Moving home after a bereavement or downsizing as an empty nester can be a daunting, stressful and sometimes upsetting prospect. Memories made over a lifetime, or even just a few years, can keep you tied to a property even when a move would be the most sensible, practical and cost-effective plan of action for you.

There are many ways that you can take the memories with you, from swatches of wallpaper, important pieces of furniture through to cuttings from loved plants that will mean you are able to transfer parts of those memories to a new home.

Making a checklist of jobs to do before you leave may not be something you relish, but a little planning at this stage will help you to remember all those little things…

Making memories, taking memories

Remembering the joy in your home can bring you comfort, and you can take some of that joy with you. If your children have flown the nest, perhaps to university, there are bound to be hundreds of physical memories in your home!

Many of us chart our child’s growth with marks on a hallway wall, and it can be tricky to transfer that decade of growth to a new space. Laying tracing paper along the chart and making new marks will allow you to relocate your child’s height history to a new place and preserve those happy memories – for you and them. Perhaps you have a treasure trove of stickers attached to your child’s wooden headboard that you’d like to preserve? A little elbow grease and a can of WD40 and you’ll have removed those precious keepsakes in no time.

Precious photos

Before you begin to pack up your things, take some photographs of the nooks, crannies and favourite places of the dear people in your lives. It may be that your partner loved a particular spot in the garden, or your teenager spent hours in a certain place in your home. Armed with a camera, wander around your home taking shots of those places and you can take them with you – just as they originally looked.

Making the cut

Outside, you may have some plants that have sentimental value and so taking cuttings with you would mean you could capture a little piece of your history too. Make an inventory of all the plants you’d like cuttings from as well as all the outdoor furniture, pots and decorations you’ll be taking. This is also important so that there is no confusion about what you are leaving for the next owners.

Most shrubs will root from cuttings of around 7-10cms, and you should select cuttings from healthy shoots, making a cut with a sharp knife underneath a leaf joint and remove the tip. Take several cuttings from each plant and dip the ends in a hormone rooting powder, pop them into a pot of all-purpose compost and you should see signs of growth before you have exchanged contracts.

Declutter

Your new home may not have the space of your last property and so it’s wise to begin reducing your belongings when you first consider moving. If you’re moving from a four bedroom home to a two bedroom property, you’ll need to be as ruthless as you can to ensure you have the space for all your furniture.

If the thought of parting with some of it leaves you feeling negative, consider renting a storage space. That way you can keep what you want to and revisit it when you’re feeling more positive. There may be items you’d consider donating to family and friends, or even the local housing association or charity.

The humdrum of moving

There’s a long list of less interesting jobs to undertake before you move, such as taking meter readings, cleaning, skip hire if necessary, organising a removal company and packing your belongings ready for the journey. If you feel that all those jobs would place too much pressure or strain upon you, especially if you’re having to deal with moving from a beloved family home, any estate agent worth their salt will be very willing to take the lead and manage these processes for you.

At Jackson-Stops we’ll do just that, leaving you free to concentrate on saving special memories and making new ones in your new home.

If you’d like to know more about how we can make your transition to a new home as stress-free as possible, please contact our Dorking or Reigate branches:

Dorking
01306 887560
dorking@jackson-stops.co.uk

Reigate
01737 222027
reigate@jackson-stops.co.uk