5 Ways to Make a Place Instantly Feel Like Home

Finding ways to make a new place instantly feel like home is so important. Whether you have recently moved into a new house, or you find yourself in a temporary living situation, cultivating spaces and atmospheres can make you feel at home even if you aren’t quite there yet.

Don’t feel “at home” yet?

My husband and I just purchased our first house and have moved to a new town. It is quite a change of pace for us. We have “gone country” you could say. We lived in the Twin Cities for most of our adult lives, and when it came time to look for a house a small town, slower, country life seemed to fit our new hobbies and interests. In addition, we wanted our son to have more space to run and play as he grows.

When you move to a new place it usually can take a while before you feel like it’s really home. When you don’t feel at home, you feel uncomfortable, are wanting to to “get out” all the time, you don’t take care of your spaces like you should, and you have a constant unsettled feeling.

This is not exclusive to a physical mortgage. I found this to be the case in apartments, or when I have lived aboard for a sweet short 5 weeks. Or maybe you recently lost a loved one and the place doesn’t feel like home without them. Maybe your in a situation like this right now and you need your space to feel like home.

Here are a 5 ways to make a place instantly feel like home!

Buy some flowers and put them on a table or counter.

There is nothing that brings a little cheer, freshness, and life to space than some flowers. Whether you buy a bouquet for yourself at the store or make your own bouquet from wildflowers on the side of the road, unpack a vase and throw some flowers in it! They will make you smile every time you walk past them.

Hang up a favorite picture or decor item.

These gold mirrors have been with me for about 9 years! I have taken them with me every time I have moved and they automatically scream “Alyssa, you are home” whenever I see them. Find your favorite decor item or picture and hang it up! Don’t worry about it being in the perfect spot, just put it up so you can see it as you settle in. You can always move it later. The important thing is beginning to make these new walls yours.

Spend quality time in each room of your new place.

When I once lived in a friend’s condo, I had few spaces to call my own. However, I had a bedroom and bathroom to myself. After years of living with multiple other women, having my own bathroom felt like such a treat. I used to make my coffee and breakfast, take it into “my” bathroom, turn on some music and enjoy some time alone. Yes, in a bathroom. Sitting on the cold tile floor and leaning up against the shower door didn’t bother me at all because I was making space feel like my own.

Spending time in a peculiar part of a room, or spending a little time in each room of your place will give you a new perspective, and help you better appreciate each room. There is a scene in one of my favorite movies, You’ve Got Mail where she makes a pot of soup, pours it in a bowl, walks over to a random spot in her bedroom, and sits down. She is in a place of moving on in her life and you can gather from her facial expressions she is in a contemplative mindset (picture below). This scene has always stuck with me. Pick a random or peculiar spot in your place, sit down and enjoy it.

Maybe take a book and sit in the laundry room while you run a load of clothes. Or take a nap on a porch. Spend time in unusual spots in your home and you will feel more acquainted with it.

Share food with family or friends.

What makes a place feel like home is not just the decor or paint colors but people around your table. The table is such a central part of any home. Whether it’s a folded card table, an end table, or a dining room table you just purchased online, grab a friend, neighbor or family member and invite them over for some food. “There is something profoundly satisfying about sharing a meal together. Eating together, breaking bread together, is one of the oldest most fundamentally unifying of human experiences.” Quote by Barbra Coloroso.

Like hanging up a decor item, you don’t need to wait to have everything unpacked before you welcome people into your home, and share a meal together! This can be done in any fashion and will make you feel right at home!

Share a special moment with someone.

New places and spaces can take so long to feel like home because what truly makes you feel at home are the people around you and the memories made. “If these walls could talk…” A house, apartment or condo contains not just our belongings, but our lives, our goings on, our conversations, our relationships. What takes place in-between these beautiful spaces is what really makes a home. People and memories.

So don’t wait for memories to just happen, even though they will. Start making moments special, enjoy the people around you, make memories. Here are some ideas:

• Watch a new movie with others or by yourself. Then whenever you see that movie again or are reminded of that movie you will have a memory in your new home to recall.
• Have a good laugh.
• Have a good cry.
• Take some time to journal about the move, what is happening and what you are experiencing.
• Start exploring the new town you live in. Below is a picture I took of my husband the first week we moved to our new town. Exploring your new territory will help it feel like home.

All these things help to create moments and tie our memory to them. Give your walls something to say if they ever do talk.

Making a home is a process.

As a homemaker or space-maker, you are not trying to achieve a perfect still picture of what a picturesque home looks like. You are creating a living, active organism where humans grow up, and where a family is formed. This means a few things. First, you are never “done” making your home. And lastly, it will never be a Pinterest-perfect home. If that is your goal, you will be sorely disappointed by the happenings of life.

You may see curated photos on this blog or Instagram, but what you don’t see is what it looked like before that picture was taken. Pictures online are meant to inspire and help your creativity grow, not to make everyone a carbon copy of each other or create a false sense of reality.

Let me encourage you. Making a home is a process and it is always changing. That’s why when you move into a new space having little tips in your back pocket to make a place feel like home when you are just getting started can be helpful.

What are your favorite moving or new home traditions? Is there anything you do to make a new place feel like home right away?

I would love to hear from you all! Leave comments below! If you like what you are reading share this post with a friend!