John and his wife, Joan, needed to move out of their family home due to failing health. John had lived in the house all his life and the two of them had raised their four sons in it, so the house was full of memories and possessions – many of them antiques which John had collected over the years.
Sixty days before settlement John contacted Classic Moves to help them prepare for their move into a two-bedroom apartment. The boys were living overseas and John had under-estimated the decision-making and coordination needed for such a massive downsizing effort.
Consultation & Confidence
When John and Joan briefed the Classic Moves representative they acknowledged how much emotional upheaval they were experiencing, on top of the stress of deciding how to dispose of so many valuable and not-so-valuable possessions. They knew they could not do everything
themselves, but they were afraid that they would lose control if they handed everything over to us. Their confidence grew as we consulted with them on each room, helped them clarify what they wanted, and when they met our Antiques Auctioneer they were delighted with his knowledge and competence.
Catastrophe!
Three weeks before their moving date John was hospitalised and Joan was torn between her worry about her husband and desire to be with him at the hospital, and the pressures of the move. Classic Moves stepped up so Joan was free to be with him. Joan confirmed the time and date of settlement and asked us to take care of everything.
Clearing, Selling, Cleaning
Fortunately, most of the decisions had been made so we just needed to execute them. The auction house took items for sale, charities collected other items, rubbish was removed from under the house, in the garage and in the attic and finally nearly 100 years of memorabilia and personal items fitted into a removal van.
Moving Day
John was discharged from hospital the day before the move, so on the following day he sat in a chair in the new apartment and decided where the heavy furniture should be placed, and the 70 paintings hung. At 5.30pm the Classic Moves team said goodbye to John and Joan and left them with their bed made, sipping gin and tonic as they looked round at their new apartment and felt as though they had come home.
And Beyond …
These days, when John (now fully recovered) sees the Classic Moves team he greets them with a hearty, “Hello, to the lovely ladies in green!” Despite never having moved before, and an extensive stay in hospital both John and Joan were delighted with the smoothness of the move.
Classic Moves took away the sense of overwhelm and worry, but kept them informed, involved and empowered. They were also impressed by the planning and organisation, and the quality of all the additional services we arranged through Abbeys Group – from the antique valuers and auctioneers, to the removalists.
