Top 5 Tips For Moving In Together

It’s a big day. When you finally decide to just stop taking your toothbrush backwards and forwards every day. You can stop having to borrow their socks when you’ve forgotten yours. To unpack the overnight bag one last time and finally move in together.

There is a lot to consider before making this decision. Moving out on your own or even in with friends can be tough.

Moving in with your other half can be a bit of an obstacle course – delicately stepping around their weird night time routines, dodging their bad bathroom habits, and hurtling over the unannounced future mother-in-law visits. But if you’ve considered all of this and still decided to move in with them, then there is only one last thing to do. Move.

So for a (relatively) quibble free and smooth sailing move, we’ve got some tips for you.

First things first. It’s time to lock and load the most important relationship tactic there is – compromise.

Ready? Okay let’s go.

1. Find Your Common Ground… Literally

If you and your partner are just two halves of one whole that have so much in common this might really work out for you, in terms of storage and decluttering at least.

Do you have the same taste in music? Film? Books? Faberge Eggs? Okay maybe not the last one. But if you have similarities in the others you might very well have doubled up on some of those items. And if so, then working through them together to see what you want to keep and what you want to chuck will save loads on space, and also a great bonding idea (awwww!). If you’re already low on space then consider what you want in your home and which you can place in storage until needed.

Editors note: if they don’t have a copy of To Kill A Mockingbird? Get them dumped.

2. The Single Days Are Over

A sure fire way to start a ‘lovers quarrel’ is keeping that oversized teddy that your ex won you at a fair that one time. Magical moment, not shared by both. It’s gotta go.

Now we aren’t saying get rid of everything from your past relationships (that floor lamp works too well in your new living room), but things that are less practical and more keepsake can maybe go. Or put them in a storage unit, we won’t tell, promise.

3. Combine Forces with Furniture

Unless you have two bedrooms you probably don’t have much use for 2 beds, the same goes for sofas, kitchen tables, chez longues…

So take a look at what you both have and pick what suits your new home best. But don’t just chuck or donate the rest until you are certain that you might not need it in the future. Maybe a one bedroom home suits you right now, but perhaps in a few years there will be the additional pitter patter of extra feet and you might need to expand.

Thankfully you can hire a storage unit for the inbetween.

4. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Let’s consider the furniture that costs more to move than it would to buy. Maybe you don’t need all of those novelty mugs between two people, and 5,000 lidless tupperware containers?

This works for everything you own, including clothing, electronics, long-life food, office supplies and beauty essentials. Everything you own should now be picked over with a fine tooth comb to see what you really need and want in your new home. Then, let’s see what you can do with the rest.

To reduce your clutter checkout step 3 in our article 7 Outstanding Storage Tips For Moving Home.

We’ve summarised it here:

• Chuck what you don’t want or donate.
• Sell at a Carboot Sale things that might be worth something.
• Store your valued items that currently have no place in personal storage.

And the rest? Why not reuse or recycle? Or even upcycle?

Check out some of these Handy Storage Hacks to reuse or upcycle some of the everyday items and objects you already have too many of.

5. Just You Do You

Remember you are still your own person and not everything needs to be merged. Those faberge eggs? Rock them. Those film noir movie posters? Stand proud.

This is where your favourite word – compromise – comes into action. If the things that make you happy are truly important to you or your partner, albeit not to everyone’s taste, you should find a way to incorporate it into your flat in a reasonable manner. Whether that be using the spare room for your collections, or choosing certain items out of it to display in the communal areas.

Understand the space you have and how you want to reflect both your personalities in your new home. For everything else, go back to step 4!

If you’re moving home, moving in with friends, going travelling, renovating or taking the next step with your partner then give us a call on 0141 887 1000 to discuss all your storage needs, or contact us here.

Let us know in the comments if we’ve missed any vital tips for a happy move. We wish you all the best in this next adventure of your life.