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Original poster

Moved house 2 months ago, boxes still everywhere, when does it get better?

83 replies

Wozzzzzuuu · 14/11/2023 21:12

Just as the title says really. We moved 2 months ago to a house that's much bigger than our last house. I'm fairly strict on clutter/stuff so we definitely didn't have too many things, and everything had a place in the old house.

Roll on 2 months here in a bigger house, we have managed to unpack the main living area and kitchen so at least that's something. But upstairs there are still boxes everywhere belonging to the kids as well as our bedroom and the study/office.

Dh and I both work, and I'm also studying part time so by the time everyone's home in the evenings, there's no time for sorting and unpacking. Kids aren't old enough yet to do it themselves. Weekends since moving have been swallowed by parties/visitors to see the new house and also general fixing jobs around the house that are more important than unoacking. Any time I have is spent trying to keep afloat with cleaning in the rooms that are unpacked.

I remember it being a bit tricky for a while when we bought our first house but not this bad. There's just no time!! When will this get better??

OP posts:

henrysugar12 · 15/11/2023 07:02

How have you left it two months? When we moved into our house we arrived at 3pm, 24hours later we went to the tip with all the cardboard boxes. Things weren't all in the right places, but everything was unpacked!

RachelSTG · 15/11/2023 07:03

I wouldn't have had guests round to see new house until all boxes unpacked.

Caspianberg · 15/11/2023 07:13

Yes just unpack. I honestly wouldn’t be able to cope.
kitchen stuff if all stuff we use, so if we didn’t unpack kitchen that day we couldn’t cook/ function easily

Toys and clothes we use daily, we don’t really have massive wardrobes of stuff so if I didn’t unpack it all asap we would start running out of clothes.

Toys you could surely unpack majority in about 30mins? Just put them in baskets or on shelves. If you haven’t storage just get some baskets and lob duplo in one, trains another, etc. Puzzles unpacked into pile on floor or on shelves or in cupboard. Books same. Ds uses most his toys each day, so if they were still packed after 2 months I would assume he doesn’t need them and donate.

Not much left to unpack after kitchen, clothing and toys.

If we haven’t used after a few weeks, I donate as it’s not worth the clutter and space ( seasonal stuff on rotation exempt)

Interested in this thread?

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Property

BerfyTigot · 15/11/2023 07:21

We moved house 20 years ago and my DP still has 4 large boxes of books which haven't been unpacked.

I fantasise about burning them 😁

BoredOfBeingTired · 15/11/2023 07:22

It gets better when you stop procrastinating and put stuff away!
I bet you could have unpacked a box in the time it took to start and read this thread.

sakura06 · 15/11/2023 07:24

In awe of people who unpacked within a day! We are 5 months in OP! We did need to buy new furniture etc. much of which was for storage. And we definitely have far too much stuff.

VelvetandLace · 15/11/2023 07:26

Gosh I can see there are definitely two camps here. I’d be with you OP and daily life would have taken over.
You may be right that having the right storage is hampering you, but unpacking a box a day may help you.

SoftKittyBazinga · 15/11/2023 07:27

JFDI. You have to just commit. We spent the first two days in our home putting stuff away. And after completing in a Friday called the removal company to come and get their boxes in the following Monday afternoon.

if you leave them too long they’ll just become part of the furniture so I’d give over a Saturday and/or Sunday to just go for it! Take a room each. Doesn’t matter if stuff is perfect, just get an initial home found.

Roselilly36 · 15/11/2023 07:30

We measured up for furniture before we moved so we knew where everything would go, gave away what we didn’t need. It was a huge downsize for us so we had to get rid of so much stuff, nothing was packed that we didn’t want or use. We were all sorted within two days, all unpacked, pictures up, curtains up the lot. Can you unpack over the weekend, perhaps take a Monday off to give you some extra time.

SparkyBlue · 15/11/2023 07:31

OP kind of similar circumstances in that we were in a temporary rental and stuff brought over in bits it wasn't one big move plus the house was a total fixer upper so lots of jobs being done so everything got shoved into the garage. You will need to take time off work and yourself and your partner go through everything (with no kids around) and be ruthless and honest . We are still finding random boxes in the attic that we put up there "temporarily ". We got a skip one lovely sunny day and brought half the house out to the back garden and went through everything and got the garage almost fully emptied.

Dipsomaniax · 15/11/2023 07:31

It took me 7 years (and two subsequent house moves) to unpack the last of the boxes 😳😳😳

I did an internal argument of whether I should just chuck the last two as I have managed to do without the stuff for 7 years but I did unpack them. And put away the contents to be entirely ignored ever since.

