Sunday, 9 January 2011

Annnnnd.. we've moved!

You know, I always thought I was a pro when it came to moving house.

Moving to the UK doesn't really count, since I left most belongings at home & focused on packing my humble little suitcase. The first real move that we went through was the switch from East London to West London, halfway through our time overseas. I loved packing our things and getting everything sorted and labelled. {Though I didn't love the cleaning that came along with it, I'll admit.} I loved being able to unpack at our leisure, to be able to choose where I wanted things to go: which drawer, which cupboard, where to put the furniture? Call me obsessive compulsive, but I loved it.

We packed up ready for our move back to Sydney too, of course - but I can't comment on that just yet, since our boxes are currently somewhere in a port waiting to be examined by quarantine: if we get them back sometime in the next year, I'll be happy.

Also, a brief side-note: I feel like I've paid more than my due's to the Australian quarantine sector, first the obscene amount of money needed to get the cat brought over, and now for our boxes - I'm just going to put it out there and say NO, we have not smuggled in any exotic birds, wood products or seeds, and I'd really, really like it if you sent our boxes to us soon because I'm tiring of wearing the same four summer outfits over and over again. Phew, epic sentence right there. Sorry about that.

Moving right along: this is the first time either Jase or myself have moved house here at home. I found the perfect rental apartment before the holidays, but the move-in date wasn't until Friday gone by - so we had plenty of time to prepare. After researching removal vans & nearly dying at the insane cost of hiring one for a few hours, my dad offered to drive a rented van for the day, and he, Jase & future-fil spent the day loading and unloading box after box.

We were lucky. Our flat came unfurnished, but we had hand-me-down furniture from both of our families, and we had lots of accumulated gifts {mostly kitchen related - like fry pans, kettles, cookware} that made it super easy to move. Add in a crazy trip to Ikea with Miss K a few weeks ago, where I picked up a trusty dining table, bookshelf and side table, and we ended up moving a lot of stuff.

The apartment is gorgeous. It's brand new, never been lived in before - done up in very neutral colours and has a lot of space. We even upgraded to two bedrooms, a good decision because of the amount of belongings we have now. I can't show you a picture yet, because it stills look a little like a war zone, but it's fabulous. The only downside is that it's upstairs: the boys were completely stuffed after hiking up and down carrying furniture and boxes. We couldn't have done it without them! There have been a few minor problems so far: we only got one key for the front door instead of two, our intercom doesn't seem to work, and it turns out there is no phone line connected in the place.. but they're things we can work with.

The hardest thing we're dealing with right now is keeping Oscar-cat a secret. We smuggled him in on our first night with no problems, but we have to keep him hidden for the whole time we are here. It doesn't help that for the last two nights, he's cried. all. night. I've hardly slept for fear that someone is going to knock on our door and complain, though I'm sure the walls are thicker than I'm imagining.

Pictures to come soon, but in the meantime - tell me what's the favourite room in your current place? Maybe it's because this room is the most 'finished', but I don't want to leave our new lounge/diner area. Like, ever.

8 comments:

  1. That's great news. I hate moving, so it's good it went smoothly for you (if only you'll get your boxes soon!)

    Smuggling a cat is a bit hard - are you sure the owner wouldn't mind a cat in there? I often find that even when they say "no pets" they mean dogs - most owners are happy with a cat if you sign a contract saying you'll repair any damage etc.

    Enjoy your new place! :)

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  2. Moving is so much work. It's a good thing you've got good strong helpers to haul stuff up those stairs! Can't wait to see what it looks like! :)

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  3. Moving can be fun if you can do it without the actual moving part. ;)

    I just posted about our kitchen. We've lived in this house for almost 10 years, and we've re-done nearly everything. This is our final project...LOVE it.

    http://thecasualperfectionist.com/2011/01/its-like-a-whole-new-kitchen/

    Good luck in the new place!

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  4. I moved a day before you (the 6th) and this was by far my worst move so far. Whenever I moved before, I only moved parts of my stuff, as I had yet to truly move out from my parents. This time I actually took all my belongings (except for some stuff in the attic) with me. It' the first time I am living in an unfurnished apartment. I owned some furniture before this move but it was really very little (just a couple of shelves), and I have already spent tons of money that I don't actually have yet. I wish I had gotten some more hand-me down furniture but there really wasn't a lot. I did receive a bit from my cousin who moved in December and a table from my parents.
    I think the room I love best in my apartment is the living room. It still doesn't look finished at all, because I have yet to buy a couch (and probably won't for a couple more months or so), but I love the wooden panels on one of the walls and the wooden beams (from the house structure). In terms of finished-ness, the room I love best is my office and actually, my walk-in closet (haha).
    It'll probably be months before the apartment looks really comfy and lived-in though. I just can't afford to spend money on things to make it look pretty just yet.

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  5. Yikes! Good luck keeping Oscar hidden! And once everything's in place think how relaxed you'll be - then onto the wedding!!!

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  6. That's such wonderful news! Moving cats is definitely tough however so best of luck... can't wait to see the new place :)

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  7. I've always been a cat smuggler! Usually it's not too bad. Does Oscar meow a lot?

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  8. What a great resource!

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