Properly getting set up and settled in a new house - a long process?

[Notcontent]

I have recently moved to a new house. It was in a poor state when I bought it so I had some repairs, painting etc done before I moved in. But I think it will take a long time before we are fully settled in. For example, I don’t have all the furniture I need, missing some curtains/blinds, need some more storage, builder needs to come back to fix a couple of things, etc. Is that normal? Not only is it a matter of money (need to save up!) but arranging things is really time consuming...

9 month in, we have completed 6/12 rooms, have 3 more in progress and 3 left to start. It has been full on. I'm determined go finish it off before the year mark! Having said that, the house totally feels like home even though it is still in disarray, and I do love living here already.

We're 6 years in and still lots to do although probably only 2 or 3 big jobs left. House hadn't been touched since the 80s so absolutely everything needed updating, wiring, plumbing, boiler, windows, roof. Not to mention redecorating everything. Couldn't afford to do everything at once so we are working on one big thing a year. I reckon we'll be done by 10 years in, then will need to start the first bits ( like carpet) again!

We're 3.5 years in and still need blinds in the kitchen and a light fitting in the hallway.

Garden is only partially done.

In some areas I'm now replacing IKEA furniture bought as a temporary fix.

Only two rooms (kitchen and utility) have been painted a different colour to the standard new build white that the builders used.

I laughed when my DM said it would take a year to get fully settled and here we are 2.5 years later!

...and we moved into a new build so no renovations needed!

Yes it so takes forever! I feel like my life is just pondering the list of two do’s for the place and occasionally getting one thing done in a flurry of focus - but we are social and busy and weekends flagged for “finally putting the paintings up” end up out and about and literal years go buy without doing tasks. I wonder if we are just incompetent procrastinators

Make a big list - a spreadsheet or online tool like Trello would be good for this - and then aim to do one job a day/week/month or however frequently you have time. You won't waste energy trying the remember what you have to do and you will have the satisfaction of marking them off.