How to Make Your New Place Feel Like Home

Home is where the heart is – whether it’s a lavish mansion or a small cottage, an old family house or a modern studio apartment. It is your cherished memories, daily experiences, heartfelt dreams, and favorite items that bring comfort, coziness, and warmth to the place and turn a residence into a home.

So, when you move into a new house or apartment – however great it may be – you won’t really feel at home, at least not right from the start.

It will be your furniture and household items in the rooms, yet the place won’t feel like yours. You won’t have any memories or emotional experiences associated with your new surroundings, any favorite spots or personal havens within the new house or apartment – your heart won’t be there (especially if you have moved alone and your loved ones aren’t there either).

Nothing will feel right – or comfy or cozy or lovely – and that sense of newness and not belonging may persist for weeks and even months after the move (or it may never completely disappear).

What can you do to really get settled then? How to make your new house feel like home? How to make an apartment cozy or a rental feel like yours?

To find the answers to these questions, you need to solve another mystery first – what makes a house a home?

Think about what makes you feel safe, relaxed, and comfortable; what gives you reassurance and joy; what brightens your mood and brings warmth to your heart. Then, look for a way to incorporate all those things into your new place (and don’t forget to give it some personality and character too).

Take a look below for some ideas on how to make a home feel homey:

How to Make a House a Home – Before the Move

It may be hard to believe but the process of making a new house feel like home begins before the actual relocation takes place.

Step 1. Find the Right New Home for You

The first thing you need to do in order to be able to feel at home in your new house or apartment after the move is to make sure that you’re moving to the right place.

This will be easier if you don’t need to worry about financial issues and can afford the house you like best – one that will be easy to turn into your dream home. But even if that’s not the case, in most cases it is still possible to find a place that suits your lifestyle, personal preferences, and available budget – you just need to define your priorities and do more careful research.

When choosing a new home, make sure:

• Its location is right for you – in terms of safety, type of neighborhood, proximity to your workplace, your children’s school, and other key places in the city, available local amenities and entertainment options, etc.;
• It’s the right size and type of residence for your needs – if you’re moving alone, a studio apartment may do, but if you have three or four kids and a couple of pets, you’re going to need a four-bedroom house with a spacious yard and plenty of storage space;
• It’s well-maintained and in good overall condition;
• Its monthly rent or mortgage does not exceed 25-30% of your disposable income;
• The terms and conditions of your lease agreement meet your needs and wishes (if moving into a rental property).

Step 2. Make Sure Your New Home Is Ready for Moving In

Once you’ve found the right new home for you, inspect it carefully and arrange for any necessary (or desired) repair and renovation works to be completed before move-in day.

Even if the place doesn’t need any repairs, at least consider repainting the walls – this will not only freshen up the rooms, but will also allow you to “set the tone” in your new home. Choose a color scheme that will bring warmth and cheer to the house and will help you relax – a soft palette of biscuit and stone in the living room, romantic hues in the bedroom, bright colors in the kitchen, etc. – whatever works for you and reflects your aesthetic taste, so that the new place feels truly yours.

Keep in mind though that you can’t feel at home in your new house or apartment without the utilities running – you will want to have electricity, gas, and water in your new place from day one.

So, make sure you contact your current and future service providers and transfer utilities in a timely manner – it’s recommendable to have the utilities in your old home disconnected the day after you move out and the ones in your new residence turned on the day before you move in.

Internet, cable TV, and other not-so-important services should be connected a couple of days after the relocation, when most of the moving chaos will already be brought to order but you won’t have fully arranged and cleaned your new home yet.

Good to remember: It’s a good idea to have the place professionally cleaned after the repair works are over and before your items have arrived. Of course, if you have the time and if you’re up to the task, you can clean your new house or apartment yourself.

Step 3. Make a Floor Plan of Your New Place

Now that you know what your new place looks like, you can easily envision your life there and design the perfect environment for you – all you need are some measuring tools and a bit of imagination.

You can use a piece of graph paper, a specialized online tool, or a mobile app to make a floor plan of your new house or apartment and try out several different designs until you come up with a style that is both practical and beautiful – and looks like home to you.

