While moving house may seem like a daunting task from the outset, it doesn’t have to be. Sure it takes a bit of hard work and organisation, but it can be a smooth operation.

Follow these tips to inspire and encourage you throughout your journey of moving house.

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1.       Decisions decisions decisions

When you’re about to move house, it’s time to consider everything you currently own and decide what you want – and need – to take to your next home.

An impending move provides you with a great opportunity to really consider whether to pack and haul all of those items you’ve had for a while to the new house, or leave them behind, and upgrade at a later date.

Keep in mind the style, colour pallet, and size of the rooms in your next house, to help make your decision about what stays and what goes.

Remember to keep track of what you’re leaving behind, so you know what you need to buy when you arrive!

Make sure your surfaces are spick and span before you bring your furniture in.

2.       Make a list. And check it twice.

Organisation is the key to most things in life, and moving house is no exception!

When preparing for a move, it’s vital you start a checklist of things you need to do to make sure your experience is a smooth one.

You might like to start by listing out each task, then nominating a date it needs to be done by, as well as allocating someone to the job – and sort accordingly.

If you’re super organised and technologically savvy you could start a spreadsheet, alternatively do it the old-fashioned way by listing everything down on a notepad and checking it off after completion.

The key is updating either list regularly, because things will crop up along way. But enjoy the feeling of ticking everything off in the meantime!

3.       Pack it up.

Once your list is done, it’s time to roll your sleeves up and get packing.

You may want to recruit some friends or family to try to make it a fun occasion – play music and have some snacks on hand.

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Enlist the help of at least a few friends and family.

Officeworks will be able to help you out at this stage with a wide range of shipping boxes, labelling devices, packaging tape, and foam and bubble wrap to protect your valuables in the move.

Don’t forget to label each and every box – you could even write the room in the next house it belongs to, or use different coloured stickers to identify if the contents are fragile.

4.       Take a load off.

Once everything is packed up and you’ve organised how you’re going to go about transporting it all to your new house, it’s time to start thinking about the process at the other end – is the residence ready (clean enough) to house all the items, who is going to unload the truck or van and where are the empty boxes going to go?

If you’re using your checklist properly, you’ll already have all this sorted, so unloading will be just as seamless as the packing up.

It’s important to ensure all the surfaces of the new house are dust-free, ready for your clean household goods to be placed upon.

This may be another good opportunity to get some friends or family around to make an event of it, after all, this is the most exciting part!

5.       Let’s go shopping.

So you’ve unpacked all of the goods from your previous house and now have a better idea about what you need to fill in the gaps.

Walk around the house, room by room, and consider what furniture or accessories you may need, as well as looking at existing items that may need upgrading in its new home.

Think big when creating your list, treat it as a wish list and work in progress, because you certainly don’t have to buy everything at once!

Get some inspiration about what you could include by looking at lifestyle and interior design blogs and magazines.

Your new house is your oyster.

This article was originally published on realestateVIEW.com.au. All pictures are from Shutterstock.