Bubble, bubble ...
Fragile items should be wrapped very carefully. The best packing items are newsprint and bubble wrap. Beg or buy large sheets of unprinted newsprint or ends of rolls from your local printer. A dirtier (but still effective) alternative is the good old Sunday paper (the bigger, the better). There's always more stuff to be wrapped than you think. If you prefer to keep it clean, use bubble wrap - if you get really bored, you can pop a few bubbles while you pack.

Mattresses are quite heavy, and you'll usually drop at least one corner during the move. (After three moves in the rain, my old pale yellow mattress was quite filthy.) I recommend that you wrap all mattresses, otherwise you'll be sleeping on dirt for years. Garbage bags and packing tape are useful for wrapping large items such as these, but even better are big dust sheets from your local hardware store.

Make your mark
Most people label boxes according to where they want them to go in the new house, but I recommend that you also mark where they've come from in the old house. You'll have a much better idea of where to find that elusive vase for the welcome flowers the new neighbors have brought you, because you'll know exactly where that was in the old house. Labels should be placed or written on the top and at least two sides so you won't have to lift every box to find out what's in it. Help your move-day helpers to help you by making some signs for the new house (Bedroom 1, Bedroom 2, Office etc) so they will know where each box should go. Otherwise, they'll just put stuff down anywhere and you'll struggle to find it.

Food frenzy
On move day you should take your perishables out of the fridge and box them up. Leave the food that’s in the freezer; that’s where it’s safest. As long as the freezer door stays shut, you should be able to move the fridge and plug it in again without any losses. Of course, if it will take days rather than hours to get to your new home, maybe you should empty the freezer in the weeks before move day. And take this chance to throw out any out of date foodstuffs.

Essential services
Get together a move day essentials box. This should have a bottle of mineral water, a couple of snack bars and a roll of toilet paper, as well as tea and coffee fixings and a kettle.

Put your hammer, drill and screwdriver set as well as a few nails, screws and wall plugs in another essentials box. A couple of light bulbs may also come in handy, as will a roll of garbage bags and some large dust sheets in case it's a wet day (you don't want mud all over the new carpet, do you?)

I have to be honest. Moving is still a stressful process, even for me, but I don't tend to break anything I need and can always find my belongings easily. Give these steps a try and your house move will be much less hassle