Look, nobody wakes up excited about moving house. You think you will. You tell yourself this time it’ll be different, this time you’ll be organised, this time you won’t be shoving random stuff into garbage bags at midnight. And then the moving day arrives and somehow it’s chaos anyway.
We’ve helped hundreds of Australian families move over the past 7 years at Ozzy Removals, and we see the same mistakes play out over and over. Not because people are careless, just because nobody really tells you what moving house actually involves until you’re in the middle of it. So here’s what we’ve learned. The real stuff. Not a generic list you could find anywhere.
The Biggest Mistake People Make When Moving House
Leaving everything too late. That’s it. That’s the mistake. Everything else, the broken plates, the frantic calls, the wrong boxes in the wrong rooms, almost all of it traces back to not starting soon enough.
Eight weeks out sounds like heaps of time. It isn’t. Not when you’re also working, looking after kids, dealing with landlords, and trying to figure out why the internet company needs three weeks’ notice to disconnect a cable. Start your moving house checklist the moment you know you’re moving. Not next weekend. Now.
Your Moving House Checklist, Week by Week
8 Weeks Out
Get your removalist locked in. First thing. Before you buy boxes, before you start packing, before you do anything else. Call around, get a few quotes, check reviews, and book someone you actually trust with your stuff. At Ozzy Removals we get booked out weeks in advance, especially at the end of month when everyone’s lease seems to expire at the same time.
While you’re at it, walk through every room and be brutal about what’s coming with you. That printer that hasn’t worked since 2019? Gone. The boxes in the garage you haven’t opened since the last move? Go through them now. Every item you cut means less to pack, less to move, and less to unpack at the other end.
4 to 6 Weeks Out
Start packing the stuff you don’t touch day to day. Books, spare linen, things from the spare room, seasonal clothes, kitchen gadgets you use twice a year. Get it all boxed up and out of the way early.
Write on every box. Not just “kitchen” actually write what’s in it. “Kitchen, baking trays, mixing bowls, that weird spiraliser thing.” You’ll thank yourself when you’re unpacking and desperately need to find something specific without opening fifteen boxes.
Call your utility providers. Electricity, gas, water, internet all of it. These companies need notice. Some of them need more notice than you’d think. Sort your mail redirection through the post office too. It’s easy to forget and annoying when you don’t.
1 Week Out
Everything that can be packed should be packed by now. You’re living out of a small selection of things, a few plates, your kettle, the basics. Confirm with your removalist: time, address, any tricky items like a piano or a massive fridge that’ll need extra hands.
Defrost the freezer. People forget this and then the truck smells like water and old food for the whole drive.
Pack your overnight bag covered below and put it somewhere you won’t accidentally box it up.
Moving Day
Before the truck rolls away from your old place, walk through the entire property. Every cupboard. Every shelf. Under the beds. The shed. The side of the house. People leave things behind every single move, guaranteed.
Take photos of the meter readings. Take photos of any existing damage to the property. Hand back keys and remotes as arranged.
At the new place, position yourself near the front door and direct where things go as they come off the truck. Boxes into the right rooms from the start saves enormous amounts of time later.
The Moving Tips That Actually Matter
Pack One Overnight Bag and Guard It With Your Life
This does not go in the truck. It goes in your car, on the back seat, where you can see it.
Inside: phone charger, toothbrush, medications, change of clothes, toilet paper (genuinely always have toilet paper), snacks, instant coffee or tea bags, your lease or settlement papers, and something to sleep on tonight. When you arrive at the new place at 7pm with no energy left to find anything, this bag is everything.
Small Boxes for Heavy Things
Books go in small boxes. Full stop. Same with tools, crockery, anything dense. A small box that’s full of books is already heavy enough. A large box full of books is something nobody can lift and something that will either break the box or break someone’s back.
Large boxes are for pillows, doonas, soft toys, light things that take up space but weigh nothing.
Label the Room on Every Single Box
Every single one. Get coloured stickers one colour per room and stick them on every box as you pack it. When the removalists are bringing in box number forty-seven and everyone’s tired, those coloured dots mean things end up in the right place without anyone having to think about it.
