Category: moving home
We love Sutton Coldfield – the vibrant shops, the beautiful parks, the friendly people. Now we are heading into the warmer part of the year, we’re thinking about eating out as well. There are so many lovely restaurants and cafes in Sutton Coldfield that we can’t presume to say these are favourites – but we’ve picked out a few that you told us were great.
The Farmhouse Bistro
If you are thinking of a mooch about in the sunshine, then pop along to Mitchells Craft Centre. There’s a lovely selection of crafty shops and an art gallery to explore, with ceramic painting for the children and interior design ideas for the adults.
After your wander, refresh yourselves with a delicious meal at The Farmhouse Bistro. There’s a children’s menu as well as a selection of cakes, but we’re particularly intrigued by the traditional afternoon tea. That sounds like a treat we all deserve.
Windowbox Café
If you’re out early the Windowbox Café is highly recommended for their hearty breakfasts and perfect poached eggs. A family run café in the high street, it’s a popular choice with a lovely atmosphere. As coffee lovers, we think it would be ideal to stop by with the morning paper for a relaxed weekend cuppa.
Blackroot Bistro
When you have 2,400 acres of National Nature Reserve to explore you need some sustenance. Sutton Park certainly provides, with a choice of cafés and restaurants.
Take the children for a walk through the woodland and around the pools. There’s nothing like fresh air to help you build up an appetite. Then stop in at Blackroot Bistro for a light snack or lunch overlooking the lake with a well-deserved toasted tea cake or beautiful burger.
Millie & Carter
If you are looking for something a little more substantial, or a lovely evening out, then try Millie & Carter, also in Sutton Park. This charming steakhouse overlooks the reservoir, offering wonderful views while you eat. We’d obviously expect the steaks to be particularly special, and from what you’ve said, they don’t disappoint.
The Loft at Buzzards Valley
If you love your wine, or a little G&T, then enjoy a tour of the The Buzzards Valley vineyard. Test a few of the award winning wines and gins made on site and explore the shop for a range of quirky and contemporary gifts.
Then head upstairs to The Loft, a warm and bright bistro with a lovely welcoming atmosphere. The menu offers a full choice of snacks, cakes and meals, all made from locally sourced produce – we can personally recommend the scotch eggs if they’re available – and beautifully presented.
Treat Street
After all that healthy exercise in the park, or wandering through the shops, we think everyone deserves to indulge their sweet tooth a little. With tempting offerings of chocolate covered waffles, fruity crepes and a milkshake made with real ice cream, Treat Street has everything you could want. You can choose a slightly more ‘grown up’ option of cream tea, with your cuppa served in the tea pot of your choice, if you prefer. This is one independent dessert shop that is not just for children.
There’s no doubt Sutton Coldfield and the surrounding areas has a lot of fabulous eating places. We’re clearly spoilt for choice. Let us know where you love to eat out, so we can be sure to try it out soon.
The sun is shining, spring is in the air – and it’s house moving season. This is the time of year we start to see more houses for sale. If you are planning on moving house this year, you’ll want to have your home looking it’s very best for a fast and easy sale.
No doubt you’ve heard that you should fill your home with the smell of baking bread, but if cooking is not your best skill, what else can you do?
First impressions matter
It’s hard to see your home through a stranger’s eyes, but to really see where to start, you need to take a step back. If you can, ask a friend to come over and help.
First impressions count, so take a good look at your home from the outside. Do you have kerb appeal? Is the lawn mown, or are the weeds overgrowing the pathways? A quick touch of paint to the front door and clean windows can make all the difference, turning your home from shabby to welcoming.
A lick of paint
The same applies to the inside of your home. You might love the wall murals, and be so used to the rip in the wallpaper you don’t even notice it anymore, but to a prospective buyer it means decorating and work.
Changing lightbulbs, mending dripping taps and fixing the broken step – all of these minor DIY tasks that you’ve been putting off for years now have to be done.
De-personalise the rooms
A prospective buyer needs to be able to see the space
Have a look at all the stuff that you can live without for a few weeks. Your family photographs, football trophies and CD collection, books and ornaments all make your house your home, but will be very distracting to viewers.
