There are few things more exciting, and occasionally stressful, than moving to a new home. There’s nothing quite like getting to make a brand new start somewhere different and creating a home for you and your family. Whether you’re moving across town or across the country, the change in environment and perspective that can come from a new home can have an incredibly positive impact on both you and your family’s life!
But there’s one thing that can often get in the way of that positive feeling, and that’s the moment where you stand in your new house, possibly surrounded by boxes, and it just doesn’t quite feel like home yet. Now, don’t worry, this is completely natural and is something everyone deals with when they first move to a new place. The one thing that you don’t want to do is let it colour your perception of the house as a whole or take away any of that excitement that you’ve been feeling. Instead, you should try to make it feel as much like a home as possible as quickly as you can.
Now, when you’re standing in a plain property, the floor covered with boxes, it can be difficult to know where to start but don’t worry! It’s actually far easier and faster than you might think to turn your house into the kind of place that you and your family will enjoy for years to come. Here are some of the best things that you can do to make your new house into a home sweet home.
Get the practical stuff out of the way first
Don’t think that you should jump straight into the decorating first in order to make the house feel personal. You’ll have plenty of time to do all of that, but there are a few things to get out of the way first. Nothing will make you feel less settled in your new home than being surrounded by boxes and flat-pack furniture. There are certain things that will be incredibly important for the practical running of your house on a daily basis. You need somewhere to cook, eat, sit and (perhaps most importantly) sleep. Getting these things out of the way as fast as you can is going to help you feel like your new home is somewhere you can live and relax in, rather than being a source of tension over all the unpacking that you haven’t done.
Don’t put things off
Once you’ve made the house into the kind of place where you can actually function it might be tempting to relax for a while and deal with the aesthetic stuff later when you get round to it. Don’t do this! The longer you put it off, the bigger a job it’s going to seem. Do everything you can to get every aspect of the house dealt with straight away. Rather than spending weeks, or even months, talking about how you’ll deal with this or that at some point, just do it and then you no longer have to worry about it. This might make for a pretty tiring first couple of weeks after you move in, but it’ll be worth it when you can actually sit down and feel like you’re in a finished home, rather than a house that you’ll get round to making your own eventually.
Get everyone involved
The biggest mistake that a lot of people make is that one person tries to take on everything themselves. If you and your family have moved somewhere new, then it should be everyone’s job to make the house feel as comfortable and pleasant as possible. Not only that, but it can actually be a really fun experience. The kids will love getting to arrange and decorate their room and discussing the layout of the house as a family is going to create a home that everyone can agree on and enjoy. Not only that but turning the decoration of the house into a family activity means that you won’t have to wait at all to start creating memories that you can all share and enjoy.
Make it different
There’s sometimes a temptation to try to layout your new home in a similar way to your old one, but that can sometimes just end up feeding into a misplaced nostalgia for the place you left behind. Instead, think about the house as a blank canvas for you and your family to create a new life on top of it. Don’t think that just because of certain pieces of furniture when in certain places before, that that’s the way it always has to be. This is your chance to experiment and think about new ways to arrange things that you might not otherwise have even thought of. By doing this, you’ll not only create a totally new home for yourselves, but you could also stumble upon some creative new ways to arrange the house to make it feel as comfortable and enjoyable to be in as possible.
Details
When you first move in, it’s easy to get wrapped up the broad strokes. Where to put the furniture, the colors of the walls, etc. But a lot of the time it’s the little things that really take somewhere from being just a house to being a bonafide home. Things like lighting can have a huge impact on the way your house feels. Figure out the kind of atmosphere you want to create in each room and work from there. You should also think about where you’re going to store or display the precious little memories and ornaments that many of us collect over the years. A lot of the time the things inside your house are closer to what really make it a home than anything else. By zeroing in on these little things, you’ll be able to bring a sense of control and familiarity which is so crucial when you first move to somewhere new and unfamiliar.
Some big changes
Sometimes, when you move into a new place, the act of turning into a real home for you and your family is going to come down to something a little more significant. This could be something like knocking down a wall between to rooms to make one large room or opening out the back of your home with a set of Origin Global’s bifold doors. The truth is that there really isn’t much of a limit to the kinds of exciting and creative things that you can do for your home. However, a lot of people put that kind of thing off because they don’t want to have to deal with the stress that this might create. And sure, that’s totally fair. However, getting the big stuff out of the way as early as possible means that you’ll have that much more time just to enjoy spending time in your home rather than constantly planning things to do to it in the future.
You’re always going to have some slightly weird feelings when you first move into a new place but the sooner you jump into just living your lives the better. By getting these kinds of things out of the way early, you can start to treat your house more like your family’s home as soon as possible. Before you know it, you’ll be unable to remember what it was like to live anywhere else and your new house becomes the perfect place that you and the people you love will be able to enjoy and call home for years to come.
Featured image credit: Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels
1
Really great advice! Moving can be so overwhelming, it is important to feel at home in your new space.