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Lists of things to take to interim housing

bbstx
10 years ago

We've sold our house. Yay! We are building a house. Yay! New house won't be ready for another 6 months. Bah!

The town we are in is small and most of you would consider it rural. There is no corporate housing. We are going to rent an unfurnished apartment for 6 months. I'm trying to figure out what to move to the apartment and what to put in storage. It is just DH and me. Our children are grown and live elsewhere.

Because we will span summer, fall, and winter, almost all of our clothes will have to move with us. That will fill up all of the apartment's closets!

Does anyone have experience with moving to interim housing while waiting for their house to be finished? Do you have a list of the bare bones items that need to be moved to the interim apartment? Any thoughts?

P.S. I'm tickled pink that we sold our house before the new one is finished! But, boy, did that put an interesting wrinkle in the building process.

Comments (7)

  • carra
    10 years ago

    We moved all of our clothes. I picked through my kitchen and tried to take one of each size pot/pan and a good selection of cooking utensils. We only moved the furniture that would fit in our rental unit. Honestly, I just went through my house and tried to think if I would really need it in the next 6 months (which is what we THOUGHT it would be, but it's now looking like it will be closer to 10 months!).

  • FmrQuahog
    10 years ago

    We're in the same situation as you, OP, but we weren't forced to select necessities and squirrel away the rest.
    We were able to secure a small (1300 sq ft) ranch house with a 2-car garage as our rental. The key is the garage - we're coming from 2800 sq ft and wanted to avoid paying through the nose for a storage unit. So we're using the garage at the rental for storage (the interior is fairly stuffed too LOL) and the 'yotas will just have to sit out in the elements for the next 6 mos.
    Time should fly though, after Aug 1. :-)

  • bbstx
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    FQ, good plan but too late for us. We already have 2 storage units (down from 3). DH retired and we moved into our vacation house, and put some stuff in storage "for a little while." After living in the house for several years, we have finally realized that it is too small and lacks essential storage/closets. It is great for a vacation but not so much for everyday. So, we are building something that will suit us better.

    I think we are going to be able to clear some stuff out of the storage units (foist it off on the kids!); rearrange, and move in the stuff we are not taking to interim housing. So, at least, we will not have to rent another storage unit.

    Fortunately, our current house is being bought by a very close friend who is going to let the patio furniture stay on the patio until our house is complete. That will save a ton of storage room.

  • Indiana.swim.mom
    10 years ago

    Only 6 months in interim housing sounds wonderful to me, but be aware that it may be much, much longer than that. We ended up building because we couldn't find a house that suited our needs when moved from out of state.

    At first we thought we would only be in an apartment for a couple of months and then we would close on a house, not finding a house we chose to build. Our house was slated to be done in the beginning of August. We don't even have shingles on. We will end up being here for at least a year.

    Take as much of your daily kitchenware as can fit in your temporary place. Don't limit the amount of silverware you bring, bring it all, unless you LOVE to wash dishes. The same is true for dishes that you use daily. I brought one of each type of pan. These pans will be thrown away after we move into our house because the crummy rental electric stove has severely damaged them. A crock pot is necessary if you have limited kitchen space. One thing I wished I brought was my stand mixer for Christmas cookies. It was really hard to not to have any of regular holiday traditions here.

    Cleaning supplies are a must. From your vacuum to your toilet brush. We had to buy a bunch of new things and now will have doubles in our new house.

    Don't forget a few things to help you celebrate your holidays.

  • bbstx
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Bless your heart! I'm prepared to be in interim housing for more than 6 months. I believe it is going to be closer to 9 months.

    I think I'll take the old cookware that I've been holding onto for reason. Maybe this is the reason. I'll send the good stuff to storage.

    I've been wondering whether or not I should take my stand mixer. I love it but I don't envision doing any baking.

    During the holidays, my sister, who is my only sibling, and I will both be in interim housing awaiting the completion of our houses. DD informs me that her MIL, my sister's best friend, is planning on having us all to her house for Christmas. What a great friend! Nevertheless, I intend to make sure that at least some of the Christmas stuff is close to the front of the storage unit.

    Good call on the cleaning supplies. I intend for my cleaning lady to continue even while we are in an apartment. Fortunately, her supplies are in one cabinet. I will pack and label it separately. (I'm also hopeful that she will have time to go give the apartment a thorough cleaning before we move in!)

    Thanks!

  • carra
    10 years ago

    Oh, I definitely took my stand mixer - but I use it all the time! The one thing that we didn't bring was most of our Christmas items. We thought we'd be in a new house by Christmas, but now we won't. To solve that problem we will be spending Christmas with my parents.

  • equallydivided
    10 years ago

    My 2 month apartment turned into 2 years. I brought my entire kitchen necessities (so glad I did) and my clothes.

    I also took all of my dvd's and family pictures (albums and wall) because they don't store well.

    Medications and creams that won't store well (I don't think any of them do).

    Minimal furniture and a few lamps that will fit while not leaving you cramped.

    STEP STOOLS!!! I ended up having to buy more :s

    Sentimental, irreplaceable items (baby keepsakes, moms old afghans, ).

    Circulating fans. My apartment gets warm, and I needed them. Had to buy more.

    My storage unit is 700 miles away, so I couldn't access these things.