While you’re clearing out the house it’s a great time to sort and pack for your own move. Sort your items into things you can sell, or give to charity. Box up everything else and place it into short term storage units, to keep it safe and dry until you move into your new home.
Make more space
If you do use a storage unit, move some of your extra furniture into it as well. If you can reduce the amount of chairs and tables taking up space in your home, the rooms will look larger, and buyers will be able to visualise their own furniture in place instead.
Garages and sheds often become hoarding places, filled to the brim with bikes, sledges, old toys, lawn mowers, boxes of clutter and so on. If you are taking it all with you, placing this in self-storage will help make your outbuildings look tidier and more welcoming as well.
Make sure everything is gleaming
No matter how house proud you are, every home builds up dirt and dust in the corners. Wipe down the skirting boards, clean the lampshades and wash out the oven. Check every corner for cobwebs and make sure the windows are sparkling to really show off your views.
Not only will your house sparkle, it will smell fresh, a far more inviting scent than last night’s dinner and the dubious odour of pets – who, by the way, should be kept out of the way while viewers are looking round.
Let them relax and enjoy your home
On the day you have viewers coming, open the windows for a bit to let some fresh air in, particularly if you have the heating on so it’s not too warm. Open all the curtains wide to let in the sunshine – and if you want to, get that loaf in the bread maker for a delicious, homely smell.
If you’d like to talk about short term self-storage or our free collections service, helping you to make your house move hassle free, then call us today on 0121 250 5055.
Whether at work or at home, your environment is much more pleasant if it is clean and organised.
Whenever an office is disorganised or is in need of a good deep clean, there can be a negative impact on the business, as workers become unhappy and the company becomes a lot less streamlined and productive.
It’s a proven fact that working in a disorganised and cluttered space dampens creativity and productiveness, so anything you, as an employer, can do to limit this impact will pay dividends for your business.
Which is why, although a seemingly small part of your working week, selecting the right cleaner is vital. But before you pick, there are a few pointers to follow to make sure the company you select are the right ones for you – whether you’re considering hiring them to clean your work or your home.
Flexible and trained cleaners
Cleaning is more than throwing a duster and hoover around every week or so. Specialist cleaning firms will be able to discuss your cleaning requirements for your office space, and also are trained in the best products to use for each surface. They will treat your property with respect and care.
The right firm will advise you on which areas would need to be cleaned on a weekly, monthly or annual schedule, and create a plan, just as you would have with your own home, to make sure everything is hygienic and, importantly, health and safety compliant.
This could consist of making sure the high use areas such as the bathroom and kitchen are cleaned on a more regular basis, while others with lower use, or items like carpets and windows, are scheduled in less often.
Check their credentials and get referrals
You wouldn’t let just anyone into your home, just as you wouldn’t allow a stranger on the street to enter your office.
Most work environments have cleaners on site out of office hours, and in domestic properties the homeowner is often at work while the cleaner comes in. This means giving unsupervised access to the property – so you have to be certain that you hire a cleaner with good credentials.
It’s essential to choose a company that is insured and offers a guarantee that all employees are properly trained and thoroughly referenced, including checking for criminal records.
A reliable company will have other clients who should be more than happy to endorse them – so don’t be shy about asking about other customers you can speak with directly as referees, before you sign on the dotted line.
They should also have a clear process to ensure your satisfaction. Merry Maids, for example, ensure your premises are checked by a supervisor after the first clean and on a rotational basis for others. They also offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee where they will come back for a free clean if you are not happy with any aspect of their work.
You have the highest standards for your own work – so you want to make sure that the cleaning company you choose does too. If you’re after regular cleaning services, don’t be afraid to ask for a trial basis so you can see their cleaning for yourself.
One time cleaning services
You may not need regular cleaning services, but a professional clean can be just what you need. Consider if you are trying to sell your home – or are moving into your new place. A complete deep clean may just make that sale go faster, or help your new home feel fresh and welcoming.
If you’ve finished decorating or renovating, your home may be full of dust. Hiring a cleaner for a thorough cleanse – particularly if time is short – just makes life a little bit easier.
Special offers for Cookes customers
Hiring a cleaner for your home or business may seem like an expense you don’t need – but it doesn’t need to cost the earth. Choose a firm that has offers for block bookings.
