Changing situations

Home staging (when all the home’s a stage)

It would seem that the process of getting your house looking nice for sale now has a catchy buzz phrase. Yes indeed, ‘home staging’ is big business now – we’ve spoken about it many times on The Box Room before, most notably with Sarah Beeny – but we’re always up for learning new vocabulary, and we’ve always go room for more declutter chatter.

How Tiny Houses are hitting big in the UK

by Em Kuntze on 18/08/2015 in Changing situations • 9 Comments

The Tiny Houses movement launched in America, but increasingly we’re seeing companies offering designs and kits in the UK. Em Kuntze explores.

Moving abroad: what would you do differently?

by Jon Wilks on 31/07/2015 in Changing situations • 3 Comments

Moving abroad affects different people in different ways. As someone who has lived in five different countries, this writer can honestly say that upping sticks and heading overseas feels very natural indeed – something that everybody should try at least once in their life, if they have the opportunity. But it’s not the same for everyone, and the first time is rarely easy, no matter what your disposition may be.

Expat packing tips (and a bit of a pre-move pep talk)

by Em Kuntze on 20/07/2015 in Changing situations • 4 Comments

What to pack, what to store and how to not regret packing things you don’t need (and storing things you don’t want) Preparing for expat life. You’re never quite so aware of how much stuff you have as when you’re trying to squeeze a flat’s worth of accumulated nonsense into a single, meagre baggage allowance. Are we right?

16 lifehack apps for expats in London

by Rhian Wallace on 16/07/2015 in Changing situations • 6 Comments

Hurrah! You’ve made it to London! Now it’s time to get with the living. With the world seemingly at your doorstep, the hardest part is figuring out how to make the most of it. These websites and apps are great if you’re feeling at a loss. So sit back, take it all in, let someone else take care of the chores, and get exploring this wonderful city.

Rent your spare room, make some cash – 5 tips from an expert

by Jon Wilks on 16/04/2015 in Changing situations • 1 Comment

Everyone loves a good statistic, don’t they? Here at Boxman, we’re as much a sucker for a stat as the next person. So here are a few that have caught our attention in recent days. Firstly, according to Matt Hutchinson over at Spareroom.co.uk, there are currently around 19 million potential bedrooms unoccupied across the UK. Secondly, new UK flatmates are brought together every three minutes on that same website alone. Thirdly – based on our own research – the average British home puts to waste around £30,000-worth of useable space each year. In short, there’s a lot of unearned income sitting amidst a lot of clutter across a lot of the country!

Selling your house? Get it picture perfect with these tech startups

by Jon Wilks on 27/03/2015 in Changing situations • 1 Comment

When your house doesn’t sell overnight, it’s easy to hang the blame on your estate agent. But there are loads of things you could be doing to give it a boost. Given our usual enthusiasm for on-demand, tech-driven startups, we shared a few tips with Tepilo’s Sarah Beeny to see if we could come up with the ultimate how-to guide.

Moving house in London: 5 life hack services that’ll sort you out

by Anna Byrne on 13/03/2015 in Changing situations • 14 Comments

Feature image: The Guardian Gone are the days when searching for a new home in London meant scouring dodgy estate agent windows and booking a viewing with no idea what awaited inside. These days, we’ll have surveyed the area via Google Street View and enjoyed a 360-degree virtual tour from the comfort of our sofa before we send our first speculative email. In fact, despite its reputation as one of the most stressful things we go through in our lives – even more so in the chaos of London’s streets – moving house needn’t be a headache.

Moving in together: two people, one flat, no space

by Anna Byrne on 13/02/2015 in Changing situations • 10 Comments

Feature image credit: Buzzmove Were you to stumble upon AskMen while scouring the internet for information about moving in with your partner, you’d be left with the impression that it’s only a good idea if you are: a middle-aged man still living at home eager to save some money on your rent and utility bills, or sick of your commute and your boy or girlfriend lives closer to your office.

Last-minute checklist for moving house

by Anna Byrne on 21/01/2015 in Changing situations • 4 Comments

Feature image credit: Fine Art America Wouldn’t it be great if moving house involved six months of planning, a colour-coded spread sheet and a label-printing machine? Well, yes. But, like it or not, we live in the real world, which is full of last-minute changes, broken computers and stupidly packed schedules. You might be faced with an unexpected move from rented accommodation or perhaps you’ve been waiting for an age to complete a house purchase that’s suddenly going through – either way, we’ve all been faced with an eleventh-hour house move. And it’s no fun. To help you with your priorities over the next few days/hours/minutes, we’ve put together a handy checklist for moving house. We hope it helps – and good luck!

Festive makeover tips: 8 Christmas decorating ideas for small space living

by Anna Byrne on 16/12/2014 in Changing situations • 0 Comments

The festive markets are in full swing, twinkly lights have been switched on across the country, and soppy supermarket ads have flooded our TV screens. It’s official, people: Christmas is almost upon us, which means it’s time to get your tree up and the seasonal decorations hung for all to see – if you haven’t already. There’s no excuse not to get involved in spreading Christmas cheer, so even if your home is more compact than most, don’t let that put you off embracing the festive season. There are lots of ways you can decorate your London flat to make it all cosy and sparkly this Christmas – here are some of our favourites.

Having the family to stay: a Christmas checklist

by Anna Byrne on 11/12/2014 in Changing situations • 0 Comments

Ah, Christmas: a time for food, films, merriment, and ‘quality time’ with the family. Indeed, the festive period wouldn’t be the same without our loved ones around us for the exchanging of gifts and cringe-worthy anecdotes. But it seems that whenever it’s your turn to have the family over, the Christmas preparations involve a lot more than just the odd bit of gift wrapping and sticking a tree up in your living room – there’s also the panic of where on earth to put everyone. Christmas may be a cosy time of year, but there is such a thing as too cosy. To keep your space organised, have a read of our handy Christmas checklist to work out which holiday essentials you may need to dig out of storage, the garage or the attic, and what you can stash away until the festive chaos is over.

The Box Room

Better living in small spaces