In that blue funk stage during taking out, sorting, putting back...

[LittenTree]

And my house looks like a jumble sale . I knew it would but it is really getting on my tits, tbh! My conservatory is full of garage detritus- I was so hoping the builders would complete the internal dividing wall across the existing garage so I could restock what will be 'the garage end' but no. Another week of this!

I am rationalising our storage but anyone who's done this will instantly identify with the problems- to reuse existing storage more economically, you have to take everything OUT of that storage, and it has to go somewhere; if you are emptying 3 storage areas to make them into one, plus chucks outs/charity stuff, you have to put stuff somewhere during the process, and A leads to B leads to C til the whole house is in depressing uproar!

Just a rant, really.

My house is permanently in that state

I want to be super organised, I really do! But I am, at my venerable age, realistic enough to know that'll never truly happen (have 2 DSs, 11 and 13, too, one of whom treads lightly upon the Earth, one who leave gert stomping holes all over it...).We have been in the house almost 3 years and I think it's high time to sort stuff.

You'll laugh at this stupid example, but I have 3 different places to store paperclips! I have 2 different stationery stores; my shoe cleaning kit is in a drawer next to my fountain pens and fuses.

I want ORDER! And I want it now! As it is I am awaiting DS1's return from school so I can go to Homebase to buy cup hooks (house key storage) and dowelling to make dividers in my little Ikea wooden storage drawers. I am quite excited at the prospect.... but the trick is not to glance up into the conservatory as it'll make me weep!

I am going through the clothes this weekend.

The aim is to take the summer stuff out of the drawers and closets and put it all in the big plastic boxes and take the winter stuff out of the big plastic boxes and put it all into the drawers and closets.

What could be simpler?

If no-one hears from me by late Sunday, send someone to look in the plastic boxes.

I am foolishly attempting to sort & organise as well as pack to move house. I spent almost two hours in the playroom separating duplo from wooden bricks and extracting plastic animals from the dolls house stuff. The theory being that it will be easier to put things away if they are already nicely sorted.

DH is a 'shove things in boxes, hope for the best and sort it out when you get there' sort of packer.

That, combined with the presence of MIL during the move means I may be divorced by this time next week

Having packed last spring for a move from a 4 bedroom house with a basement to a 2 bedroom flat with a small storage area (jammed to the ceiling with big plastic boxes) I hate to tell you but I feel it needs to be said if you have only a week left you need to shove things in boxes, hope for the best and sort it out when you get there'.

Sort at your leisure as you unpack. If you have a deadline hanging over you then you need to be bunging things in boxes as fast as you can.

We're kind of lucky in that the move is literally around the corner & we have a few days to do it. So there's still some chance of organising.

But yes. I suspect for the most part DH's method will win.

Haha, oh dear, sounds like me. We moved round the corner, just walked things to the new place AND had a couple of weeks to do it. With 4 days to go, we did the 'shove into anything' method. I'd say go for as much organised packing as possible but keep it simple & realistic, eg toys in these boxes, your clothes in that, DC clothed in another, unsorted paperwork in here, living room 'stuff' in there etc. Some super organised packing and a lot of totally random packing is just plain annoying from bitter experience! Ah, hindsight, a wonderful thing!

Our 'ishoo' was that 2 into 1 won't go. We moved to the UK 8 years ago 'for a year', so we brought maybe 150kg of stuff with us. We left all our household stuff in storage abroad. We stocked our renter with cheap replacements, second hand stuff, freecycled stuff etc as well as some new stuff. Anyway, we decided to sell up abroad, buy here and DH went over 3 years ago to pack up our household stuff and send it over (a somewhat random assortment of it arrived ). It filled a single garage with big plastic storage boxes, so suddenly we had 2 sofas, 2 lots of beds + bedding, 2 washing machines and every kitchen item and appliance duplicated... so when we bought, much of that came over to this house, still boxed. Now I am getting towards the end of sorting it but much of it is still 'good' so we're hanging onto the other til the day the existing dies, like an iron, for instance! It all has to go somewhere.

Though 3 places for paper-clips??!