If you’re like most people then you would agree there’s a significant difference between walking into a “house” and walking into a “home”. Home is a lot less tangible and hard to define, but we can always sense a feeling of home when we enter someone’s house, yet sometimes this vital component can feel like it's missing altogether. This essence of home is imperative to feeling happy and harmonious in your property - and just like with most things, there’s a recipe to achieve it.
See, we all want to create a feeling of home, for ourselves and loved ones, yet just because we live in a nice house it doesn’t necessarily mean we will feel at home there. Our sense of home seems to transcends the value of the bricks and mortar that are associated with the property; and even goes beyond the aesthetic beauty or well considered interior design.
Indeed, you could transform your kitchen into the heart of your home by installing a beautiful designer kitchen with the most elegant waterfall taps from www.tapwarehouse.com, yet still be left without feeling the essence of “home”. The challenge is that home is ultimately a feeling, and whilst aspects of interior design and great gadgets can make you feel more at home - sometimes people put too much focus on external solutions to internal issues.
Different people have different ways to feel at home within their property, but one thing’s for sure, if you don’t feel at home in your living environment then you’re likely to feel drained, depleted, and it could even lead to depression.
Indeed, many studies have found that a tidy house leads to a tidy mind, whereas a person that lives in clutter tends to have a more cluttered mind. Therefore, if messiness can lead to depression then the feeling of not being at home within your environment is likely to have the same effect.
For some people, the feeling of home comes from having a dog run up to to them as they walk through the door, welcoming them home from work, as if they’ve just returned from the moon… whilst for others it’s as simple as having freshly cut flowers in the property.
Of course, aspects such as cosy soft furnishings, a wine rack stacked with nice bottles of wine for a special night in, warm lighting, candles and a pleasant scent from a diffuser or incense. These aspects are, however, merely triggers that associate you with the state of feeling at home. Again, home is a feeling and there are all sorts of ways you can positively create that feeling, yet there are also things you can neglect that lead to discomfort and a feeling of not being at home within your home - such as having piles of washing up left on the side. If you don’t take care of certain things behind the scenes then the feeling of home can seep out your house like heat through a draughty window.
Below are some ways to ensure a consistent feeling of “home” by taking care of the behind the scenes stuff, as in the less glamorous aspects of creating a happy home life beyond the cosy cushions and intelligent use of interior design.
1. STAY ON TOP OF THE BILLS
Keeping up with household bills can be stressful if money is tight, but you want your home to feel like a safe and secure sanctuary of stability - not wondering whether you’re going to come home to find the electric has been turned off, or worrying about receiving a final notice in terms of debt collection.
Keeping up with household bills can be stressful if money is tight, but you want your home to feel like a safe and secure sanctuary of stability - not wondering whether you’re going to come home to find the electric has been turned off, or worrying about receiving a final notice in terms of debt collection.
2. HOME MAINTENANCE
Whilst many people try their hand at DIY, this often ends in frustration and a lot of wasted time. Sometimes, it’s better to call in a professional company to take care of such matters with ease and efficiency, but whether you do it yourself or rely on a professional, home maintenance shouldn’t be something you overlook, as your home is your castle, and the last thing you want is for the castle to come crumbling down.
Whilst many people try their hand at DIY, this often ends in frustration and a lot of wasted time. Sometimes, it’s better to call in a professional company to take care of such matters with ease and efficiency, but whether you do it yourself or rely on a professional, home maintenance shouldn’t be something you overlook, as your home is your castle, and the last thing you want is for the castle to come crumbling down.
3. GARDEN MAINTENANCE
If you come home to an overgrown garden and paint peeling off the fences you will subconsciously notice this each day and will niggle away at you. On the other hand, a garden that feels “well kept” creates a feeling of calm and serenity.
If you come home to an overgrown garden and paint peeling off the fences you will subconsciously notice this each day and will niggle away at you. On the other hand, a garden that feels “well kept” creates a feeling of calm and serenity.
This is very much aligned with the psychological phenomenon of having a tidy house tidy mind, and this certainly extends to other aspects such as our gardens and cars.
4. NEIGHBOURS
You don’t need to become best friends with your neighbours, particularly if you don’t get on, but it’s important to endeavour to keep things polite and friendly. In doing so you’ll create a greater sense of warmth and community which will help create the feeling of “home”.
This is particularly pertinent as the alternative to getting on with your neighbours, is essentially to go to war, and we all hear horror stories of people arguing about trees and fences - and it’s these arguments that take away from the essence of home, as people want to feel peace and tranquility in their home, and this can certainly be detracted from, should there be ongoing arguments with your neighbours.
5. CLEAN & TIDY
Keeping your home clean and tidy is vitally important; an untidy home can quickly snowball out of control to the point it can become hard to know where to begin. The mantra you want to employ here is to clean little and often, though cleaning doesn’t tend to be the biggest issue, the largest challenge seems to be more in keeping things tidy and organised.
This way, you can start to enjoy your home, for instance you wouldn’t benefit much from having a de-stressing bath with a lovely bath bomb from www.lush.com when surrounded by clutter, or if the bath is dirty. Keeping your home clean and tidy will help you feel much more serene and able to squeeze the most out of your home.
How do you make your house feel like more of a home?
Liz x
*This is a collaborative post
*This is a collaborative post
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