support thread for serious decluttering/moving? - Page 15

[PenelopeJune]

I just popped into read everyone's updates, and leave one of my own! You guys all sound like you are doing well. Worthy, I'm glad you are so happy with your new plan. That sounds very smart. As much as I love living on land in the country, there is definitely something to be said for in-town conveniences. Congrats to all of you that have moved, and good luck to all who are still in the process!

I am still living with my parents, until August 1. I am counting down the days! It is a little funny how I haven't really missed anything that is in storage. A friend asked for a book, and I was unable to loan it to her, and I hate my mom's spatula and wished I had my wooden one, but other than that...I've almost forgotten everything that is there.

I found a really good deal on an area rug for my new apartment, and I'm currently shopping for curtains (hoping to do something cheap and DIY.) I still haven't seen my apartment! I hope I like it, I am getting nervous to see it. (I won't see it until the day I move in.) It's university-owned family housing, and I've heard mixed reviews. Luckily my standards aren't too high, and I'm a good decorator. :P

[worthy]

Originally Posted by worthy 

We looked at two houses in town yesterday, the one I was expecting and another one.  The first one is still a good possibility.  My realtor has another house in the same or similar neighborhood coming on the market very soon; he can't tell us anything about it but we are hoping he can get the sellers' permission to show it to us on Sunday.  He thinks it's similar to the one I like but better for us.  The main difference I'm aware of is that there is an additional bedroom.  We'll see how it feels when we see it.

I fell completely in love with the first house just in time to find it under contract to someone else. 

The second house, we saw once yesterday evening and again this morning.  I like it, but the yard is very very small.  I am coming to terms with that.  It would be a wonderful house for me and my kids.  The location is ideal, the house is gorgeous (vintage -- and updated by owners who expected to live there forever.)

My parents would be buying the house and renting it to me.  I have asked my dad to move forward with an offer today as soon as he possibly can.  I can't believe how fast that first house sold, and this one is more desirable in many ways (other than the lot being so small).  It's out of my hands.  Today I'm doing my best to not think much about it, beyond knowing that (if everyone does their job) we should have a yes/no answer by tomorrow or possibly this evening, and I can either grieve and move on, or let myself fall in love with it and prepare to move.

[worthy]

Update -- looks like our offer was verbally accepted late this evening and the sellers are planning to sign the P&S tomorrow.  The house hasn't even hit the MLS yet -- we have an awesome realtor.  I think that means I can get cautiously excited!
 

[PenelopeJune]

Yay Worthy! Congrats, how exciting!

[worthy]

We got the house!  Now I get to plan out how to move from 2400sf with a full garage and shed to 1400sf with a very small garage.  I think it's possible that I won't have to get rid of much, which is great.  It's so nice knowing what the space is like -- makes it easier to do the last ruthless round of decluttering.

We will be able to declutter our gas lawnmowers and also our snowblower (neighbors share one), yay!  My oldest will have his own room, a lifelong dream of his (LOL).  The house has a really happy vibe to it; the previous owners loved it and renovated it thinking they were staying forever.  I feel very lucky to benefit from their care.

Our closing date is 8/16, but that could shift based on financing, etc.  I will have some overlap so won't have to move all in one day, and it's only about 20 minutes from my current home so the actual moving logistics should not be too overwhelming.  I'd rather move in several phases than all at once.  A friend with a large truck has already offered to lend it and drive.

I'm going to let it sink in for a few days and plan a neighborhood gathering here the weekend after next before I pack up a ton of stuff and things look different.  Then the boxing and color-coding begins...I am so excited.
 

[PenelopeJune]

Do you have any pictures of the new place, Worthy? I love seeing cute houses. :)

[loveandgarbage]

Joining this thread. We will be moving in a couple of weeks to a larger house, but need to seriously declutter. We have been in our current place for 3 yrs and we are stuffed to the gills with crap! We want our new space to feel airy and if we move everything, it certainly won't.

