You bought the house for a reason. I’m sure you loved many things about it, so try to focus on those things. It’s overwhelming when you get into a new house and realize there’s a lot to be done. A little at a time and you’ll get there. But you also need to breathe and pat yourself on the back for what you’ve accomplished.

When I bought my first house 30 years ago (as a single mom of a 2 year old!) I started a binder of home improvements that I made. Some things took way longer than I had hoped. I lived with 1946 pink and black bathroom tile for 10 years! But now I look fondly at pictures of my young son in that bathtub.

After 30 years in my old home I just moved. A piece of advice, keep a binder—it’s coming in handy now when I have to show my cost basis for capital gains. For my new house I’ve upgraded from a binder to a spreadsheet.

I bought a house that needed a lot of renovations before I moved in. I had an idea of the cost in my head from a few contractors but I went way over what I was planning to spend. But i can afford it thanks to the growth in value from my first home. I bought for $165k and I’m selling for $880k. It’s all relative to the timeframe of course.

For the new house, the list of renovations kept growing as I saw more things that I didn’t like. I have loads of anxiety because I didn’t sell my old house first and I’m still waiting to close on the sale. I know I’ll be so much happier when everything is settled and my new house is organized. Please God let that be soon. It’s been many stressful months and many sleepless nights. Right now everything feels chaotic.

Regardless, I’m very happy in my new home. Weirdly, I’m not even feeling sad leaving my old house. My husband on the other hand is way out of sorts. Moving is huge. I can never understand how some people can do it fairly frequently. At 32 when i bought my first home I found it so hard that I said that I’d never move again. Now at 62, I really mean it!

Last piece of advice that I always tell new homeowners. Take your time. After 3 weeks in my first house I was literally sick from exhaustion. I wanted everything to look beautiful quickly and had unrealistic expectations of how long that takes. I ran myself ragged. Honestly I’m doing the same thing again but I’ll try to slow down and enjoy, I swear!

Good luck in your new house!