Regardless of the type and size of your future home, you can arrange it in a way that reflects your personality, provides comfort, and has the delightful vibe you’ve always associated with “home”:

• If you loved your previous home, try to recreate a similar style in your new residence – arrange your furniture in the same way as they were before the move, display the same decorations, find a corresponding place for each and every item, etc. Seeing your belongings at their appropriate places will bring you comfort and peace of mind and you’ll be able to truly feel at home right from the start;
• If you didn’t like your old surroundings very much, make things completely different – change the placement of your larger household items, adopt a new decorating style, use a different color scheme, etc. Just grasp the opportunity to start afresh and create the “sweet home” you never really had before;
• If you’ve always wanted to experiment and try new things, unleash your creativity and implement whatever modernistic ideas you’d like to see and/or experience in your new home design, so that your new residence becomes an artistic refuge where you’ll be able to truly feel yourself;
• If you have a very clear image of your dream home in your head, just make your new place look as much like it as possible.

All these preparations will help make your new house a home sooner rather than later.

How to Make a House a Home – Unpacking and Setting Up the New Place

So, the Big day has come and you’re finally at your new place, surrounded by piles of boxes and dismantled furniture. It does not look or feel like a home at all, so you need to get down to work right away:

Set up the furniture

Have your larger furniture placed exactly where you designed them to be. Reassemble any pieces that were disassembled for the move and be sure to set up the bed(s) well before sleep time.

Knowing that you’ll be able to have a good night’s rest, no matter what, will give you peace of mind. Besides, spending the first night in your new house or apartment in the familiar comfort of your beloved bed will definitely help the “home feeling”.

Connect kitchen appliances and major electronic devices

They will not only provide convenience and entertainment but will also make the place feel “normal” – you’ll be able to make yourself a toast and watch your favorite show in the morning – just like at home.

The sooner you can resume your daily routine, the sooner your new place will start to feel like home.

Unpack the bathroom, the bedroom(s), and the kitchen

Set up these essential rooms as soon as possible, so you can have a normal life in your new home right from the start. Resuming a sense of normalcy is the first step to feeling at home in a new place.

See also: Room-by-room unpacking checklist

You won’t be able to unpack everything in one day, so you’ll have to prioritize your items and take out the essentials first.

Once you’ve tackled the basics (this needs to happen on days 1 and 2 after the move, no matter how exhausted you may feel after the taxing relocation process), you can continue unpacking at your own pace until every single item has found its rightful place and your new house or apartment stops looking like a warehouse full of boxes and turns into a real home.

This will probably take a while, though, so you can use some tricks to make the place feel more like home in the meantime:

• Unpack larger items first and position them exactly where you want them to be before you start unpacking smaller things. This will save you time and effort (you’ll be able to put the smaller items directly in their places) and will make it easier to achieve the perfect home interior configuration sketched by your imagination;
• If you have small children or a baby, unpack the kids’ bedrooms and/or the nursery first, so that your little ones have a safe, comfortable place to stay while you’re unpacking the rest of the house. (Make sure you arrange the kids’ rooms the same way they were before the move to give the little ones a sense of familiarity and comfort.) When all their items are in place, your children will get a sense of security, will be able to resume their typical daily routine, will overcome the moving stress more easily, and will feel more at home in the new place (and so will you as the new house fills with your kids’ laughter);
• Focus on the room that you spend the most time in first – be it the bedroom, the living room, or the kitchen – and unpack it fully before you proceed to the other rooms. When the place that you spend most of your time in is fully functional and appropriately decorated, you will be more at ease and will feel like you have a personal haven amidst the post-relocation chaos;

• Set up what’s most important to you first. Whether it’s the clothing closet, or the kitchen cabinets, or the bookcases that you can’t bear to see in a mess, organize that particular “zone” first. It will give you peace of mind to know that the things you care about the most (or just can’t do a day without) are in their rightful places and you can easily find what you need;
• Get rid of packing materials after every unpacking mini-task is complete to prevent cardboard boxes, packing paper, and bubble wrap from cluttering your new home;
• Clean as you go. Even if the place was thoroughly cleaned before you moved in, hauling furniture around and unpacking moving boxes will create a lot of dust and trash, so you need to vacuum, mop, and dust at regular intervals during the unpacking process to keep your new house or apartment clean and tidy and home-like;
• Keep all unpacked moving boxes in one room, so that the rest of the house looks like a normal living place, not a storage space;
• Take time to relax and enjoy the results of your hard work after every completed unpacking task – make yourself a cup of fresh coffee in the kitchen after you’ve finished unpacking your plates and glasses, watch a movie in your newly unpacked living room the night after you’ve set up the home theater, play a board game with your kids after unpacking and arranging their things, etc. The more time you spend in a room doing something you like, the more you’re going to like the room and the more at home you’re going to feel there.