The hardest thing for me to get rid of is my own clothing as well as ephemera. Like little statues, cool postcards, posters, etc. But if it's been in the basement the entire time we've lived here, do we really need it? Probably not!

[worthy]

Originally Posted by PenelopeJune 

Do you have any pictures of the new place, Worthy? I love seeing cute houses. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amyamanda/sets/72157630528000134/

[PenelopeJune]

Worthy! I LOVE that house! What a gorgeous, gorgeous old home. The yard may be small, but it is darling, too. Wow.

[sk8boarder15]

So add us to offcially moving. We bought this house http://www.redfin.com/OR/Portland/5328-SE-Ogden-St-97206/home/26501086 

It has a fantastic yard, and its cute, needs a few minor repairs, we are working with the sellers to hopefully get some of them fixed. It needs a new deck, but the kitchen is brand new. So :D 

Now its crunch time to pack and organize. I have one room 80% done. We did some big deculltering earlier this year but still have too much stuff. We are losing 800 square feet with this move, but gaining a HUGE garage, so we will still have storage if we need it. We haven't picked an offcial date to leave here, but its looking like July 31st. Not sure what day the truck will be leaving, but it will be before that.... so yeah! Crazy! 

I'm terriffied about moving 5 dogs and a toddler across the country! 

[jaysma]

I've been following this thread forever & thought I'd come join :)  We live on 45 acres and when we bought the place my husbands aunt was living in a house on the property. We bought it from her son and since day one of us owning it (3 years now) she's lived there rent free. We (me, hubby & 3 sons) moved into a small house on the property a year ago and since then she's given us nothing but grief. She acts like it's her land & we're trespassing so we began the eviction process last month. She started moving last week. We have a court date Wednesday & I'm hoping she's out by then.

In the meantime we've been packing up non-necessities & donating tons of stuff. We're currently in a 2br/1ba with 3 boys (ages 3, 8 & 10) and will be moving into a 4br/2ba and it can't come soon enough!
 

[AfricanQueen99]

Ohhh, we have a contract on our other house. Please please please let this work out!! We left all the "staging" stuff over there and the breakables that I didn't want the movers touching along with random other things. Today I took the younger two over while I cleaned up the storage area and filled up my minivan wi stuff to bring back over. My donation pile (it is filling the cedar closet (about the size of an outdoor storage shed) gets bigger and bigger as I just say "nope, didn't use for five years...not gonna use it now" and get rid of it.

Oncewe are positive that the contract will go through (after inspection and that set of deals) we will move all the staging stuff that we want and call a donation truck to pick up the rest. As much as I dislike moving I *love* the freeing nature of the life decluttering that comes with it!

[worthy]

Originally Posted by AfricanQueen99 

Ohhh, we have a contract on our other house. Please please please let this work out!! We left all the "staging" stuff over there and the breakables that I didn't want the movers touching along with random other things. Today I took the younger two over while I cleaned up the storage area and filled up my minivan wi stuff to bring back over. My donation pile (it is filling the cedar closet (about the size of an outdoor storage shed) gets bigger and bigger as I just say "nope, didn't use for five years...not gonna use it now" and get rid of it.
Oncewe are positive that the contract will go through (after inspection and that set of deals) we will move all the staging stuff that we want and call a donation truck to pick up the rest. As much as I dislike moving I *love* the freeing nature of the life decluttering that comes with it!

Ohhhhh, that is awesome news!!!  Fingers crossed for you!!  Keep us posted.  Your donation pile is very inspiring!

Originally Posted by jaysma 

I've been following this thread forever & thought I'd come join :)  We live on 45 acres and when we bought the place my husbands aunt was living in a house on the property. We bought it from her son and since day one of us owning it (3 years now) she's lived there rent free. We (me, hubby & 3 sons) moved into a small house on the property a year ago and since then she's given us nothing but grief. She acts like it's her land & we're trespassing so we began the eviction process last month. She started moving last week. We have a court date Wednesday & I'm hoping she's out by then.

