Caught Between Two Homes: Where Do Your Belongings Go?
Published: 23 September 2026 • 5 min readWhen the date you leave your old home and the date you can move into the new one don't line up, the most predictable solution for your belongings is a storage unit rented by the month. Your things are picked up from the old home, wait in storage and are delivered straight to the new home once it's ready. A relative's house or a room in the new home works for a few boxes, but when it's an entire household and the waiting time is uncertain, storage is easier on both your belongings and you.
The most common hiccup in a move is dates slipping. You've sold your home and the buyer is in a hurry, but the title deed for the home you're buying just won't come through. Your lease ends at the end of the month, but the new home's kitchen is still torn out. Or you're moving into an apartment still under construction, and the developer has pushed back the handover yet again. People manage somehow: a few weeks at mom's, a few weeks in a short-term rental. The real question is what happens to the living room set, the fridge and thirty boxes in the meantime.
What Are Your Options Between Two Homes?
The first thing that comes to mind is a family member's or friend's place. For a few boxes, it's genuinely a good solution. When it's an entire household, though, it's a burden on the host, and the belongings usually end up squeezed into unprotected corners like a garage, basement or balcony. Three months is plenty of time for a sofa to suffer in a damp basement.
The second option is a room in the new home. If the new home is being renovated, it's tempting to pile everything in one room and shut the door. In practice, paint, sanding and demolition dust gets in through the gap under the door, the contractors end up having to go into the room, and the renovation slows down. We cover this separately in our article on where to store your belongings during a renovation.
Some moving companies offer to keep your belongings in the truck for a few days. That may work for a day or two, but a truck isn't designed for long waits. If the wait will stretch beyond a few weeks, or isn't known from the start, storage is the option left.
How Should You Estimate the Waiting Time?
Realistically, not optimistically. Title deed appointments, mortgage approvals, renovations and construction handovers in Türkiye almost always take longer than planned. We often see people move into homes two months later than the "you'll be in within two weeks" they were promised.
Storage is rented by the month; the minimum term is 1 month, and you can extend it for as long as you need. That means you don't have to commit to a long period up front. It also means there's no need to panic if the new home's date slips. We explain how monthly rental works in detail in our article on monthly storage rentals.
What Goes into Storage and What Stays with You?
Make this decision based on where you'll be staying during the transition. If you'll be in your mother's guest room, what you take with you shouldn't be more than a suitcase. If you've rented a short-term furnished apartment, you have a bit more flexibility.
What needs to stay with you is usually the same: clothes (for two seasons if the transition will span a change of season), medications, ID, important documents like title deeds and contracts, your laptop and chargers, the kids' school supplies and valuable jewelry. Furniture, home appliances, kitchenware, books, decor and anything you won't need during this period can go into storage.
There's a third group too: things you'll get rid of. Setting aside items that won't fit in the new home, or that you haven't used in years, before they go into storage cuts both volume and cost. If the new home is smaller, our guide on dealing with extra stuff when moving to a smaller home will help you make that call.
Why Does the First-Week Box Matter?
You won't be unpacking thirty boxes on your first evening in the new home. But you will want to make tea, take a shower and sleep in a clean bed. Put the things you'll need in the first few days in a separate box: a kettle and a few cups, a few plates and some cutlery, a set of bedding, towels, basic cleaning supplies, a small toolkit and a spare light bulb. Mark it in big letters. Make it the first box delivered when your belongings leave storage.
Why Pack Carefully Even for a Short Time?
Because belongings packed carelessly on the assumption that "it's only a few weeks" cause problems when the wait drags on. When a wait that started as two weeks turns into three months, the open boxes have filled with dust and the edges of plates wrapped in newspaper have cracked.
Disassemble furniture and protect its surfaces. Wrap fragile items one by one. Drain your appliances and dry them out inside; a damp washing machine left with its door shut starts to smell within a few weeks. Number your boxes and keep a contents list; when you need to retrieve a specific box from storage, that list is a lifesaver. For packing details, see our article on how to pack your belongings.
What If You Need Something in the Meantime?
If the transition will stretch over several months, you may need to grab something from storage now and then: winter coats when the season changes, a forgotten folder of documents, your child's bike. If that's likely, choose a private room you can access during business hours. If you won't touch your belongings at all until the new home is ready, container storage is more affordable. Access to containers is limited and by appointment.
One Team, Two Moves
In a move with storage in between, your belongings change places twice: from the old home to storage, and from storage to the new home. You can use different companies for these two steps, but when a box turns up broken, nobody knows which move it broke in, and responsibility gets lost in between.
At Troy Depo, we pick up your belongings from your old home, pack them, store them in one of our partner warehouses and deliver them to your new home in the same order once it's ready. Your things leave in the same boxes they came in. You can find the full service on our household goods storage page, and how door-to-door pickup works in our article on storage with door-to-door pickup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I store my belongings for just a few weeks?
Storage is rented by the month, and the minimum term is 1 month. Even if you only need it for a few weeks, you rent for 1 month; if the wait gets longer, you can extend the contract.
What should I do if the new home's handover date isn't certain?
Rent storage by the month and extend it for as long as you need. When the new home is ready, just give us a date; your belongings are collected from storage and moved to your new address.
Do you also handle the move from storage to the new home?
Yes. We can move your belongings from the old home to storage and from storage to the new home as part of the same service. If you like, we can also assemble your furniture in the new home.
Does it make sense to keep belongings in one room of a new home that's being renovated?
It's possible for a short, light renovation. With painting, sanding and demolition work, however, dust and knocks will damage your belongings. If the renovation will last longer than a few weeks, keeping your belongings in storage is safer.
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