A plain moving-day checklist that actually works
The short list that keeps a Christchurch moving day on track — from the first box to the last load.
Moving day rewards the organised and punishes the hopeful. It does not matter whether you are shifting a Halswell family home or a Riccarton flat — the same short checklist keeps the day on track. This is the version we wish every household had on the fridge a week out.
A week before: book the day and confirm access at both ends. Measure the pieces you are worried about — the lounge, the fridge, the bed — against the narrowest doorway and the tightest stairwell turn on the route. Start boxing the rooms you use least: spare bedrooms, bookshelves, the garage workbench. Label every box with its destination room on two sides, because boxes always end up facing the wrong way.
A few days before: run the kitchen down. Plan meals so the fridge is nearly empty the night before, and defrost the freezer if it is moving with you. Bag up the loose bits that vanish in every move — remote controls, cables, shelf brackets, Allen keys — and keep hardware in labelled bags taped to the furniture it belongs to. Charge your phone, because it becomes the day's command centre.
The night before: pack a first-night box for the new place and keep it in your own car, not the truck. Kettle, tea and coffee, phone chargers, toilet paper, basic cleaning gear, bedding, a change of clothes, medications, snacks. Everything you need to function on night one without opening twenty boxes. Clear the paths the crew will walk — hallway clutter, sliding rugs, cars in the driveway.
On the morning: do a final walk of every cupboard, shelf, attic hatch and garden shed before the truck leaves. Hand over spare keys. At the new place, direct traffic — point each box at its room and each furniture piece at its spot. The crew can carry anything, but only you know where it lives.
The golden rule is simple: decisions made before moving day are free, and decisions made during it are expensive. An hour of measuring, labelling and clearing the week before saves three hours of standing in a doorway wondering if the couch fits. If your move is around Halswell or greater Christchurch and you would rather hand the heavy part to a local crew, get in touch — that is exactly what moving day is for.
Need a hand with the actual move?
Arthur Paine Removals is based in Halswell, Christchurch, and open seven days from 8 am to 6 pm. If reading about moving day has convinced you to hand the heavy part to someone else, get in touch — tell us what needs shifting and we will plan it with you.