Photograph Your Setup Before You Take It Apart
TV unit, bookshelf, desk setup, bed frame take a photo before you dismantle anything. Getting to the new place and staring at a pile of screws and timber with no memory of how it fit together is not fun. Take the photo. Put the screws in a ziplock bag. Tape the bag to the furniture it came from.
Tell Your Removalists About Anything Tricky
Big couch that had to come in through a window? Piano in the back room? A fridge that barely fits through the hallway? Tell us before the day, not when we’re standing in front of it. Good removalists will problem-solve anything we just need to know it’s coming so we can bring the right gear and the right number of people.
Moving House With Kids or Pets
Moving day with a three year old running around and a dog freaking out about all the boxes is genuinely hard. If there is any way to have both looked after somewhere else for the day, do it. It is safer for them and it means you can actually focus.
Talk to your kids about the move before it happens. Let them pack their own box of favourite things. Give them some input on the new room. Kids handle change a lot better when they feel like they have some say in it rather than just being told: “we’re moving, pack your stuff.”
Pets, especially dogs can get really unsettled by moving day. The noise, the strangers, the doors are constantly open. Set them up somewhere quiet as soon as you get to the new place. Familiar bedding and their usual smells help more than anything.
Why People Choose Professional Removalists
We’re not going to tell you that you can’t move yourself. You can. Plenty of people do it.
What we will say is that the jobs we get called in to fix the couch stuck in the stairwell, the fridge that scratched every wall on the way out, the boxes that got stacked wrong in a hired van and arrived crushed those jobs almost always started as a DIY move that hit a problem nobody anticipated.
Ozzy Removals has been doing this across Australia for over 7 years. Our team goes through proper training not just “here’s a trolley, good luck” but actual training on how to protect your belongings and your home throughout the move. We’re fully insured, we show up when we say we will, and we give you a genuine quote upfront with nothing hidden.
More than 750 customers have moved with us. Over 870 boxes were handled. More than 320 people who’ve told us they’d use us again and did.
If you want to talk through what your move involves and get a real quote, call us on 0410 000 256 or email booking@ozzyremovals.com.au. We’re based in Cloverdale WA and our service moves all across Australia.
Before You Lock Up the Old Place for the Last Time
Clean it properly, or book a bond cleaner if your lease needs one. Return every key, every garage remote, every swipe card. Take those meter readings. Photograph any existing marks or damage so you’re not unfairly blamed for them later.
Update your address with your bank, your licence, Medicare, the ATO, your electoral roll, your kids’ school. It sounds like a lot but it takes less than an hour if you sit down and do it all at once.
And say goodbye to the place. Even if you hated it. You lived there. That counts for something.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How far ahead do I need to book a removalist?
Minimum four weeks. Six is better. End of month, school holidays, long weekends, availability disappears fast during those times. If you’re calling a week before your move date and getting no callbacks, that’s why.
What actually goes in the overnight bag?
Charger, toothbrush, medications, change of clothes, toilet paper, snacks, something hot to drink, your important documents, and bedding for tonight. Everything you need to get through the first night without touching a single box.
My stuff is fragile. How do I pack it without things breaking?
Wrap each piece on its own. Not a group of things together, each piece individually. Heavy things on the bottom, fragile on top. Scrunch up paper to fill the gaps so nothing can move around inside the box. Mark it fragile on multiple sides and actually point out those boxes to whoever is loading the truck.
What if something gets damaged during the move?
If you’re using a properly insured removalist which Ozzy Removals is, you’re covered. Before moving day, photograph anything valuable or delicate. If something gets damaged, flag it immediately, not days later. The sooner it’s raised the easier it is to sort out.
Is it actually worth paying for professional movers?
For a small flat with not much stuff and mates who can help? Maybe you’re right to do it yourself. For a full family home, anything involving stairs, large furniture, or items that can’t be damaged? Yes. Every time. The cost of hiring professionals is almost always less than the cost of fixing what goes wrong without them.
