House Warming......

Sometimes its nice to take a gift over to your friends when they have just moved or just to say thank you to them for their hospitality.

If your friend has invited you over to their housewarming party it is clear that you should but don't have to take a gift, if they are  not having a party but you know your friends have just moved and you are going round to their home for the evening it might be nice to take them a gift to mark the occasion for them.

If you are really stuck for an idea as to what to get someone as a house warming gift scented candles or candle holders or photo frames are simple but nice gifts that everyone has a use for, if you know your freind is really into cooking a food related gift like a cookbook holder would be a good gift idea or you could have a little fun and be different and buy your friend something like a bonsai tree kit.

Set of 4 Candle holders £12.95 www.conranshop.co.uk

Cookbook Holder £23.50 www.heals.co.uk

Picture Frame £10 -£20 www.johnlewis.com

Bonsai Tree Kit £11.99 www.iwantoneofthose.com

Selection of Mini Bottles £16.00 www.marksandspencer.com

If in doubt a bottle of wine, chocolates or a cheese selection are all good gifts that can also be bought last minute like on your way over to your friends especially if you forgot . 

Moving Pets...

So you are moving home and you have a pet to think about but you don't know what to do on the day or when you get to your new home.

Before the day of the move go to your vet and ask if there is anything that you could give your pet to calm it down.

Pet Carrier £21.00 www.petsathome.com

On the day of the move if you have a pet find a room preferably an empty room where you can set up your cats bed, food, drink , litter tray and your pet carrier and leave the cat in there and make sure that you leave a note on the door so everyone knows not to go in the room. Either before the van goes or if you are traveling by car you can go and empty the room and put the pet into its carrier and the bed and bowls can be put into the back of the movers van.

With a dog if you could get a familiar person to look after the dog during the move this could take away stress for the dog.

On the day when you have the pet in the room alone and when you get to your new home you can have a plug in for your pet that gives off hormones to calm the pet.

For Dogs Plug in diffuser £32.99 www.boots.com

For Cats Plug in Diffuser £32.99 www.boots.com

These plug-in diffusers can also be used to calm a pet at other times as well like parties at your home or when fireworks are going of like new years and firework night.

When you get to your new home make sure there is a space where you can leave your pet like you did at your old home, make sure with a cat the room you put them in doesn't have anything that they can squeeze behind as they could get stuck or not come out for a couple of days and this could stress them and you.

With a cat keep them inside your new home for two weeks even if they are more outside cats, this time in the home will give them the time they need to clam down and get used to the new smells and surroundings and will allow them to make the house feel safe to them.

Make sure if your pet has a identity chip that you contact the company so that they can update there database and make sure that you update your pets identity discs with your new telephone number if it has changed.

With dogs if you have a garden at your new home before letting the dog out unsupervised make sure that there are no holes for it to escape out of.

When you are all unpacked and in your new home make sure you stick to your pet normal routines of walking and feeding to help them become comfortable and don't give them any more or less attention than you normally would .

Be Patient with your pet there could be some accidents in your new home but these will go away when the pet is settled just clean up the mess with a dog praise them for going in the right place telling them off will just stress the pet even more and will not help in the long run.   

Theses tips are also helpful if you have got a pet from a rescue home as it is like moving house for them when they come home with you for the first time.

Packing up shop...

Moving homes can be a nightmare trying to remember all the things that you need to get done before the big day and getting it all done in what time you have.

Sometimes if you don't have a lot to move you don't want to bother with a moving company and hiring a van and doing it yourself would be easier you are stuck with where to buy your boxes to pack everything up.

Moving House Storage Boxes £40.49 for 1-2 bedrooms www.argos.co.uk

I have only just moved and when I was looking for boxes to put my things into it was really hard to find any at a reasonable price as some of the boxes where £4 each which for the amount of boxes I needed would have been a lot of money for some boxes which are just going into the recycle bin after I have moved so when I found these because it comes with all the other things that I need as well this pack from Argos comes with bubble wrap, brown tape, a pen and 15 different sized boxes. 

This all comes delivered to your home. The sizes of the boxes are listed on the Argos website so you can work out if there are enough for what you need packing if this set of boxes isn't enough they do have a bigger set with more boxes if you need them.

Make Space...

If you are moving or just need to make some extra space vacuum pack bags are great. 

I use them to store the season of clothing I am not wearing in them so I have more space in my wardrobe and I also store my spare duvet and pillows in them which is such a space saver.

Vac Pack Jumbo £14.99 www.jmldirect.com

When you are moving or putting things in storage it can sometimes be a bit overwhelming with all the boxes and the clothes rail boxes don't really hold that many clothes and weigh a ton before you even put anything in them so these vacuum bags are a great alternative as you can put all your clothes, bedding towels and any other fabric things into them and it keeps them safe and make moving them around a lot easier.

One tip if you are putting clothes with metal buttons or zips fold the clothes so that these don't come in to contact with the bag itself because when you have sucked all the air out the zip or button could catch on something and puncher the bag, I did this and it took me about ten minutes to figure out why the bag kept filling back up with air.

Other than that these are so easy to use, you just fill them up close the bag and using your vacuum suck the air out then store them away.

   

Moving Home

Before moving there are a lot of things that you need to think about.

Once you have your new address you will want to have your mail redirected, you can go to your local post office and they have a form for you to fill in, if there is more than one person in your home changing address then be aware that you will all need to go back to the post office with proof of identity so make sure you have time to do this when the post office is open. 

With your gas and electricity book in for someone to come and read the meters and have the last bill sent before you move and then make sure you have them set up at your new address you don’t want to get there and not have any electricity or gas.

Tell your telephone company  a few weeks before you move so you can have your last bill sent and if you can have your calls redirected to your mobile if you won’t have your new one set up  for a couple of days that way you won’t miss out on any important calls especially if you work from home.

Make sure you tell your doctor when you are moving and where to and see if they can recommend any one in that area this also needs to be done with dentists and any other health professionals you see. 

If you have house, car, pet or any other insurance make sure you tell your insurance company of your move and check if this affects your premiums in the new area.

If you have a house alarm make sure you tell the alarm company so that they can take your contact information off their records.

If you have pets you will have to see if your vet knows of a good vet near your new home and you might also want to ask your vet if they have any anti-anxiety products suitable for your pet to make the move easier for them.

For the day of the move you might want to pack a separate box and bag  with all the essentials , these would be tea and coffee, kettle, cups and mugs , plates, some cutlery, a can opener, small saucepan, toilet paper, a wash bag, bedding, towels, a lamp, and clothes for the next day. These come in handy because after a day of carrying around heavy boxes you might not feel like unpacking the same night so you have all the essentials to hand.