In the meantime we've been packing up non-necessities & donating tons of stuff. We're currently in a 2br/1ba with 3 boys (ages 3, 8 & 10) and will be moving into a 4br/2ba and it can't come soon enough!
 

Wow, that sounds terribly difficult.  Good for you for moving forward.  So exciting that your new house will be so much bigger!  Let us know how it goes.

[worthy]

Originally Posted by sk8boarder15 

So add us to offcially moving. We bought this house http://www.redfin.com/OR/Portland/5328-SE-Ogden-St-97206/home/26501086 

It has a fantastic yard, and its cute, needs a few minor repairs, we are working with the sellers to hopefully get some of them fixed. It needs a new deck, but the kitchen is brand new. So :D 

Now its crunch time to pack and organize. I have one room 80% done. We did some big deculltering earlier this year but still have too much stuff. We are losing 800 square feet with this move, but gaining a HUGE garage, so we will still have storage if we need it. We haven't picked an offcial date to leave here, but its looking like July 31st. Not sure what day the truck will be leaving, but it will be before that.... so yeah! Crazy! 

I'm terriffied about moving 5 dogs and a toddler across the country! 

What a beautiful house!  I love the kitchen especially.  Wow.  Nice job.

We are also losing 800sf in our move, but we are downsizing storage space as well.  Nothing like downsizing to get the decluttering going strong.

I can't imagine having 5 dogs, let alone moving them, LOL!

Keep us posted on how you manage the packing/moving.

[worthy]

Ohmygoodness.  We may get to close on our house much sooner than anticipated.  Financing is in place and the inspection is on Wed.  The owners have taken very thoughtful care of the house, and I'm not expecting any surprises in the inspection.

I have this sort of radical idea for moving/decluttering.  I'm just moving into town (20 min) and there is an overlap in the timing so I don't have to move all in one day (hallelujah -- this is a huge luxury).  So I was thinking, instead of moving the storage stuff first, I think I will move the furniture and the absolute essentials (as if we were going on vacation).  Get ourselves physically sleeping and cooking in the house, and then work on moving the less essential stuff.  I think I'll naturally prioritize what I pack and move over to the new house, and eventually I will get sick of seeing the dregs and feel highly motivated to just toss or donate instead of moving it. 

Friends of ours moved out of town last year, rented their house for a year, and now they just moved back.  The transformation in their house is huge.  It's as if they tipped their house over, shook it so everything fell out, sifted through the pile, and put back only what they really loved and needed.  Moving is a PITA, but it is also an incredible opportunity.

[journeymom]

Alright Worthy! 

[worthy]

Originally Posted by journeymom 

Alright Worthy! 

Thanks!  How are things going for you?

I told myself no packing for the next week (until after I catch up on work and we have a farewell party with our neighbors) but tidying and decluttering are allowed.  I tidied, staged, and photographed my kids' rooms for posterity, and also my walk-in closet.  Decluttered some more stuff.  Got my bedroom and bathroom mostly done as well.

Several years ago I posted photos of our house in the "post pics of your clean, clear space" or whatever thread it was.  At that time I was doing the best I could do with four young kids and a sadly neglected home.  I have wanted to go back and post an update, and I'm going to do that once I've finished tidying/photographing.  I'm so proud of how much nicer our house looks with the effort I have put in over the past few years.  Not sad to be dismantling it and leaving, though!

The next week is a bit crazy; the kids are only here for a week over the next month (and packing their own rooms themselves, at their request), and we have friends from Europe visiting (though I asked them to keep their visit brief under the circumstances).  Hosting a party, going to a party, and a class for my 12yo, and work.  Also in that time I have to sew costumes for a two-week medieval festival the kids are going to with their dad.  It all happens at once, doesn't it...

