Hello love birds,
Moving home in Dubai……So, as mentioned in a few previous posts, the hubby and I have recently moved to our new home (you can see some of the move pics on my Instagram page @riocaptures). Much like planning a wedding, moving home is no easy task….in fact, it’s noted by many as being one of the most stressful events next to planning a wedding, getting a divorce and losing a loved one. So I thought I’d post a few useful tips for my newly wedded readers moving home, or those in general who are due to move soon.
Since the announcement of the Dubai 2020 expo, myself and many of my friends have had to pack up and move elsewhere. I guess we had to eventually, I work from home several days a week and needed a proper home office, also, god willing…eventually we will plan for a mini ‘Downie-Hurst’ addition at some point, so extra space was needed.
We managed to find a 3 bed spacious apartment, just within the limits of our budget, so signed and sealed the deal and moved in two weeks ago….but we did have to visit a few hell holes first and deal with dodgy estate agents in the process… see below for my top tips when moving home in Dubai.
Above: Moving home is noted one of lifes most stressful events
Start packing up your bits and bobs well in advance – I knew we had a lot of stuff, but nothing could have prepared me for the amount of complete rubbish we had accumulated…It took ages! So, start packing up the things you don’t need immediately, and gradually work your way through everything that needs packing….give yourself plenty of time.
De-clutter – Moving home is a great excuse to de-cutter and get rid of the junk you do not need. Separate your junk into three categories
- Give to charity
- Sell
- Throw/Recycle
For the things you wish to give to charity or recycle, I recommend Take My Junk. All items bought or collected by Take My Junk (they collect for free btw), are taken to their sorting facility in Ajman. Once, repaired and sorted, they sell all items at affordable rates to low income people. What they cannot sell, gets given for free on Fridays to dozens of low income visitors. We had an old wardrobe, broken lamps, half used bottles of cream, etc and they took the lot!
Above: Take My Junk will take ALL of your unwanted items
For the things you wish to personally sell, I recommend the Dubai Flea Market. I still have two suit cases full of things I want to sell, but need to find day to go and do the market. To cut the costs of the stand, you can always ask your friends who need to get rid of items if they would like to share stand with you.
Above: The popular Safa Park flea market in Dubai
Shop around for a moving company to shift your furniture, delicate items – Some of the quotations I received left me flabbergasted, so I did a bit of research and found a few good contacts for movers who are reasonable with their rates and have awesome testimonials. If you would like any of the contacts, just drop me a message.
Get keys cut straight away – We forgot this at the start and there were a few occasions where one of us need to get in the flat while the other was elsewhere.
Moving with Pets – We had to move with our two rascal cats ‘Ali Baba’ and ‘Paws’. If you have pets, remember to change the address on their chip if they have one. Be warned that moving with pets, especially cats, can be extremely distressing for them. Our cats were terrified, but there were certain things we did to alleviate some of their stress
- Keep calm and spend plenty of quality time with your cat before, during, and after the move. Cat’s sense stress, so keeping calm during the moving process helps.
- Confine your cat in a room while you get everything sorted out, e.g., unpacking, furniture moving, etc. This will calm your cat down a little and will avoid any issues of your cat getting lost in nooks and crannies while you unpack.
- While the cat is in the room, have things your cat is familiar in there straight away. Whilst your cat will still take time to adjust, having her/his favorite basket, cat tree, and blanket nearby is reassuring. When everything is in the house, you will notice how quickly the cats start to adapt and enjoy their new surroundings.
Above: My cats chilling on their new balcony after getting settled
Clearly mark all boxes, containers and bags – The last thing you want is to have everything moved in your new home and then to have to sift through a mountain of boxes and bags not knowing what is inside. Mark each box, container with key words such as ‘Kitchen utensils’, ‘cloths’, ‘Paper Work’, etc. Oh, and don’t forget to clearly mark all DELICATE items.
I hope the above tips have helped in some way of you are planning your move. We are working though one room at a time at our new flat, so far the kitchen and master bathroom is done, but we are still tackling all the other rooms…the home office will be my last project, as that will be my master piece, he-he.
If I’m honest, I don’t think I will have the flat the way I really want it for a very long time, I’m a total perfectionist and home décor nerd. I’ll update you all on my progress as I go along.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend. I’m off to sleep now as I have a busy weekend ahead and lots of features to write for Bride Club ME.
Ciao for now…