Maybe I'm not a good role model for your current predicament OP

Hidingthegoodchocolate · 15/11/2023 07:33

Yep, time to crack on. Single parent, work full time, 1 day off to move 3 bed house. Kids rooms unpacked by their bedtime, kitchen and living room done by my bedtime. Other boxes done the following night after work.

disclaimer: 1 box sat there for two more weeks because I used it to chuck random stuff to go to the tip, and it took me that long to get there.

In your circumstances I would aim to do a box per night (or whatever time of day is possible for you). Try not to buy more furniture until you’re sure you need whatever is in the boxes!

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 15/11/2023 07:44

Just do it bit by bit. I dare say even the thought of it is overwhelming when you’ve got so much to do otherwise.

Violinist64 · 15/11/2023 07:50

RachelSTG · 15/11/2023 07:03

I wouldn't have had guests round to see new house until all boxes unpacked.

Yes, this is the same for me. We moved in August and, barring one room, which has since been cleared, l had unpacked and tidied everything within a week. My mother was coming to stay at the end of the week so it had to be ready for her - she also has very high standards and an immaculate house. In fact, l well remember moving house when I was just 14. It was exactly one week before Christmas of that year. Not only were all the boxes unpacked and everywhere tidy, but my mother also hosted Christmas for 12 people, with everyone staying for a few days! What a superwoman!

topnoddy · 15/11/2023 07:53

We have still got stuff in boxes in the spare bedroom from when we moved in over 2 years ago

Mind you been looking to move out again since just after we moved in though

Rainbowqueeen · 15/11/2023 08:52

Set an alarm and do 15 minutes every day. If there’s a day where you have time to do more, do more. But at least you’ll be making progress

diefledermaus · 15/11/2023 11:40

OP, we moved in 5 months ago and I unpacked the last box this weekend. I need time to live in a place before I decide where everything should be stored! Obviously I unpacked clothes and kitchen stuff but Christmas decorations have only just found a home (right in time to bring them all out again ). As long as you're not tripping over them, what's the harm

mindutopia · 15/11/2023 11:42

We moved February 2022, so almost 2 years ago now, and we still have unpacked boxes. In fact, I have a whole outbuilding full of them. I’ve considered just torching the lot, as if I haven’t used any of it in 2 years…

CyberCritical · 15/11/2023 12:13

Even if you just do a box a day you'll be working towards getting it done, in reality you can probably unpack several a day if you just focus on doing it.

ZeppelinTits · 15/11/2023 12:28

We moved in July to a total renovation property and have been hard at it since. Roof needed replacing, windows refurbing (it's a period property) and then new kitchen and bathroom. We still haven't unpacked. But that's partly because there is no storage and we still have to contend with some of our relatives stuff in the loft and garage etc so it's taking a lot longer than it would with an empty clean blank canvas of a house. I envy those people. It's starting to slowly come together. I would advise you to do a few things each day, and use the dopamine hit of satisfaction you get form accomplishing some unpacking to propel you into the next task. You'll get there. Why not decide it WILL be done for Christmas, and visualise how lovely that will be. Really feel and imagine how it's going to look and how relieved you'll feel, and work towards that. Best of luck!

Wishimaywishimight · 15/11/2023 12:32

It's not going to "get better" all by itself (obviously!).

Can you just do a couple of boxes a day and get through it?

Leaving it will only make things worse - you will have all the boxes still sitting there but with the addition of daily clutter / mess on top!

GetWhatYouWant · 15/11/2023 12:43

I'm in your camp. I could never unpack a whole house in 2 days. I can only assume those people moved into immaculate clean houses with curtain poles etc ready installed and have very few possessions. I've got thousands of books, loads of pictures, ornaments, lots of sewing and craft stuff, garage full of gardening and DIY stuff, all of which I use. I don't think it's unusual not to have fully unpacked by now.

Aquarelles · 15/11/2023 13:42

I know how you feel, OP. I moved into my house in May and I've still got boxes piled up. The kitchen and living area got unpacked fairly quickly but I had to buy upstairs furniture before I could unpack bedroom and study stuff.

With work and life having to take priority, it is difficult finding time to unpack. I set myself a target of 3 boxes per weekend and I'm slowly getting through it.

My thought process has been "if I haven't used this stuff for months, do I really need it?" I have the opposite problem to you though - moved from a large house to a much smaller house so I have learned to be ruthless and get rid of a lot of junk/clutter

BertieBotts · 15/11/2023 13:44

I feel like there are 2 kinds of people. The ones who unpack in 2 days ()

And then people like me who find boxes years after moving in that have never been unpacked

THisbackwithavengeance · 15/11/2023 16:09

That's pretty poor OP. I can't imagine still living out of boxes after 2 months. Why would you and your DH not take annual leave and get it cleared if you're busy at work. Surely anyone who moves house expects to take a bit of time off work to sort themselves out?

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