Don't think of this as some horrible tragedy that you need a miracle to fix. Think of it as your chance for a new beginning. I could have written your post 6 months ago, and I'm now living with, I'd say 75% less clutter.
You've got to get started packing for this move very soon. I don't know how big of a house you have, but we left it to three days before, and if my In-Laws wouldn't have come in and screamed at me, I'd have never gotten it all done.
The boxes of stuff from your last move are packed. Forget about them for now, but keep them in the same place.
Then, pack the things that are dear to you first, and label those boxes clearly with what room they're going to go into. Don't worry too much about how much time this takes. Pack them securely so they don't get broken.
When you have everything that matters, start scooping your clutter into boxes. If you have time to do some decluttering at this stage, or if you want to make an executiv decision like "Anything that even looks like a piece of paper goes in the garbage," do that. That's what we did. Label the clutter boxes as such.
In the new house, designate a room (or half the garage) for the clutter boxes and boxes of stuff that you never unpacked. Unpack the things that are dear to you and start living.
If you really need something out of the clutter boxes, go find it. But don't bring anything out of the clutter room because you see it and remember it, or feel sorry for it, or whatever. It can stay there for now. Eventually, you'll find that you don't have to go into the clutter room as much, and hopefully by that stage some of the emotional attachments will have waned, and you can start going through the clutter and selling, donating, or trashing a lot of it.
We did this 4 months after our move. The stuff I couldn't bear to throw away or sell is in a single line of boxes in our garage, and our clutter room is now our office.
You've got to get started packing for this move very soon. I don't know how big of a house you have, but we left it to three days before, and if my In-Laws wouldn't have come in and screamed at me, I'd have never gotten it all done.
The boxes of stuff from your last move are packed. Forget about them for now, but keep them in the same place.
Then, pack the things that are dear to you first, and label those boxes clearly with what room they're going to go into. Don't worry too much about how much time this takes. Pack them securely so they don't get broken.
When you have everything that matters, start scooping your clutter into boxes. If you have time to do some decluttering at this stage, or if you want to make an executiv decision like "Anything that even looks like a piece of paper goes in the garbage," do that. That's what we did. Label the clutter boxes as such.
In the new house, designate a room (or half the garage) for the clutter boxes and boxes of stuff that you never unpacked. Unpack the things that are dear to you and start living.
If you really need something out of the clutter boxes, go find it. But don't bring anything out of the clutter room because you see it and remember it, or feel sorry for it, or whatever. It can stay there for now. Eventually, you'll find that you don't have to go into the clutter room as much, and hopefully by that stage some of the emotional attachments will have waned, and you can start going through the clutter and selling, donating, or trashing a lot of it.
We did this 4 months after our move. The stuff I couldn't bear to throw away or sell is in a single line of boxes in our garage, and our clutter room is now our office.
