Very little energy left for the actual moving in bit

[nessus]

In need of serious hand-holding and moral support [knackered]

Completed 13 weeks ago - gosh sounds so long ago - and renovations started 6 weeks ago and is already going on longer than scheduled. Windows are seriously delayed and front door had to be sent back. So the house that I thought we could be in before the 14th looks set to be unoccupied for a while longer. Truth is I am knackered and skint and just want a perfect house now, everyone to leave and everyone to stop asking me for money!!

Managed to clear out the storage last week but have no idea, or motivation, of where to start with current house :( I hate packing and I am just no good at it. And it is not helped by the amount of shit stuff I have amassed over the past decade with a bit of DD's and LOH (Late OH) stuff thrown in for good measure.

Worst is the thought of dealing with under the stairs as we have had rodent issues over the years and that is there access point. I really don't want to go in there but it is cluttered with stuff.

Oh and let's not forget that I need to hand this place over to the HA as soon as. And yes, think I have funny feelings about saying goodbye to the ol' 'permanent' place. So much pain and sadness has been experienced here but still the umbilical cord feels tight round my neck...Had Housing Officer at the door today as well which only makes me more determined to get out and hand their key back to them pronto as I do feel like I am straddling two realities right now. The old life vs new life...

Can't wait to get into new house but it feels like trying to get to another planet right now :(

As it is me on my own I have had to have blocks of time off work which for a freelancer is just not good at all but I realise how lucky I am to have been able to take the time off to visit the site as needed. Oh and did I mention I am skint as a result of falling in love with a house at the tippy top of my budget that needed a few pennies and then some spent on attaining perfection...blame houzz bringing it into this modern world.

their not there [numpty]

I'm sorry to hear you are feeling so stressed out :( I know you said money is tight but how many hours work would you need to put in to pay for professional movers to do everything? You just pack a box of essentials ( kettle, few bits cutlery, loo roll, change of clothes etc) and keep it separate so you don't need to unpack all the boxes right away? You should sort your late husbands stuff another time.

What age is your dd?

indeed. One stressful thing at a go. Don't normally advocate this, but in this case - take your late husband's stuff with you, get the house sorted and homely and THEN deal with that. Less any obvious rubbish of course.

Agree with special you have a lot on your plate - try not to add a declutter into the bag at this stage too. Take it with you - sort it when there. When we moved in post-renovation, despite wanting everything perfect like Grand Designs it really is so difficult to actually do. Be realistic.

Is there anyway you could designate a room, or space to stack all the "to be sorted" boxes in the new house? We did this with our stuff as it came out of storage. Go the removal men to take essential bed/bathroom/kitchen stuff to the labelled room - but had decided to get everything else/non-essential dumped in the sitting room. Could then shut the door on the mound of boxes as we unpack stuff gradually. We were lucky to have an open plan kitchen-living area so had somewhere to hang out. Took my time over unpacking and took oodles to the dump/charity shop etc. Moved into the house late November and as we had to wait for bookshelves to be fitted to be able to fully unpack the box mountain it was probably not until early January that we "moved in" to the sitting room.

Take the pressure off yourself. And congratulations on your new home.

Have thought of the packing service and maybe that is the obvious break... Got quotes through from Shiply and some include packing up for a little bit extra so will check that out for sure. But first must declutter so I don't carry too much crap along with me.

Feel ridiculous at my inability to part with LOH bits. I psyche myself up to do it and then balk at the last minute. There is no reason I can't get his clothes to the charity shop but the feeling that arises is indescribable. That lump forms in my throat and I feel so afraid that I am just clearing all traces of him out before I am really ready to. Bits of furniture was easy to move on from the storage as I sent them to M.I.L and S.I.L

DD is 12 very soon to be 13. I am afraid she follows my lead with packing down the house and I genuinely am not a good example . Been trying to get her to dump paper in her room for weeks to no avail!

p.s Thanks for the replies

This might sound a bit naff, but how about using a large suitcase as a 'memory box', and allowing yourself to fill it with items/clothing from your loh, and other important memories of your life so far. All his stuff will be right there when you feel the need to hold and see it. Don't be hard on yourself in this respect by getting rid of it all. Limit to just one case though. Once you know the stuff you care about most is safe it may help to get rid of the rest.

Standard stuff for the rest of the de-cluttering. Three piles in each room, one for charity, one for the dump and one to wrap and pack. Unless you have lots of label clothing, I wouldn't bother to ebay anything at this time - it don't happen.

Good luck

What could be causing this damp area? Small terrace house with extended kitchen. The damp area is on the inside ie. dividing wall with neighbour in the original kitchen. Extension shows no damp areas. The window is open during cooking and external door is left open on mild days. Apart from a non-leaking radiator on that wall there is no water in that end of the kitchen.

Sorry that was meant to be a new thred