8 Steps to consider (before) choosing a removal company

Removal companies assist thousands of people with moving home. They help with moving people’s items and furniture into their new home. Not only do they help with house moving but they also play an important role in assisting businesses to move to new premises. When looking to move your belongings to a new location, it’s ideal to contact a reliable removal company who can assist you from start to finish. If you’re looking for a removal service, St Christopher’s removals offer a man and van in Wandsworth covering Fulham and Clapham.

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Plan Ahead

Before choosing a removal company, it’s important to plan ahead and make sure to complete any necessary paperwork and packing before confirming your removal dates. Once your belongings are all packed in boxes, they can be ready for collection. Depending on how far you are moving, it’s ideal to check with your removals when or what time your valuables will arrive in your new home. The move will be less stressful when everything is planned out nicely.

About the company

Find out as much as you can about the company you want to hire. You can also check out the company’s standard and see whether it fits your criteria and your expectations. It’s essential to find out what services they offer. You can also find out how long the business has been running. A great company must be able to provide a high level of service. Ideally, you should visit the company’s website or contact them directly with any of your queries or find out more about them.

Reputable

A reputable removal company should be equipped with the appropriate insurances and trained staffs who can safely carry out the job. You know that you can put your trust in a company which meets all the requirements of a reputable company. The process of moving out is already stressful and can be difficult to manage, but with the help of a reputable business, you can put your mind at ease as you can ensure a smooth and stress-free transition.

British Association of Removers

Find out if the company are a member of the British Association of Removers (BAR). The BAR ensures the firm follows a professional standard throughout their services. They also ensure that the company’s staffs are professionally trained and are knowledgeable about what they do.  

Company reviews

By looking at a customer’s review about the company, you can get an idea of the level of service they provide. Aim to look for companies who have a good amount of positive reviews as you can expect to have a good standard of service. Reviews and testimonials can either be found on their website or Google reviews.

Cost

The costs will vary depending on the services offered by a company. Some companies can base the price on the distance or the weight of your belongings. Other companies may base the cost per hour, per man and the size of the van. Find a company who are reasonably affordable and who can meet the cost of your budget.

Recommendations

Consider any good recommendations from your colleagues, friends or family. Recommendations prove that they have previously used the company and are satisfied with the service provided.

Insurance coverage

Find out what kind of insurance they offer. Is the insurance free or is there an extra charge for an extended coverage? Most reputable companies should be able to provide some coverage for your belongings while they are in transit. You can also check with your home insurance company if they can provide some coverage for your valuables when you’re moving out. The cost of the insurance is an important factor to consider when looking at the overall cost of the service.

St Christopher’s removal is an established removal company that has built a strong reputation for more than 20 years in the industry. They are known for their hassle-free, high quality and low-cost removal services covering mainly all areas in London. What makes them unique is they provide various packages that can be tailored to suit your needs, deadline and your budget. To find out more, visit their website on www.stchristopherremovals.com

The Ultimate Guide To Stress-Free Packing & Moving

Moving house is considered an extremely stressful experience by most people, and is known for being one of the most complicated processes most of us go through in our lives. In fact, on average we move eight times in our lives. Once you’ve done it before, you might pick up a few tricks to make it easier, but the process is still usually a lot to cope with.

That’s why we’ve compiled this straightforward guide to cover all the essential things you can do to make the process easier. Enjoy your (relatively) hassle-free move by following all of these steps…

1) Get professional help from the beginning

Many removal companies will be prepared to assist you when moving between cities, across the UK or even internationally, but it is best to go for a local company if possible because it will be easier to make prior arrangements with them and have your possessions collected from your current home.

Thinking of handling everything yourself? We wouldn’t advise it. The costs of figuring everything out yourself tend to massively outweigh the apparent saving you might expect from not hiring a removal firm. On top of that you have all the added hassle and complication of handling your own logistics. Nobody needs that!

2) De-clutter and de-stress

Once you have had your initial discussions with your chosen removal and storage company, you can get to work on deciding which possessions will end up coming with you you your new home and which won’t make the cut. It’s always a good idea to do this, but if you’re downsizing it will be absolutely essential.

Most of us don’t like having to part with our worldly goods, at least to begin with. That’s why it’s important to start the process with a clear head in a relaxed state. Make a preliminary list of things you can probably afford to get rid of. Give yourself some time to think about it, with a deadline in mind. When the deadline arrives, throw out, give away or sell anything you can live without. You might be surprised how liberated you feel, and how much easier you’ve made your packing.

3) Stay highly organised

An important point to consider throughout this guide is the need for a good, solid working plan. You need to write down the phases of your move, making changes as you go, and always know what’s next on the agenda.

This includes making notes of what you need to arrange before moving. All your utility suppliers will need to be aware that you are moving out, and the same goes for whoever will be sending you bills at your new address.

Whether you enjoy being organised at home or not, you will need to get into the habit if you want to keep track of all your stuff during the move. It’s worth investing in some great quality storage boxes, whether these are simple cardboard ones or a more permanent plastic storage solution.

