You Can’t Go Home Again

bedroom

master bed/bath

bed-bath

rub

Well, we’re here! And after all of my angst about moving, I walked out of our old house for the very last time… and I didn’t even know it.

Due to a complicated sequence of events which I won’t bore you with (Because trust me, I have MORE than enough to bore you with already, without adding that into the mix, too!) we were given access to the new house a little early. By Thursday afternoon, I had finished packing up the old house, so the plan was that I would head to the new place (with my long-suffering mother) and spend a couple of hours cleaning it, before coming home to help Terry start loading up the truck we’d hired, ready to move the next morning.

Well, the first part of that plan worked out just fine, and my mum and I made it to the new house, where we were joined by my dad as soon as he finished work. (Major props  to my parents, by the way, who have spent the last few days working their asses off, as well as providing food and emotional support: could not have done it without them. Special thanks to my mum for pulling that lump of someone else’s hair out of the shower drain, because I DEFINITELY couldn’t have done that without her…). Back at our old house, however, two of our friends turned up and volunteered to help Terry start loading up the truck: awesome! After a while, they realised that with the three of them working on it, they could get the house totally emptied by that night, which left us with two options:

1. Pack everything into the truck, and spend the night at my parents’ place, so all we’d have to do the next day would be unload it all at the new place.

2. Pack everything but the bed, and a few other things we’d need in the morning, then spend the night in the existing house, as we’d planned, before packing the remaining things in the morning.

For me, this was a total no-brainer. The whole time we’d been cleaning the new house, my stomach had been churning with anxiety at the thought of having to go back home and do the whole, “This is the last time I’ll ever…” over and over and over again. By the time I should have been leaving to head back there, I was an absolute wreck, and I knew that if I had to say goodbye, in that long-drawn-out, melodramatic way of mine, I would totally fall apart, no question. So when Terry presented me with an option which would mean I wouldn’t actually HAVE to go back, and the worst part would already be behind me, I jumped at it. I said in this post that if I could miraculously find myself living in the new house, without having to say goodbye to the old one, that would suit me fine, and honestly, it really did. There wasn’t even a tiny part of me which was tempted to go back:  I didn’t NEED to say goodbye to the old house, because I’d been saying it for months already, and it was just SO MUCH EASIER to not have to go through the heart-wrenching emotion of walking out of that door knowing it would be the last time.

(Yes, Terry did have to do it, but Terry doesn’t share my sentimental streak, and he says he was so focused on actually MOVING that he didn’t really think about it.)

So I left my little house on Thursday morning, thinking I’d be gone for a couple of hours… and I never went back. I left my empty coffee mug on the desk, my laptop switched on, my dressing gown hanging on the back of the bathroom door, and everything just sitting there waiting for me to return to it. And I never will. (Huge thanks to Terry and our friends for packing up the things I’d left out, by the way: I DID have everything else packed, but not the things I thought I’d  need that night/the next morning!) I had a bit of a cry at the moment it was decided that was how we were going to do it, but since then I’ve been absolutely fine, and although I think part of that is purely because it just doesn’t feel real to me yet, I’ll take it.

As for the new house, well, we still love it: phew! We did a huge amount of work over the weekend (that wallpaper is now a thing of the past, I’m pleased to report), again thanks to my parents and a group of friends who we will seriously have to throw a party for soon: they’ve all been absolutely amazing. Most of the house is still a total mess, of course: you can’t see it in these photos because all but the last of these is of the master bedroom, and most of them were taken before we moved our stuff in. I think I’ll have to do a little more unpacking before I can show you the rest because right now you can’t actually see anything for boxes, and you’ve all seen boxes before, right?

Oh, and by the way: our new house has a view – you may as well brace yourself for all the Instagrams….

view

rainbow

(P.S. Sorry for the crappy iPhone photos in this post: it took me two days to work out where I’d stashed the real camera during the move!)

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books by Amber Eve
COMMENTS
  • A few photos of the new house, and a lot of words about moving: http://t.co/1a1xm2RvZF

    August 12, 2013
  • So glad the moving went well for you, very jealous of that view as well! Good luck with settling in, fingers crossed everything goes well for you both (:

    Laura x

    August 12, 2013
  • I am *so* in love with your Master Suite! Ohhh, the decorating items you can use! The rug! The comfy chairs! Is it wrong that I am decorating your house in my mind? 😀

    I’m *sosososososo* pleased for you guys, and can’t wait for the tour!!! 😀

    xxx

    August 12, 2013
  • Don’t have time to read properly because I need to get a move on for work! But your new house looks beautiful, so airy and clean!!!!! I’m so happy for you =)

    August 12, 2013
  • That is SO GORGEOUS! Congratulations! I’m so excited and happy for you both.

    (Also, Ash had to do the shower drain thing cos I had an attack of the dry heaves at the thought. I hearby pledge NEVER to leave hair in my ex-house for others to un-drain. BLEARGH.)

    August 12, 2013
  • Looks awesome, so happy for you, Terry and Rubin!

    August 12, 2013
  • Erin

    REPLY

    I am already crazy in love with your house! The light! Lookit!

    August 12, 2013
  • Loved the new house!! It seems so bright and the flooring is gourgeous!

    Good luck with all the boxes!

    Bianca 🙂

    August 12, 2013
  • Wendy

    REPLY

    It looks fabulous. So happy for you both (and Rubin too of course!) x

    August 12, 2013
  • Your new house is so lovely, and I am absolutely thrilled for you both! The hair in the drain just cracks me up! I can’t even get my own out. I always have to have my long suffering husband do it. (I’m gagging a bit just thinking about it. 😉 )
    Also… can’t wait to see how the shoes look in the new place. Do you have a plan, and are you so excited to get them out?