Merry Maids is a family-run business based in office space on the Cookes Storage site in Minworth, close to Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham.
To celebrate the summer and their successful partnership, Merry Maids are offering Cookes customers any ‘one-off’ cleaning service for the discounted price of £70 per hour (inc. VAT). The offer includes two maids, all cleaning equipment and a Supervisor check of the completed clean. Alternatively, they are happy to provide a fixed, no-obligation quotation that will ensure that the clean is tailored to your specific requirements.
For more details, contact Merry Maids on 0121 313 1005.
Moving this summer but stuck in a nightmare housing chain? Here are some stress free options to moving that won’t break the bank!
We all know there are some life events that can be stressful. From beginning a new job, to starting a family and then, of course, getting married. But near the top of that list has to be moving home.
It can be a bit of a pain at most, and a complete nightmare at worst – where every step you take to get a new roof over your head feels like climbing a mountain, and you need nerves of steel to survive it.
Stuck in a house moving chain
A friend of mine a few years ago got stuck near the bottom in a chain of 10 buyers. In the end she just had to pull out because she felt stuck, and she missed out on the house of her dreams. When I asked her why she couldn’t wait, she said she didn’t want the stress of moving anymore. The thought of being forced to move out, before she had a place to move into, was too much and all her ‘stuff’ was weighing her down to move easily.
Which, when you think about it, is crazy. You are all moving in the same direction, like a traffic jam on the motorway. Everyone wants to move somewhere else, everyone has furniture and jobs and lives, so why does it feel like you are stuck?
Sometimes you just have to come up with a smarter way to do it and make sure its stress free.
Smarter ways to move house
Summer is a particular busy time for estate agents and house movers. But it’s a little known fact that storage companies are also playing their part in helping people move easily.
For people stuck in that housing chain, one simple option is to put your bulky goods, beds, and wardrobes into storage and then rent a smaller property for six months so you know everything is ready to go. You have the freedom to know what you are doing and where you’ll be, and get rid of some of the moving stress.
Make downsizing your home easier
Keeping your stuff in storage also gives you a bit of time to breath. If you just feel you have to work out the logistics of where everything should go within your new home before you’re surrounded by boxes, keep it in storage. If you’re downsizing, but still can’t bear to get rid of certain pieces of furniture, keep them in storage. Not only is it safe and secure, but unlike lending it to a friend or family member, or storing it in the garden shed, there is very little chance of it getting damp, broken, lost or stolen.
Use a removals team to make moving simple
Then, when it does come to carrying your furniture about, one of the most stress free options (which, coincidentally my friend did eventually do), is to get some outside help in.
While many of us rely on friends and neighbours and our own sheer stubbornness to move house, that’s a lot of favours, and muscles, to pull on the way. So take the strain off the move, and your friendships, and hire in a reputable removals team to help. That way, your belongings, and you, can move from storage to your lovely new home in style while taking the strain out of one of the most stressful life events we know.
For more details of our in-house removals team, call us now.
The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield is a picturesque and affluent town in the West Midlands, just 7 miles from Birmingham City and near to the City of Lichfield. If you’re thinking of moving to Sutton Coldfield – locally referred to as Sutton – then here is what you need to know.
History of Sutton Coldfield
Despite Iron Age remains and the remains of the Roman Icknield Street running straight through the area, Sutton Coldfield did not exist as a settlement until the 13th Century.
Icknield Street connected the local fort to the settlement of Letocetum, now called Wall, near Lichfield – although its full length ran from Gloucestershire to Yorkshire. Visitors to Wall can see the remains of the Roman settlement, protected by the English Heritage.
The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia had its capital at nearby Tamworth, and it’s possible that Sutton originated as a hunting lodge, or manor, for the king. Possession of the land changed a number of times over the following centuries, and the first known village finally began.
Sutton Coldfield’s growth truly took off in the 16th Century, when local child John Harman joined the church and was promoted eventually to the position of Bishop of Exeter, changing his name to John Vesey. Through his support and patronage the town was given a royal charter by Henry VIII – thus the town’s full name now of The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield.
Henry VIII also donated his hunting land – creating what is now Sutton Park. Bishop Vesey’s influence is clearly seen throughout the town, from the grammar school he established, known today as Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School, to churches, cottages and Vesey Gardens, a memorial park.