After that, labels will be extremely important. Never rely on your memory to find everything once it’s been packed away. You will simply have too much on your mind to remember every detail, so why make it hard for yourself? Label everything accurately and you’ll be able to find it again with no trouble

4) Pack items with common sense

We can’t stress this point enough. Even if you have professionals to move your stuff, it needs to be packaged correctly otherwise you risk damaging it. Delicate and unusually shaped items can be difficult to wrap up safely, but there is a technique to get the hang of. For small and fragile items like plates and glasses, layers of paper in between each item will prevent scratches. Stacking them on top of each other is more risky, so try to avoid this.

For larger items that are likely to get damaged or odd-shaped things that won’t fit neatly into a box, you may need to pad them out with specially folded pieces of cardboard before wrapping them up in layers of film or tape to smooth out the edges and create some protective padding.

Remember to never overfill boxes and make them too heavy, or you’ll risk your boxes breaking open at the wrong moment, or even getting somebody injured. It’s better to have lots of small boxes that are easy to move around, as this is safer, more practical and more efficient when it comes to storage space.

If you’re able to complete these four main steps, you are well on your way to a much happier and more manageable move! Congratulations on your new home, and we hope you enjoy it.

Rescue and Transform Old Furniture

How do you normally start when you’re thinking about redesigning and redecorating your home? If the first thing you do is pick up a brochure or head online to start picking out your new furniture and buying pieces, we might suggest you’re going about the process completely backwards. Sorry!

We would recommend a slightly different approach, focusing more on what you already have. You can achieve some incredible results by refreshing old furniture and giving old pieces a brand new lease of life. This can in turn inject some much needed freshness into your rooms! Here are a few tips for saving old furnishings from the scrap heap and turning them into something you’ll love to feature prominently in your home.

Firstly, don’t worry about making it perfect. The finish on your old piece of furniture may be a lot less pristine that it was originally, but that’s certainly nothing bad. If you don’t want to put it through a proper restoration process, you can just enjoy a shabby chic finish on your piece instead. You might even distress it intentionally for a real rustic feel. This is the perfect way to disguise imperfections and make them into a feature.

Paint is going to be one of your primary weapons on this mission. Tackling an ugly old piece and trying to turn it into something attractive may not be easy, but with a fresh coat of brightly coloured paint you’d be shocked at what a difference you can make. Spray paint can be particularly effective in unusual colours, and again you don’t have to focus on getting a perfect finish. Try taking a tired-looking vintage piece and colouring it so it takes on a completely polar opposite identity.

If you’re feeling confident you might want to look at customising your furniture too, in the process of salvaging old and damaged pieces especially. Sometimes you may inherit a desk without all of its drawers, a chair with a missing leg, or perhaps something with a lot of potential that’s being ruined by just one particularly ugly element. Don’t be afraid to amputate old-fashioned or unnecessary parts from your furniture if it helps you style it the way you want to. For example, taking a vintage desk top and replacing its thick legs with much thinner, more sophisticated ones and then painting it a vivid colour could be the perfect way to revamp it.

Introducing Shabby Chic Into Your Home

Shabby chic is a timeless and flexible style which makes it just as popular now as it ever has been, if not more so. Even if you’ve previously gone for a stricter style or something more sleek and modern, it’s not difficult (or expensive) to incorporate some variety of shabby style into your existing rooms, or transform them altogether.

You can opt for designer shabby chic furniture if you want to spend your budget on high quality pieces, or to inject a little creative style without breaking the bank you may choose to find some bargain pieces and customise them, or track down vintage treasures to restore cheaply. Whichever you choose, here are some simple tips for adding a touch of shabby chic décor to any room, on any budget.

Worn-and-torn wood –

Whether it’s tables, chairs, bookcases or even outdoor furniture, the classic distressed wood look never goes out of fashion and can really add character to new or old furnishings. If you can’t find a genuine vintage piece that suits you, just get to work on painting and sanding some basic wooden furniture and give it your own shabby chic touch.

Wall hangings –

Real antique picture frames are excellent for bringing some class and personality to a plan wall, especially alongside your other distressed décor. You don’t even have to hang pictures in the frames, you might choose to simply hang them empty.Continue Reading

Luxury Features You Need In Your Bathroom

If you’re not planning to remodel your bathroom, we have great news. After reading this list, you will be! We’ve compiled a list of some of our favourite bathroom features and once you’ve seen all these for yourself you’ll wonder how you managed without them all this time. If you were already thinking about ideas for your new bathroom, then you’ll definitely want to re-think before you miss any of these.

Designer Radiators

Radiators are pretty much essential in any bathroom, but there’s no reason you should be stuck with basic designs that don’t match your style. Designer radiators come in a variety of styles and hardly cost more than traditional options, but can add so much to your design. Choose pure white or black to complement a monochrome style, a classic column radiator design or a flat panelled look that looks great with wooden features. Our favourites are tall, narrow radiators with a shiny metallic finish which are very popular at the moment and look amazing in most modern bathrooms.

Heated Towel Rails

To add a touch of luxury to your re-modelled bathroom, you needn’t rely on your central heating to enjoy a warm towel every time you step out of the shower. Although many fabulous designs can be plumbed in like radiators, you also have the option of freestanding heated towel racks powered by the flick of a switch. Depending on the look of your bathroom, you might opt for a small, classic silver design, thicker poles that look impressive and make it easier to hang your towel, or a full-sized metallic rack that looks perfect with a modern colour scheme.Continue Reading