Once Moving day is over, the hardest part of the house move should be over. However, this doesn’t mean that you should let your guard down simply because there are plenty of important tasks to take care of right after the relocation is complete.
You’re probably aware of what you should do after you find yourself in the new place – all the essential things to do after moving will be waiting for you to start marking them as DONE, one by one.
Of course, you should start unpacking immediately after the move but not before you’ve inspected the new place really carefully. If you haven’t changed your postal address before the move, you should do it then.
Registering your children at a new school, finding suitable health care providers (including a vet for your dog, cat, or bird), and registering your car in the new state are all essential post-move jobs that you have to do sooner than later.
But believe it or not, there are also some uncommon things you should do after moving into a new house – unusual and even a bit surprising tasks that you wouldn’t normally think about after arriving in your new home. Whether you will actually complete those non-typical things will depend on your unique set of move parameters and house moving circumstances, but it’s important that you know about their existence nonetheless.
Here are 5 uncommon things to do after moving into a new house:
1. Bring good luck to the new home
You wouldn’t really mind bringing some good luck into the new home, would you?
Don’t bring your old broom to the new home.
Regardless of whether you feel very lucky about the whole house moving thing or you feel extremely unlucky for having to relocate, it’s always a nice thing to know that you’re starting the new chapter in your life with a certain dose of good luck. If you’ve had a tough house move, then you’ll surely wish to reverse your bad luck – isn’t it high time good things started happening to you for a change?
It doesn’t really matter if you believe in new home superstitions or not, it just takes a few simple steps to bring good luck into your new place. Luckily for you, it’s one of those nothing-to-lose-everything-to-gain types of situations, so you might as well give it a try.
Don’t take your old broom with you to the new house
It’s believed that old brooms will transfer physically not only the dust into a new home, but also all the negativity and bad luck from your previous place.
Now, you may not even have a broom in the first place, but if you do, then the house move is the perfect time to just throw it away and get a brand-new one for the new place.
It’s not a good idea to get rid of your vacuum cleaner… unless it’s time to retire it due to technical issues. Just make sure you clean its dust bag or container well before the move.
Bring bread and salt into the new place
Bread and salt are well-known symbols of wealth, success, and fortune.
So, by bringing some bread (preferably pita bread) into the new home, you’ll be making sure that you and your family members will never go hungry. Similarly, taking salt with you into the new residence will guarantee a post-move life full of flavor.
As an added bonus to the good luck you’ll supposedly get, you’ll have something to eat after an exhausting move day.
10 Valuable Tips for Moving to a New Neighborhood
2. Remove the negative energy from the house
The thing is that your conscious attempt to bring good luck into the new home may not work out well if the place you’ve just moved into has a lot of negative energy lingering inside and around the property.
The ritual of burning sage is believed to clear out any negative energy and protect a home from evil spirits.
In such a case, one special thing you may need to do after moving into a new house is to try to dispel the negative energy that’s floating around the living space like a dark ominous rain cloud.
Note that there will be much more pressing tasks to take care of immediately after the move such as opening up the essentials boxes, setting up the bathroom and bedroom, and maybe even cleaning up the place.
However, whenever you find some free time on the checklist of things to do after moving, you should definitely consider doing some simple things in order to ward off any evil spirits from the new house and summon all the positive energy you can get.
Light a candle
Lighting a candle to chase away the darkness and bring light into a home is an ancient tradition. If the house you just moved to has a fireplace, lighting a fire in there should also have the same effect for the new home.
The flame of a candle or from a fireplace is thought to absorb all negative energy and purify the living space from all evil.
Burn sage
Burning sage is another old ritual that’s meant to clear out the negative energy accumulated over time in a home, protect the place from evil spirits, and bless the new house at the same time.
All you have to do is light a bunch of white sage in a metal or porcelain bowl and let it smoke while you walk around the new house, starting from the front door, going in a clockwise fashion, and not forgetting to smoke out the corners in all rooms.
Sprinkle salt on the floor
This one is easy enough – simply sprinkle some salt over the threshold of the new home. Salt is believed to ward off evil spirits, so find a packet of salt inside a KITCHEN-labeled box and get down to work.
Also, it’s a good idea to sprinkle salt on all window sills throughout the house – to keep evil spirits from entering your home from the windows.
What to Do on the First Day in Your New Home
3. Secure the new house
One of the non-typical things to do after moving into a new house is to secure the house against unauthorized access, harmful acts of Nature, or freak accidents.
The security of your new home is your top priority.
After moving into a new house, you won’t usually think about how safe that new place really is. You simply move in and start unpacking your stuff assuming that the new place is safe. And that questionable assumption could turn out to be a costly mistake later on.
