â— Over half (51%) still have unpacking to do by month 10 (304 days) of being in a new place.
â— Three quarters of slow unpackers admit to being stressed about unfinished unpacking and half of those saying it has caused arguments.
â— One in four have at least one “mystery box” that remained packed since their last move.
â— Non-essential kitchen equipment such as sandwich toasters and cocktail shakers are most likely remain boxed. Kettles, phone and tablet chargers and bathroom essentials are first to be unboxed.
â— Waiting to decorate is the most common excuse for not unpacking fully.
It takes most Britons the best part of a year to fully unpack after moving home, according to new research* from London removals and storage firm Kiwi Movers.
A survey of more than 1,000 people who’ve moved home in the last five years revealed over half of people (51%)** hadn’t finished unpacking their belongings by month ten of living in their new home - equating to an average of 304 days - with those aged between 30-35 most likely to take the task somewhat slowly.
75% of those who hadn’t fully unpacked by month ten or later said they found having belongings still in boxes stressful, while half of those said the boxes had started to cause arguments.
18 percent of movers said it took them between 12 and 18 months to get things fully organised, while a small minority of seven percent said they still had things in boxes after two years of living somewhere.
At the other end of the spectrum, a super organised and motivated three percent claimed to have fully unpacked within a day of moving in, while seven percent said they’d got the job done within a week.
The biggest cause for failing to unpack was the need to decorate, with almost half (44%) of respondents saying they’d planned to unpack once they’d completed decorating tasks.
A third (31%) said the delay in unpacking was due to having insufficient storage, while 12% said they couldn’t agree with their significant other on where to put things.
13% blamed themselves, with 7% saying they were too busy to fully unpack and 6% admitting to being too lazy to finish the job.
Men living on their own are the most likely to have full boxes lying around, with 79% saying they still had unpacking to do by month ten in their new pad. Single women were far less likely to let their belongings gather dust, with just 21% with unpacking to do by month ten. Single women were also most likely to get the job done inside week one, with 20% claiming to have successfully found a home for all of their belongings.
Regan McMillan, director of Kiwi Movers believes a lot of movers are making their lives unnecessarily hard by packing items they don’t actually need.
“If a quarter of people are saying they’ve got boxes they never unpacked since their last move, you’ve got to wonder if they really need what’s inside. We recommend having a thorough de-clutter prior to moving house so you don’t end up paying to move, then storing or living among items they don’t actually need. In most cases, if you haven’t used it in the last six months, you can most likely do without it.”
Items most likely to remain packed
Non essential kitchen equipment (Sandwich toasters, juicers etc)
Personal paperwork and documents (passport, bank statements, insurance documents)
Glassware
Books
Spare bedding
Items most likely to be unpacked first
Kettle
Bathroom essentials
Cups and plates
Laptops, tablets and chargers
Bedding
Reasons for not unpacking
â— Need to decorate first - 44%
â— Need to get more storage - 31%
â— Can’t agree on where to put things - 12%
â— Too busy - 7%
â— Can’t be bothered - 6%
For more information, please contact Essential Content
Email - [email protected]
*Kiwi Movers surveyed 1,009 UK adults between June 02 2015 and July 04 2015.
**Based on the following question “After moving home, how long did it take you (or you and those living with you) to fully unpack and get settled in?”
Within a day - 3%
2-7 days - 7%
8-14 days - 2%
15-21 days - 3%
21-28 days - 2%
1-2 months - 4%
2-3 months - 3%
3-4 months - 2%
4-5 months - 4%
5-6 months - 2%
6-7 months - 1%
7-8 months - 3%
8-9 months - 2%
9-10 months - 11%
10-11 months - 10%
11-12 months - 8%
12-18 months - 18%
18 months - two years - 8%
Over 2 years - 7%
About Kiwi Movers
Kiwi Movers are a Wandsworth, London based removals and storage firm. They offer removal, end-of-tenancy cleaning and storage services to clients in London and the South East. The company was founded in 2007.
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