The town continued to grow in riches, and was seen as wealthy industrialists from Birmingham as the perfect place for their country homes. The advent of the railway also contributed to Sutton Coldfield as a tourist spot for the city folk, and a commuter town for workers wanting to live outside of Birmingham.
House types / Prices in Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield has been named as the 4th least deprived area in the country and house prices can be high, particularly in the Four Oaks area. The average house price is over £307,000, double that of Birmingham.
The house prices are in part due to the abundance of green space, a beautiful nature reserve as well as a busy town centre and a number of high performing schools.
If you are thinking of moving to Sutton, you are not alone. Being so close to Birmingham, Sutton is a popular place for city workers, and is regarded as one of the best suburbs of the city to live in.
Schools in Sutton Coldfield
There are a number of primary and secondary schools in Sutton Coldfield. There are two grammar schools – Sutton Grammar School for Girls and Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School – and the Independent Highclare School.
Working and facilities
Sutton Coldfield is perfect as a commuter town for Birmingham, and so has very easy access routes via the M6 Toll, M42, A38 and railway to Birmingham and London.
There are two hospitals in Sutton Coldfield, the main one being Good Hope, which provides an A&E facility.
Things to do in Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield has a main pedestrianised shopping mall in the town centre, with a multi-storey car park. There are a number of smaller shopping centres on the outskirts of the town.
There is a four screen cinema, the Empire, in an art deco Grade II listed building built in 1936.
Sutton Park is a 2400 acre nature reserve, roamed by cattle and wild ponies. Stop by the Visitors Centre for maps and advice about walking routes.
There’s plenty to do for families, with Drayton Manor close by. However, after the stress of moving home, you might prefer the chance to relax in the beautiful Moor Hall Spa.
Food and Drink
There’s plenty of places to eat and drink in Sutton Coldfield, with over 20 bars, clubs and pubs, and a variety of restaurants offering a mix of international cuisine.
Moving home in Sutton Coldfield
If you’re looking for a safe place to store your belongings while you sell your home or decorate your new house, then we can help.
Take the stress out of moving house with our handy storage facilities in Minworth, Sutton Coldfield. We even have our own in-house removals team to collect your furniture and belongings, so all you need to do is settle into your new home.
Call us now for a quote on 0121 250 555.
Sharing a house with another person can be exciting, but leaves plenty of room for tension as well. Whether you’re leaving home for the first time, sharing with friends or moving in with a partner, there’s a few tips to making sure your new home doesn’t turn into a nightmare.
Sharing money
Money is always a source of arguments, even between long term couples. It’s important to work out, probably even before you move in, how you will share the bills and shopping. You might choose to keep separate food cupboards, or to create a kitty for essentials such as bread, teabags and washing up liquid.
Keep track of any furniture or decorations you buy for the house as well, so that if you do move out you know who owns what.
Sharing space
Even if you have your own bedrooms, you and your new housemate will be sharing living space, so start by making each room into a place you both enjoy.
Enjoy picking out pieces of furniture together and discuss where you’ll put them. You may have pieces from home, and you will most likely end up with duplicates of some things, such as pots and pans and other kitchen utensils. If you do, consider putting them in storage until you move into your next home and need them.
Sharing jobs
No one likes clearing out the bins or cleaning the bathroom, but if these jobs don’t get done regularly and equally, tensions will rise. So it’s worth making a rota from the very beginning for the worst jobs and make sure you do your share.
Sharing things
Eating each other’s food isn’t the only way to cause friction. Helping yourself to shampoo, clothes or other personal items will just irritate your housemate. Remember as well that the furniture might belong to one of the others, even though it’s for everyone to use. So take care of it, just as you would your own.
Sharing issues
No matter how well you plan or what good friends you are, there will be times when you get irritated. It’s important to discuss issues and be open with each other.
Spend time together to build strong bonds and – importantly – to have fun. Why not make it a habit to watch a favourite soap, share a meal or have a film night with popcorn once a week. That helps keep communication open and build shared bonds.
House sharing can be great fun, and create friends for life. It’s all about showing each other some respect, and getting through each issue together.