You must make sure that the living space you’re going to occupy from now on is secure and safe enough for you and your family, including your dear pets.
Securing the home you’ve just moved into is done on several levels:
Secure the new home against unauthorized access
Change the locks of the outside door or doors so that you are the only one who has access to the new place;
Check all doors and windows of the home to ensure they close securely;
Consider installing a burglar alarm, especially if the new home is located in a neighborhood with a bad reputation.
Secure the hew home against fire
Install smoke detectors in each and every room and check their batteries periodically;
Install a functional fire extinguisher on every floor of the house and be sure to know how to use it in case of an emergency;
Map out an escape route out of the home in case of fire or other emergency and be sure to share it with all family members.
Baby-proof the new house
Make sure your new home is perfectly safe for your baby or toddler;
Baby-proof the nursery room: secure the changing table so that it can’t tip over, mount window guards and cordless blinds on the windows, and place electric outlet protectors on the walls.
Child-proof the bathroom: use a slip-resistant infant bathtub, set your hot-water heater at 120°F (49°C) or lower, position non-skid mats on the bathroom floor, and install a toilet lock.
Child-proof the kitchen: keep all chemicals locked in a secure place, place stove knob covers, and avoid using high chairs when feeding your baby;
Child-proof the stairs: install safety gates at the top and bottom of the staircase to keep your small one away from the stairs.
How to Unpack After Moving: Boost Your Unpacking Efficiency
4. Go say Hi to your neighbors
If you’ve prepared a checklist of things to do after moving, then the task of going and meeting up your neighbors is not likely to be included in the list.
Be brave enough to go and say Hi to your new neighbors.
As things stand, you should NOT expect the folks next door to rush to you and welcome you in their neighborhood with a basket of tasty welcoming gifts. That’s very unlikely to happen and it would all look more like a scene taken straight out of a Hollywood movie.
The chance of your neighbors making the first step will be either zero or slightly higher depending largely on where you have moved to – which state, city, and neighborhood. And here’s the key question: why don’t YOU make the first step and say a quick Hi to the folks next door?
While it’s true that taking the initiative to introduce yourself to the new neighbors is one of the uncommon things to do when moving into a new home, it is just something that you will eventually do. Besides, being the first one to say Hi will win you points for good manners.
You may feel odd about going and saying Hello to your neighbors without a good reason. But the truth is that you do have a very good reason to do it – you’re officially their new neighbor and you would like to introduce yourself so that none of you feels awkward when you do happen to see each other later on, either on the street or inside the same apartment building.
You may not realize this but meeting the people next door soon after the move has a clear advantage – you can seek valuable advice from those people about the city or town you just moved to. Here are a few example questions that you can ask them:
Which are the best grocery stores in town?
Which are the best restaurants or pubs in town?
Where’s the best place in town to walk a dog (if you’re a dog owner)?
How do garbage pickup and recycling work in the neighborhood?
How to Overcome Relocation Depression After Moving
5. Organize a housewarming party
It’s quite common to organize a moving party before you move away. It makes a lot of sense to host such a farewell party for a number of reasons:
You’ll see your friends for one last time before you move out;
You’ll thank your pals for helping you out if they did give you a hand with packing and moving boxes and furniture;
You’ll promise each other to keep in touch after you’re gone;
You’ll just have fun with the people you love before the super-stressful move day.
A housewarming party may be exactly what you need to jump-start your new life chapter.
Organizing a housewarming party after the move is one of the uncommon things to do after moving to a new home simply because, unless you’ve moved across town or moved only a short distance away, your best friends won’t be there. Sure, you may still have a few good friends in the destination town or city but most of your best pals will live in the place you had to leave.
Nevertheless, bear in mind that it can prove to be quite beneficial for you to throw a housewarming party shortly after arriving in the new home. Why?
You’ll be able to gather in your new home any friends or acquaintances you may have in the new city. In most cases, this can be a huge step toward a quick and successful adaptation period.
You’ll have the chance to invite some of your new work colleagues and spend time with time in a much more informal setting than the workplace. A housewarming party is usually a great first step to bonding with your coworkers.
You’ll have the opportunity to invite some of your new neighbors to the housewarming party. In fact, it’s the perfect occasion to get to know better the people who live right next to you. Who knows, one of them may become your next best friend.
You’ll get the chance to relax a little bit from the stress of moving and maybe even get yourself a deserved break from unpacking. A fun party after the move will definitely help you overcome any possible symptoms of relocation depression.
You’ll get the opportunity to celebrate, in a way, the start of a new life chapter after moving into a new house. Also, a housewarming party is believed to bring good luck to the home and the people who live there.
See also: 10 Essential Things to Do After Moving
The post 5 Uncommon Things to Do After Moving Into a New House appeared first on The Moving Blog.
