I know mojo it's hard :( Just got a contract on our home of 15 years. I'm looking forward to the new house but there are so many memories at the old. I know 1st world problems but very stressful. :)

• Thanks, cpartist and Ktdh. That posted before I finished. Just as well since it was just a rambling pity party. Despite my disorganization, I am also a perfectionist. Everything must be pristine before I pack it and I've got lots of China, silver (flatware and serving), crystal, linens etc. So I am cleaning, rewashing and polishing, ironing, before I pack. DH thinks I'm nuts for even taking the niceties, but I actually plan on using the good silver flatware and crystal everyday. Seems to be if not now, what am I even saving it for. Also refinishing/refreshing some of the antiques before we move. Ugh!
• Oh yeah, also moving my Mom to senior living near our new location about the same time, so really packing two households (with help from my SIL. Mom can help with decisions, but is functionally blind and little energy. However it is nice to have her there as we go through her stuff -- it would be so emotional to have to do it after she is gone and she can tell us what has sentimental value and what to give away. Yesterday was Christmas decoration day at Mom's house -- Mom got some, I got some and SIL got some. Many very nice made by family members -- primarily my grandmother, but also a now deceased cousin who was a wonderful woodworker and artist.
• Today, among other things, I packed up my grandmother's China (very formal) for my SIL -- I have plenty and don't want to take it, but don't have the heart to let it get outside the family. Luckily she wanted it!

Moving sucks. I feel you - we're packing up our 3-bedroom bungalow (with full basement) in preparation for our massive renovation. It helps to pack the easy stuff first (books, dishes) so that you can really see the other stuff.

I'm not looking forward to it, either. We expect to move in a month or so. I've been cleaning out closets and have taken three trips to thrift stores already. Part of me just doesn't want to pack; we're moving across the road and it seems silly to pack it when I could just drive it up there and put it away. But I know at some point that I can't just have things trickle over there like that. I guess I need to just bite the bullet and start packing up those books and other things that we don't need for the next month.

I'm glad your buyer is understanding. We were hoping to sell to our nephew (the house has been in the family for five generations) but he decided last week he doesn't want it and there's no one else to take it at this point. So, we also need to get our VERY old house ready to put on the market. I'm not looking forward to that.

Leaving a home you've been in a long time is very hard, especially one you've raised your family in. A friend gave me good advice. She said 4-5 months before putting your house up for sell, pack up all the your personal pictures, knick-knacks, and anything else that makes your home, "your" home. I followed her advice and packed it all up. Two advantages; my house hasn't felt like "home" for a few months and I've been able to detach myself from it. Also it was much easier to stage when I put it on the market a few weeks ago. We just went into escrow today. Yay! Now if we could just get the new house built . . . . . . . . . .

^^ That is good advice, and I have to agree. I packed away all my personal items, photos on the walls, etc. in preparation for listing the home. But the other big benefit is that it really is helping me detach emotionally from this house. And then add in the various things we bought just for staging, and it doesn't feel like my house anymore. Which is a good thing for me. I know the memories come with, but it is still hard to look down the hall and think about my children running up and down it. I won't have the hall to trigger those memories anymore. At the same time, we are looking forward to making new memories in our next home.

I can also relate to taking a long time to pack. I am going through things, cleaning everything before carefully packing. Ironically, I will probably have the same process on the other end, haha. I expect unpacking to take even longer. Yikes!

I'm going through the same process. I suggest you start small. It sounds as if you have done some of that. Start in the closets and areas that you don't use every day. Just do one or two at a time. This way you won't be overwhelmed by the totality of what you need to do.

Three piles, I need to pack this pile because I use this every day or at least once a month, I need to donate this pile because it may be useful to someone, I needed to throw this away years ago pile. Then, there is the fun of saying to yourself, I wondered what had happened to this? Or, what the hell is this? Last, what was I thinking? Keep a sense of humor about what you find.

As you create the three piles, don't ever say to yourself that might need something someday so you will pack it. Chances are you won't ever need it. It's a really hard habit to break. Your children don't need it, either. They are drowning in a sea of stuff. Just get rid of it.

An uncluttered house leads to an uncluttered mind. That's true freedom. Grab it and hold on to it.

Back to packing up.

I lived in my house 42 years. Raised our two girls there. We moved into our new build in August, 2017 and I never looked back. P.S. That's because I took the memories with me.

We are closing tomorrow and although we we stay in possession for a few more months, I spent the last night in MY house last night. I am staying with Mom tonight and tomorrow when I go "home" it will belong to someone else. Just feels strange, but we are breaking our ties gradually. I have packed a lot of the behind doors stuff -- China, crystal, silver, Christmas decorations, winter clothes, photos and memorabilia and have made multiple trips to good will, but we are keeping the house more or less looking as usual (except the living room, which has now become box storage), until the kids come home week after next. After that, no holds barred -- art will be packed, furniture we aren't taking and don't need in the interim will go, etc, I expect by the last month we will be down to the bare essentials. almost camping out in our old home. We will camp again with bare essentials for 4-5 months in a rental after that, but by Christmas I hope to be fully unpacked and living in our forever home. We are buying mostly new furniture for the new house and just taking a few family pieces and good antiques.

Feel for you Mojo....I know the stress you are feeling. It does get better. Just try to get through the worst of it.

Mojo, I get it, I'm packing now! It seems the more I pack, the messier the old place becomes! Books, after all, are neat and rectangular.

I've taken 5 bags to the Library Book Sale donation so far, but have boxed up many times more for the move. Some I've schlepped up already. (It amazes the GC!) I've recycled all the old computer books, and those house design books people gave me when they knew I was building - you know, those useless house plans where frequently there are NO windows on at least one outer wall...

I've brought up most of my clothing. With our current heat wave, I wish I'd left more short sleeved things down here! The only kitchen stuff still here (besides food) is the stuff that matches each other, since when the place does go on the market, this would be nice for staging. (We call the other stuff, "mutant-ware", and it is handy for camping... or getting a new residence started...) I did have to buy induction ready cookware, so the old rangetop cookware remains here.

I'll be moving most of my current furniture. So most of that is staying here until I sell. I did buy a new IKEA sleeper sofa, as the cost of recovering the old one to fit into the new house would be prohibitive. I am also replacing the LAST of the old "college grad do whatcha can afford" presswood bookcases with finish-them-yourself pine book cases, and I bought a NEW office chair ($70, clearance from $200). I know this means my house won't really tie in together as House Beautiful, but it will be House Comfortable and Affordable.

I've lived here since 1991. I do like this place, but hated both the kitchen (dysfunctional) and the driveway (steep, curvy, not winter-friendly). Most of the stress of moving is not from leaving here, though I will carry some good memories, but from just sorting through EVERYTHING! Indeed, I've already decided that a couple ceramic cats I brought up about a month ago will be donated to a fall auction held by a group I belong to. Nice, but... they just don't want to be in the new home. (There are some things I like well enough but don't feel the need to continue to house - I like them well enough to not wish to send them to Goodwill - which may well trash them, but rather find homes where they'll be appreciated.)