How To Pack For Renovations

Downsize

If you know you’re only going to be living in a place for a few months, don’t waste your time renting in a large home with nooks, crannies and a massive backyard. You’ll end up buying furniture to fit the space, which defeats the purpose, and spend hours of time and hundreds of dollars cleaning all the rooms and maintaining the garden. Instead, look for a small home with no more rooms than is necessary and check out the local parks for an alternative to a yard. You can then invest those man hours and saved dollars back into where it counts: your renovations.

Don’t move too far

Time and time again we hear stories about people who were able to finish building or renovating their homes faster because they rented close by and checked in on the process daily. The ability to be on call for your builders, so that they can fix issues on the fly, can help cut out man hours otherwise spent sitting around waiting for you to drive there. Staying close by also helps maintain as normal as routine as possible for children, who will still need to make their way to school and extracurricular activities every day.

Consider House Sitting

If you’d rather spend rent money on your renovations, look at house sitting. Although there may be a small agency fee, and the potential to have to move more than once during the renovation period, you will save a small fortune by living in someone else’s empty house while they’re away. Of course, this may involve minding their pets – so be prepared for daily walks, smelly food and even strange night time noises.

Put Your Belongings In Storage

Aside from the obvious day to day items, like kitchenware, clothing, bedding and your lounge, you don’t need to spend time decorating and fussing about unpacking paintings, trinkets or hallway tables for your short term rental. Organise for these things to be put into storage, labelled correctly in case you decide you want something later down the track, and only unpack them when you return to your new home.

Hold A Garage Sale

Before putting anything in storage, take the time to sort through your belongings and consider having a garage sale for anything that won’t fit with the decor or size of your to-be-renovated home, as well as anything you’re just tired of looking at. Not only will this help save money when deciding how much storage space you require, it can also help you earn a few extra dollars that can be invested back into your renovations. After all, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!