrics are safe, the plumbing is sound, the battery in the fire alarm is changed, the shower isn’t a dribble, the stain in the corner of the room isn’t growing, the windows and doors open smoothly, the garage door locks. Get a handyman in to do a thorough check so you feel safe. That really is key.

Stress

Remember the house doesn’t have to be perfect straight away. This is a new place for you to learn to look after and make the most of. Learn about the spaces and how it makes you feel then go to town and really create your dream home.

Take a look through our interior design portfolio and give our team a call to discuss your house move today.

niki@nsid.co.uk

07782 2656 444