See also: Things to do after moving into a new house

How to Make a House a Home – The Finishing Touches

What makes a place a home? The smell of a home-made meal? The warmth of a fire crackling in the hearth? The softness of a fluffy blanket? The cozy glow of a night lamp? All this and so much more… Making a new place feel like home is not a one-day project – it’s a slow process that starts with some standard essentials and progresses through ever more specific details until it reaches the “finish line” and the new residence becomes your sweet home.

Here are the most essential things to do to make a house a home:

• Stock up on foods, hygiene products, cleaning supplies, and other necessities – it will be difficult to feel at home if the fridge is empty or if there’s no detergent to do the laundry, right?
• Hang up colorful curtains, lay artistic area rugs, place lots of pillows and throws out on the furniture – add texture and character to the space, so that it feels like a personal space, not like a showroom in a furniture store or a model house in a magazine;
• Hang art on the walls – not only will you take great pleasure from looking at something you consider to be beautiful, but the pictures and paintings will add visual interest and personality to the space;

• Add plants to the home – introducing greenery to the space fosters a sense of cheer and makes the atmosphere lively and welcoming. So, bring some large indoor plants in the living room, arrange herb pots by the kitchen window, place several planters on the porch (or the balcony), put fresh flowers in vases throughout the house, etc.;
• Provide adequate lighting – A delicate, soft glow will make any space cozier and more homey, so make sure the main lighting fixtures in your new place emit warm shades of white or yellow to help you relax and unwind after a long, stressful day. Then, get creative and introduce some charming night lamps in the bedrooms, colorful string lights in the kids’ rooms, crystal chandeliers in the dining room, magic lanterns in the yard, etc. Proper lighting can chase any shadows from your home and your mind;
• Cook a meal in your new kitchen – Opt for a simple recipe that you love – one that will not take a long time or a lot of effort to prepare, but will bring familiarity and comfort. Cooking in the kitchen will instantly make it feel yours, the delicious scent will make the new house smell like home, and the hearty meal will make you feel at home. Simple as that.

Even these proven ways to make a house a home may not be enough though. To really feel at home, you’ll most likely need to go a step further and bring your own spirit to the new place.

So, how to make a cozy home? A home that is truly, and uniquely, yours?

• Hang your favorite photos and pictures on the walls – family photos, photos with friends, photos of important events (and fun events) in your life, pictures of your hometown, pictures you took during your travels, etc. Seeing the familiar faces of your loved ones and the familiar places of your past will bring you comfort and will fill the new house with cherished memories and love;
• Put souvenirs, keepsakes, and mementos in visible places to remind you of happy times and beloved people;
• Display your most treasured pieces of art, decorations, collectibles, and other cherished possessions to make your new house a reflection of your personality;
• Surround yourself with your favorite items – put your favorite bed cover on the bed and your favorite throw blanket on the couch, use your favorite table cloth and your preferred dining set, arrange your favorite books on the shelf, buy your favorite flowers, play your favorite music, etc. It will be easy to love the place when you see beloved things everywhere around you;
• Incorporate special items into your new place – the music box from your childhood bedroom, the grandfather clock from your parents’ house, the colorful quilt your grandmother made for you, etc. Such items hold a sense of warmth and home, so having them around will instantly make the new place feel like yours;

• Find a suitable place for your hobby materials and set the right  atmosphere that will allow you to enjoy your favorite pastime in your new house –make sure there is enough light, enough space, enough quiet, or whatever you need to be able to practice your preferred hobby activity;
• Fill the place with your favorite fragrance – be it the gentle aroma of fresh flowers, the smell of freshly baked cookies, or the scent of lavender candles.
• Last but not least – invite people over and have a fun housewarming party! Sharing your new home with family and friends will give you a sense of pride and love for the new place and inviting your new neighbors and colleagues to the party will give you a chance to get to know them and possibly – make friends. A house truly feels like a home when it’s full of laughter, when you can make new memories there, or start new relationships among its walls.

The more time you spend in your new house or apartment, the more memories you make in it, the more things you have around you that make you feel happy, the more you will think of your new place as home. Yet, make sure you don’t lock yourself up in your fortress, even when your new home does become a safe haven and a personal sanctuary for you – go out instead, explore your new city, grasp new opportunities, make new friends, experience new things, adapt to your new environment, and have a happy new life in your new surroundings!