my tips for moving house

Kia ora and welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about good shit in Tāmaki Makaurau, by me, Reilly Hodson. This week, we’re talking about the joys of moving house, which I did last weekend. If you enjoy clipboard, please do share it with your cool friends. The more the merrier!

relocation, relocation, relocation

Last week, there was no clipboard on a Sunday morning, because I moved house (well, I moved apartment). My partner and I uprooted ourselves from Grey Lynn, the suburb we’ve lived in for the past three years since we left home, and moved to Mt Albert, a suburb which is also named after a coloniser but is otherwise a bit different.

Moving is a stressful and emotionally taxing thing to do. I’m not someone who often gets attached to places, but moving shifts the place that you feel “at home,” changes where the light switches are, and also takes a lot of hard work.

In the wake of our move, and to follow this newsletter’s core philosophy of supporting local, I’m going to spend the next few issues of clipboard talking about moving: how to do it, how to feel out a new neighbourhood, and some of my favourite places in our new hood.

In this first issue of the series, I’m talking about how we did the move, and a few tips for doing it easily.

get rid of some stuff

There’s no better time to clear out your unnecessary stuff than when you move house. You’re packing it all up anyway, and everything you get rid of is something you don’t have to carry, or unpack at the other end. My partner and I both did a bit of this, selling furniture which we didn’t need anymore, donating some clothes and selling others. We still have a bit more stuff than we need, but it sure was satisfying to clear house somewhat.

take extra time off

This is the most important tip I can give you. Some people try to move over a weekend, or in the evenings after work. If you can avoid it, don’t do that! Use some of your leave balance to take at least a couple of days off to get the move done. We moved on a Saturday, and I took both the Friday before and the Monday after off work, and probably would have welcomed another day to recover from getting our couch up three flights of stairs.

wardrobe tips

One of my colleagues at work is married to a former Premier League footballer (yes, really), and so has moved house about 15 times in her adult life. She gave me a brilliant tip before I moved. Instead of taking the clothes off the hangers when you take them out of the wardrobe, cut a hole in the end of some rubbish bags, cover the clothes with the bags, and transport them like that. Then, when you get to the other end, you can hang them right up, and just cut off the bags. This may be a well known trick, but it was a true lifesaver in our move.

make the most of the whānau

Look, movers are expensive! Moving day is the day to cash in the brownie points you’ve been building up through the year with your family members. My partner and I both roped in our families, to clean our old flat, help with a bit of lifting, and unpack our kitchen. It’s not an understatement to say we couldn’t have pulled it off without their help. Be sure, of course, to be very thankful for their help, and if you have, for example, a weekly newsletter, say thanks in that. Thanks to Ella, Gabe, Eddie, Natalie and Rachel, in no particular order!

clips

• Thom Morison’s new collection dropped this week, and it is typically excellent. I went to have a look yesterday and was blown away by the quality of the fabric and the craftsmanship behind each piece, and wanted to buy everything. Top of my list: this beautiful thick merino knit, this flannel shirt, and a suave knit polo. You can’t go wrong here, folks! Invest in locally designed, locally made, high quality garments, and look awesome at the same time.

• No longer called Cheap Eats, Metro’s under $25 Eats list is now online, and has the perfect list for food that’ll make your body and your wallet happy.

• I finally watched the Batman, and I’m happy to say that it ruled. Banger of a movie, well worth your hard earned money and 3 hours of your life.

• My sister-out-of-law Ella Stewart wrote her first piece as in depth reporter te ao Māori at RNZ, and it’s a brilliant read about the duality of looking white, but feeling deeply connected to her Māori whakapapa. A must read, and bonus points for a super cute picture of her at 5.

• I now only own one hoodie, and it’s this one from Checks. If you too only want to own one hoodie, it should be this one.

• Candela, which is sneakily my favourite K Road restaurant, just opened a bar out the back called Barcita, which translates roughly to lil bar. I’m looking forward to checking it out.

• Two excellent freaked blue-and-white striped shirts for the cool office wear heads among us: all-over embroidered from Brain Dead, and mismatch patchwork from Universal Works.

• If you own any pilling cashmere knitwear, you need to buy this cashmere comb - it truly turns your knits into brand new pieces again.

That’s all for clipboard this week, thanks for reading! If you enjoy clipboard, share it with your friends! You can find me on Instagram intermittently, and you can always email me to get in touch. See you next Sunday!