As some of you guys know, my parents are moving in with me soon. They will be bringing all of there stuff up in two weeks, but not officially moving in until sometime between end of October and Thanksgiving. So here is my issue:
I have two weeks to get a sewing room somewhat organized to make room for her three sewing machines and all of her supplies. On top of that, I have to move the kiddos around the house to make a room for them to be able to stay in and don't have a clue where to start. I am not the greatest at organization (although I do try to be that way), so the house is now a mess from where we started. My husband is one to just throw away everything that he doesnt know what to do with, but I don't want to get rid of THAT much stuff. He has already filled his dump trailer once and gotten rid of all of that on top of some 10 boxes that we took to good will when cleaning out the attic for there stuff (that after thinking about it, would never even make it around the corner to get up the stair :oops: ) Don't get me wrong... I am totally siked that my parents are coming up here (I moved away 5 years ago) and the kids are even more so. It's just the setup work that is getting to me. Anywho, thanks for letting me rant, I feel a little better now.

my prayers are with you and your family, all is possible with God's help. My advice is to Stop, Pray and ask a friend that might can come in ans help. I know that sometimes it makes you fill better to just tell someone what is going on. I know that all will be better when the move is all done.
Congratulation on having you parents a home with you.

Can you all rent a storage unit?????????????? And does she really need all 3 sewing machines???????? I know, I know....yip!
Good luck! Will be nice to have family around, eh?

Aw, Hugs! I am not great with home organization either. Just do what you can now, and when your Parents come, they will help a bit too! It will all work out!

We are looking into finding a storage unit, but so far they dont have any units available. The sewing machines she has are all different from the ones that I do, and one I learned how to sew on. I'm hoping my daughter will keep showing interest and maybe she will be able to use that one also. I haven't had any family anywhere near me since we moved and I am from a family that gets together every holiday and its huge!! This will make it less difficult for me around those times.

Sometimes just having someone there is helpful. sometimes just their presence helps you make up your mind. Good luck with your project. I understand the difficulty of combining houses. I moved in with my mother to take care of her. Just too much stuff, and neither of us were good at throwing away. Good luck and God bless.

I am from NY also. If I lived close enough I would help you in a heart beat.

good luck re organizing your house just take one room at a time and decide what you want to keep and put in storage

do you have any storage sheds on your property?

I can't imagine how difficult it would be to combine 2 households, even if you are excited about their coming!

Are you able to rent PODS in your area? They are storage units that are fully enclosed and self-contained and are left on your property as long as you wish OR can be taken into a storage facility. One might be very handy to have in your backyard to be able to access those thing easily that you may have packed away yet find you need. http://www.pods.com/

Jan in VA

I have the solution. Send the kids to me along with 2 of Mom's machines. Oh and pack some of her stash in the boxes. We don't want the machines to get damaged.


LOL

Too cute, but I don't think I would be able to part with any of those LOL ;-) I really should have cleaned out the house a long time ago, just didnt. We actually moved in with DH's mother when she was sick, so we had two houses in one then. We have still yet to go through all of her stuff as it is still hard on DH and I don't want to push him with that. I guess this is just giving us the boost we really needed to go through and clean out. Hopefully the kiddos aren't learning pack ratty things....

I agree, ask some friends who are good at organization to come over and give you a hand. You can do it in stages, so you don't feel so overwhelmed.

Is this a permanent situation? If not, I would do the storage unit or POD. Hope your house is large enough to hold you all but I know miracles can be done in small homes too. Sit down and work out a plan.

Wow, what a lot to do!! Sit down and talk to the DH and kids and make decisions about what is going where as you move things from room to room. Lay out a plan for each room. Then take one room at a time and declutter and reorganize. I know it seems overwhelming, but you can do it, one day at a time, one room at a time! :thumbup: :D

I am so envious! I wish my parents were still alive and could come live with me.

breathe, and come here often.

