Moving House with @at_home_with_the_pells
17th May 2021Posted by Laura Rich on 17th May 2021
Moving house can be exciting and stressful, really quick or super long and drawn out. There can be pitfalls along the way and it's definitely always a learning curve. So when Lauren Pell of @at_home_with_the_pells (one of our favourite instagram accounts) announced that she had sold her home to move up the property ladder, we waited about 24 hours after she moved into the new house to hit her with some questions about the experience.
FB: Tell us a little about the house you moved from. How long did you live there? Why the decision to move?
LP: We moved from our last home just shy of 4 years, the house before was only ever intended to be a short term thing, so when we had baby number 3 we made the decision to move to a 4 bed house for the much needed extra space! Then with the pausing of stamp duty until this year, we knew it was the best time to do it.
FB: Did it take long to sell?
LP: No! Our house was put on the market on a Thursday and within minutes I had people messaging me asking if they could come view it as they’d seen it on rightmove. We were actually viewing a property that evening so we booked all the viewings over the next few days, but we ended up selling the day we started viewings.
FB: How many viewings did you have?
LP: We had 7 in the first 2 days but we cancelled some after agreeing a sale with one of the earliest viewings.
FB: Did anyone look in your fridge?
LP: Thankfully no one looked in my fridge, good job really as it moved house with us!
FB: What would you say helped the most in securing a buyer quickly?
LP: I personally think the extension we did on our home was the selling point (which is why we added it) and dressing it to show its potential. I think some people struggle to visualise furniture such as tables and such in certain spaces, so having items like that helps with that.
FB: How long did it take you to pack up your home?
LP: I can’t even remember ? we started packing late October as we originally planned to complete in mid November 2020, but due to set backs, we were living out of boxes until February 2021 when we moved, which wasn’t ideal with 3 young children, but we managed!
Read our blog 'How to pack safely and easily when moving house' for more tips.
FB: Did you move yourselves? Or hire a removals firm?
LP: We hired a removals company this time and I’m glad we did! We underestimated quite how much stuff we have! This was the first time we’ve used a removal company even though this is our 4th home, but it really helped to have them.
FB: Any tips for anyone preparing to move soon?
LP: Organise! Label boxes with what room they need to go to in the new house and pack accordingly to that where possible. And stop hoarding things you don’t want/need!
FB: Tell us about the new house. Is it a doer-upper? Or your forever home?
LP: It’s all aesthetics mostly, nothing really needs ripping out thankfully, but we have plans to put our stamp on it.
FB: What room are you most looking forward to putting your style to?
LP: Hmmmm, I think the kitchen, mainly because it’s the least like what we would have chosen decor wise, so I’m looking forward to making it more 'us'!
FB: Can you give us your top tip, having just moved house, for staying sane during the whole process?
LP: I don’t think im qualified to answer this, as I’m clinging to what’s left of my sanity! Being as organised as possible is the best advice I can give!
FB: Is there anything you would have done differently if you could do it again?
LP: Probably not moving home with 3 kids and a dog during a global pandemic ?. I probably would have tired to relax a bit more and not worry about things that didn’t matter massively!
Shown above is our Lucia Table and Corona Chairs set along with the Cambridge Bench
Need some inspiration for your new home? Why not try our room planner for ideas. Show us your designs!