[DTmama1]

Thought I'd update that we are all in Seattle now, in our new home! DP moved in July 1, and we ended up joining him on the 10th (was supposed to be later, but ran into a snafu with Amtrak due to the storms out east, so we decided to come out early). 

Loving our new apartment! Feels a lot more spacious, and has tons more storage- except for the kitchen, which is TINY. We decided to have no dressers in the bedrooms, which helps a lot. The closets are plenty big to fit our clothes. We sold a lot of our furniture before the move, so we've been spending a lot of time on craigslist/ at ikea and have mostly switched to Expedit storage for the entire house. Not always the most efficient, but having all the same makes it easier to switch things around, and they generally have a good resale value as well if we don't need them when we move again.

Trouble spots:

Too many books! We have a 5x5cubes expedit bookshelf full, plus the kids chapter books in their room, and two 18 gallon tubs of adult fiction we still don't have a home for. DP definitely is the worth offender here. Lots of art reference books and gaming manuals in particular.

Kitchen- Sooo tiny. Almost no counter space whatsoever. What little there is is taken by the microwave, toaster oven, and drying rack, with two little 6 inch sections on either side of the stove. We put all of our other appliances in the closet under the stairs. We got a bunch of jars at Ikea this weekend that fit into one of the drawers, and can use those for a lot of our dried goods storage I think. Thankfully the grocery store closest to us has an amazing bulk foods section that is quite affordable. But just awkwardly sized cabinets and such that are going to make getting at our food really awkward. Also, no idea where to put a kitchen garbage can/recycling bin. There just isn't space for one. 

Need to figure out how we are laying out our bedroom post-baby. We plan to cosleep, but may want a pack and play set up for naps some of the time. We got a glider off of craigslist this weekend. Need to figure out baby clothes storage- do we get a cheap dresser, or more expedit furniture or ??? Not sure how much stuff we will have yet and we are trying not to go overboard, but will need somewhere to put stuff sooner rather than later. 

Ideas for storing toys of the adult sort, ideally locking. Right now we have a fugly cabinet (originally intended for VHS tapes) in the closet, but I'd like to have something next to the bed and just get rid of that. Any suggestions?

[jaysma]

It's 1:30 AM and I'm taking a break from steam cleaning my rugs. Once done I'll hang them outside to dry, roll them up tomorrow and it's one less thing to do

We go to court for her eviction in 2 days but we're thinking she's not going to show up. No one has been staying there for over a week so DH & I went last night to peek in the windows. It's empty except for a stove and a TON of trash & boxes on the porch. I called the electric company today to let them know we wanted service transferred into our name when she has it turned off. They said she called & it's scheduled to be disconnected tomorrow but they'll transfer it instead. The power being out of her name when we go to court will be a good thing.

Since we own the place we're currently in, we're not rushed to move so before moving anything I'm going to clean, paint and DH is going to build shelves in the storage room so we can use it as a pantry. We also have to build the chickens a new coop and move the goat's pen.

Ok, back to cleaning rugs...

[sk8boarder15]

Originally Posted by worthy 

Ohmygoodness.  We may get to close on our house much sooner than anticipated.  Financing is in place and the inspection is on Wed.  The owners have taken very thoughtful care of the house, and I'm not expecting any surprises in the inspection.

I have this sort of radical idea for moving/decluttering.  I'm just moving into town (20 min) and there is an overlap in the timing so I don't have to move all in one day (hallelujah -- this is a huge luxury).  So I was thinking, instead of moving the storage stuff first, I think I will move the furniture and the absolute essentials (as if we were going on vacation).  Get ourselves physically sleeping and cooking in the house, and then work on moving the less essential stuff.  I think I'll naturally prioritize what I pack and move over to the new house, and eventually I will get sick of seeing the dregs and feel highly motivated to just toss or donate instead of moving it. 

This is a FANTASTIC Idea! I wish I had that luxury! But for us if we don't put it on the truck, its not coming! So unfortunatly I know we are moving more than we need....