    August 12, 2013
  • Oh! The bedroom…the view…it all looks gorgeous. I take it you’re far away from your “ghetto” now? LOL!
    Did Terry, pals and parents plan your “popping out to new house before the move” do you think? Heh!

    August 12, 2013
  • So envious! I can’t wait to get to a point in my life where I can commit to a house!

    August 12, 2013
  • What a pretty home, loving the view and those nice rooms and the flooring! glad to hear that the moving was smooth and everything went right. I totally understand your urge to “say goodbye” to your old house, even if you had come to hate it so much! I moved last year and went back and fort so many times I don’t even remember how many, and when the time has come to finally say goodbye.. I was still going back and fort CLEANING the old and the new home, and I feel like that week was going on like forever, I felt like Cinderella. Awwwwwesome, non? And then the unpacking time has come…
    (a year after, I am *still* unpacking, actually….)

    August 12, 2013
  • congratulations!
    we’ve moved to another appartment a couple of month ago. still have several weeks of cleaning repairing painting ahead of us… kitchen was covered with grease from top to bottom but nothing that 3 full days of work and 2 bottles of a really eco-unfriendly grease cleaner couldn’t solve…
    and it has a view too: amazingly picturesque industrial area accentuated by posh appartment buildings being built in the distance! kindergarden accross the road, warehouse alarms going off every once in a while…
    so…for some reason i’m feeling a bit down now.
    a tiny bit. 😉
    oh, almost forgot the best part: an upstairs neighbour already REALLY hates our dog…

    August 12, 2013
  • Well done! It looks wonderful. I hope the next bits are just as easy.

    August 12, 2013
  • Myra

    REPLY

    Good decision xx

    August 12, 2013
  • Brilliant!!! I love how everything worked out for you! And the house! {GAK!} What beautiful bones…the finishing carpentry, flooring, doors, rads, neutral paint…heavenly.

    The view deserves it’s own paragraph! Yawn…kidding! I noticed it in your third pic. Stunning! Cliche I know, but those of us in the new country think of this when we think of Scotland. Lucky You!

    August 12, 2013
  • It looks just beautiful! Having been in this kind of situation before, I know all about leaving the old house behind (it was hard for me, so many memories), but glad it worked out the way it did for you, definitely for the better! A big congratulations once again! I love the Rubin pics that you have been posting on Instagram also. 🙂

    August 12, 2013
  • Wow! Congrats on the move. Glad it all came through in the end. It looks absolutely beautiful – worth all the problems!
    C
    x

    August 12, 2013
  • Ahhhhh! I see what all the fuss was about! Lovely! Hope you three are very happy there. x

    August 12, 2013
  • I totally get sentimental when moving house. The last time I put the code in the intercom, the last time I shower in there and so on. I can’t even start to think about when I have to move from my current rented place, since I’ve gathered quite a few things in the past 3 years…

    Anyway, the new house looks great, can’t wait to see how you customize it 🙂

    August 12, 2013
  • How fantastic- that view is amazing and the bedroom is gorgeous! I felt disproportionately sad reading about your goodbye-that-never-was. I think I must’ve been confusing “house” with “grandparent”. Well done getting the wallpaper down already- that’s impressively fast work! xx

    August 12, 2013
  • The same thing happened to me when we moved house last year! I went to take a carload of stuff to the new house, then was ready to come back and do some more when Kendall told me to just stay there! Kind of made the transition easier, in a way. Your new place looks fab (so far), can’t wait to see more of it!

    August 12, 2013
  • Wow, I can’t wait to see how you decorate your new house.
    I don’t know how I would have handled that either. I’ve never really live anywhere as long as you’d lived at your old house and I always have a tiny “OMG this isn’t mine anymore” moment whenever I move.

    Mana
    Fashion and Happy Things

    August 13, 2013
  • I moved a couple of weeks ago and know the heartbreak of saying goodbye to a home you have loved and have so many memories attached to. I think it is great that the last memory of your home is as it was and not an empty shell. Good luck with your new adventure!

    August 13, 2013
  • Congratualtions again. I’m glad everything went so smoothly.
    Your house looks really pretty. I love the floors! I can’t wait to see pictures of the place when it’s all furnished and decorated. But I’m confident that you’ll flood us with them anyway. 😉
    So all the best and I’m looking forward to your next posts.

    August 13, 2013
  • Your new house looks amazing! I’d love to see more photos of it once you’re settled in. Your bedroom looks so big and it has plenty of light, which is always nice!
    I’m glad your move went well, and that you didn’t have to go through the emotional goodbye of your old house.

    August 13, 2013
  • Congratulations! I’m glad that it worked out where you didn’t have to go through the whole saying goodbye, because it’s hard to do. Even when you’re ready to say goodbye, and know that it’s just a house you’re saying it to.
    I love (and am jealous) of your floors! That’s what I want(ed) in my new place, and while I did find a place that has hardwood floors, they’re the weird orange-y wood. And I can’t replace them without replace all the trim and windowsills in the entire place. Someday… if I’m rich and/or stupid ambitious, they’re getting replaced.

    August 13, 2013
  • It’s so beautiful – that view is amazing. Congratulations on the move – you got there in the end! We’re trying to buy our first house right now; it’s chain free and it’s stressful enough! Just try to enjoy your new home now 🙂

    August 16, 2013
  • Congrats on the new house! It’s so pretty, I’m so happy for the 3 of you! (:

    August 18, 2013
  • What a beautiful new home, and a stunning view. Wishing you lots of luck and happiness in your new home. Xx

    August 19, 2013
  • Elli

    REPLY

    your new house is lovely, having 2 bathrooms is great, it would be impossible here in Paris ! also i’m surpised how fast all this went. In France, when you sign to buy a house, you get the keys only three months later

    August 22, 2013
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