Storage units are a bad idea. The money long term is insane. Trust me, I know. Better to thin the junk herd now while it's all coming at you than to thin it later after you've paid its rent for years.

Relax. It's just stuff. Water off a duck's back. Family is what's important now and you're abundantly blessed in that (under one roof!). :0D

Good luck with your huge task! I am just trying to organize all MY stuff, and cleaning up years after having my brother live with me! It is a tremendously HUGE task! I am trying to cull "junk" out, but my definition keeps changing! I am making some progress each time, but there is no way I will set a deadline!

we owned a storage business and I would only use it if storing for a very short time. Also using charcoal (I use the cheap bbq stuff) in an open sided container or a mess bag really absorbs odors, so everything should smell ok when you take it out of storage. (We used it in the care facitly when someone had cancer that produced odors or other issues with odor.
Someone suggested having an organized friend, who's oppinion you respect, to help you get rid of some of the clutter. I know I got tough on myself when we renovated and got rid of many things, still have some to go. My SIL and I went to my other SIL's house and helped her get rid of lots of things she was hanging onto, she said feels like she is lighter with less in her house.

iv been cclearing clutter, too. it is tough. i am a self professed hoarder and my dh just dont?get it. my dd came to my rescue, she did an area for me, i just didnt watch. lol

First, I want to tell you how wonderful it is that you are excited about your folks moving in with you. So many young people feel "put out" when they "have to" get more involved in their parent's lives. You aren't doing this because you have to but because you want to...GOOD FOR YOU!! We moved my Dad in when he was diagnosed with Leukemia a little over two years ago. Luckily we had the basement with a bedroom and bathroom. At first he wasn't feeling that bad so I tried to make it like a little apartment for him which he really enjoyed. Of course, as he grew more ill we had to make room for hospital beds, shower chairs, etc. My point is that I personally think it is an honor to be able to have multiple generations available for the kids. My kids LOVED going to "Pawpaw's Apartment" to visit and play games with him. I lost my Dad this past July and still miss him terribly but am so glad that we had some great times before he moved on. As far as what to do with all the stuff??? Everyone has given you some great tips for that! My only tip....don't worry to much about it!! Have fun creating your new family home :) Just take it one day and one room at a time like the others said. Good luck to you!

How blessed you are to have them coming. My thoughts are do what you can with any help you can get that understands how you feel and understands the situation. Maybe your Mom would love helping to get it all organized and feel it will be more hers too if she has that opportunity. You Dad also would probably feel the same way. Even if physically they can't do a lot, I'm sure that they would enjoy throwing out ideas and plans that would suit everyone. Since everyone will be living together....everyone needs to feel it's their home and space. Since you're so happy they're coming make it wonderful for all and not overwhelming. Life has a way of working out in all kinds of situations and it looks like the hardest part (families living together) is no problem at all. Thoughts and prayers to you.

Where there is love, things fall into place. I think it's wonderful that your family has so much love to feel your home with others. God bless.

Are your parents are going to live with you long term? I would suggest getting a Pod initially. Just focus on decluttering and cleaning each room thoroughly. Prepare a room for your parents void of decorations and clutter, which would allow them to make it their own. I would put all of their non-essential possessions in the Pod. Then start sorting through the Pod. Put items they want to keep in the house. Label items to discard, donate, or sell. You may also decide that some of your parents items are nicer than yours and swap them out. List items on ebay or craiglist. Whatever doesn't sell there do a yard sale. Donate the items that doesn't sell.

Thanks everyone for your support. They will be staying with us at least a year and we will see from there. My DH finally helped me today and I got most of what I wanted done (in the heavy lifting department). now I just have to do all the lighter stuff in the next two weeks. At least they have a room now, and that is what I was woried the most about.

oh good! And I agree that you shouldn't worry about their room....totally empty it out so they can make it their own. I thought about that with the sewing room too. Pretend ya'll are in a dorm together...LOL :D Just see if you can give her 1/2 the room and let her make it her own..ya'll can do it together. Have fun!!