We survived a similar situation last winter.... spent two months in the 12' living quarters space of our horse trailer parked out on our new driveway. Me, the 6'7" husband, a 90lb German Shepherd and a cat... .it was cozy! As far as the storage, this is what we did. There are no climate controlled storage units within 100 miles so we had to make do. All wood pieces and furniture, books, paper and fabric things went inside the new house. We had several rooms downstairs that we piled up the furniture in stacking some things with cardboard between them. We piled it all neatly and away from the walls so that the electrician could still work and workers could get through the rooms to the bathrooms etc. The ceiling fans and central light fixtures were installed prior to the move and the ceilings were all finished so there was never any need to get to the center of the room again. Then we draped off and covered everything with plastic sheeting. We did the same thing in our master bedroom only it was mostly wardrobe boxes. The mechanical room was a similar situation and so was our storage room and another walk in closet. Anything that a mouse, water or weather couldn't hurt went outside. If you pack carefully, this is more than you might think. We rented a storage unit in town, got the one pod that was available delivered to the construction site and also had part of our garage at the new house available. All of our artwork, prints etc were packed in art boxes and went to the home of some good friends who gave over an extra bedroom to them until we could get them again. Every single box was numbered and labeled so that movers knew whether it went to the pod, garage or house. I used a program called Evernote to keep track of what was inside each box and where each box should be located. My husband made sure that our contents were covered by our insurance... he used to be an insurance agent so knew to look into this. I believe that we had to have some sort of residence other than our RV, so we "rented" the guest house of other friends for a dollar so that if something happened we legally had a residence. Whatever you do if you store things at your new residence or in a pod on the property, make sure that it's all covered by your insurance in case of fire, robbery etc. As far as the building inspectors, we really didn't care. It was going to be our GC who would be in hot water with them and we were a little peeved that the house was about 4 months past our longest expected time for completion. It took us 2 years! The inspectors really didn't care as long as they could get to all of the light switches, receptacles etc. Our rental landlords were awesome, but we'd told them that the house would be finished in October and they'd advertised the rental and had new tenants lined up almost immediately. We had about 6 weeks to be prepared for the move so it wasn't as bad as it sounds and we truly didn't blame our landlord. New tenants are hard to find and it didn't make any sense to ignore a new year lease just to keep us around for 8 more weeks. Good luck! With planning, you can swing it!

graywings, we did make improvements. Our realtor thought we still had it listed too low. Of course, he didn't manage to sell it! We've signed with a property management company that takes 10% of the monthly rent, plus an extra 15% of the first month to cover their advertising, interviewing clients, etc., etc. DH just doesn't want to get those midnight calls about the plumbing, and this is about the only way he could make himself agree to renting it. brickeye, we won't be trying to sell it while it's rented. I posted earlier, I just don't want to do that to a renter. Until it is rented we've told the previous agent he can show it if someone comes into his office and is in the market for this type of house, but with no signs and no advertising. This is okay with the property management agency. I told the new realtor we just weren't comfortable with a 10-month listing and had decided to rent it. She's the one that recommended this p.m. agency to us in the first place. Next step is to see if it will rent; wish us luck!

texasgem/peony- we do entertain and it has really proven to be a useful space, just currently not a pleasing to the eye space, like a "what the heck is that doing there"? Gonna give it a shot to see if the toning down works... we really are enjoying it as our coffee area, actually think I'd miss it now! texas penny- its not one floor. love the idea of solartubes, just dont think we could finagle one. gr8day- which white?? AHH! suggestions? I've seen so many posts agonizing over which white and always thought me lucky that my old ones were pre-painted. now here i am! the upstairs and basement are currently being painted and we are using decorator white trim. however, i am tossing around the idea of having white uppers and a color on the bottoms, maybe like a grayishy blue?? i will most likely choose marble for new tops and thought that would go nicely. I am excited! I guess I am a glutton for punishment but I love renovating! Although we will be hiring this time and not DIY like last time, yay!

I'm so pleased to hear that everything worked out. It's a hard time of life and an awful process to go through. But, it's done. I know you are relieved. Congratulations on a job well done.