Settle In: 12 Ways to Make a New House Feel Like a Home
We show you how to create a sense of home in that window between buying and a major renovation
Being an architect and being married to one is wonderful, but it’s turned our family into nomads. Every five to seven years we get an itch to move… we have an addiction to creating, renovating, and experiencing new places. But one thing that has always struck me as we embarked on a move is the sadness of leaving our home behind and the fear of not being able to create a homely feeling in a new-to-us property.
Over the years I’ve found ways to quickly get a lived-in feeling, bringing in some of the home we left behind without embarking on a full renovation. These are fast, affordable and immediate upgrades, just when you need them the most.
Over the years I’ve found ways to quickly get a lived-in feeling, bringing in some of the home we left behind without embarking on a full renovation. These are fast, affordable and immediate upgrades, just when you need them the most.
Carpet and rugs: Rugs are a great way to give your new home an instant sense of familiarity. If you have a rug that was special or particular to a space, place it in the same way and in the same room.
Expert Advice: How to Read Patterns and Symbols on a Floor Plan
Expert Advice: How to Read Patterns and Symbols on a Floor Plan
2. Paint
Front door: For years, the entry of your new home was the familiar face for the previous occupants and their visitors. Make it your own by changing the identity; you don’t have to paint the entire facade. Re-doing the front door with a colour that symbolises who you are will tell the world that you have arrived.
Front door: For years, the entry of your new home was the familiar face for the previous occupants and their visitors. Make it your own by changing the identity; you don’t have to paint the entire facade. Re-doing the front door with a colour that symbolises who you are will tell the world that you have arrived.
Interiors: Painting a house is such an easy and inexpensive way to transform your new home. It replaces the essence and interior taste of the previous owners and creates a new palette and backdrop for your furnishings.
3. Kitchen
Colour: So the kitchen is dated and you’re not quite ready to renovate? Painting all the cupboards and the walls in one colour not only makes the room feel larger, it transforms what was looking outdated into a bright new space.
Colour: So the kitchen is dated and you’re not quite ready to renovate? Painting all the cupboards and the walls in one colour not only makes the room feel larger, it transforms what was looking outdated into a bright new space.
Storage: If getting new appliances, adding extra cupboards or even a kitchen renovation are all long-term goals, how do you store those everyday items you need in the meantime?
Easy. Install open kitchen shelves. Not only do they solve your storage woes, they quickly personalise the space with a display of your favourite goods.
Best of the Week: 30 Superb Small Kitchens From Around the Globe
Easy. Install open kitchen shelves. Not only do they solve your storage woes, they quickly personalise the space with a display of your favourite goods.
Best of the Week: 30 Superb Small Kitchens From Around the Globe
4. Bathroom
Mirror: If it’s an old bathroom and the fixtures and fittings have seen better days, rip out what you can as long as it doesn’t require new plumbing. Rip out floor tiles and paint floorboards, remove the rusty shower screen and replace it with a shower rail and curtain. No mirror? Lean one up against the wall.
Tip: You can apply a special tile paint over ceramic tiles to create a new look with minimal hassle.
Mirror: If it’s an old bathroom and the fixtures and fittings have seen better days, rip out what you can as long as it doesn’t require new plumbing. Rip out floor tiles and paint floorboards, remove the rusty shower screen and replace it with a shower rail and curtain. No mirror? Lean one up against the wall.
Tip: You can apply a special tile paint over ceramic tiles to create a new look with minimal hassle.
Tiles: If the tiles in a bathroom are ancient or beyond repair, you may have no choice but to replace them. If that’s the case, simply choose some cheap ceramic wall tiles and lay them on every surface. You don’t have to tile right up to the ceiling. You can get away with about 300 millimetres above all wet areas such as a basin or where previous tiles were laid. If you’re handy you can do it yourself.
Tip: Ceramic tiles are the cheapest tile you can buy compared to natural stone and porcelain. Tilers charge a cheaper rate to lay them because they are easier to handle (they can cut the tile with a normal diamond-tipped blade as opposed to stone tiles, which require a mechanical diamond cutter that uses water to cool down the blade). Ceramic tiles are also consistent in size and shape as opposed to natural stone, so there is no variation and complications for the tiler when laying them.
Tip: Ceramic tiles are the cheapest tile you can buy compared to natural stone and porcelain. Tilers charge a cheaper rate to lay them because they are easier to handle (they can cut the tile with a normal diamond-tipped blade as opposed to stone tiles, which require a mechanical diamond cutter that uses water to cool down the blade). Ceramic tiles are also consistent in size and shape as opposed to natural stone, so there is no variation and complications for the tiler when laying them.
5. Bedroom
Bedrooms are easy to make your own. Painting the walls, replacing the carpet and adding some simple furnishings that you have brought with you will bring back that familiar feeling.
See more blissful bedrooms
Bedrooms are easy to make your own. Painting the walls, replacing the carpet and adding some simple furnishings that you have brought with you will bring back that familiar feeling.
See more blissful bedrooms
Tip: If you are trying to make the house as homely as possible and on a tight budget without a full-scale renovation. The key is to focus on smart, cost-effective styles. Choose soft, affordable carpet and ready-made blinds or curtains in standard sizes, which are cheaper than custom-made window furnishings and shutters.
6. A space to escape
I love finding and creating spaces where they didn’t exist before. The space beneath the stairs is underrated yet it can provide the perfect nook for many uses. If you had an escape spot in your old place and are having trouble finding that in your new house, this cosy reading corner will prove to be an attractive space for all the family.
Tip: Install a simple light fixture and upholstered daybed in your favourite fabric, some scatter cushions and a place to store stuff, and you’re in paradise.
I love finding and creating spaces where they didn’t exist before. The space beneath the stairs is underrated yet it can provide the perfect nook for many uses. If you had an escape spot in your old place and are having trouble finding that in your new house, this cosy reading corner will prove to be an attractive space for all the family.
Tip: Install a simple light fixture and upholstered daybed in your favourite fabric, some scatter cushions and a place to store stuff, and you’re in paradise.
7. Artwork
There is no greater way to make a house a home than to embellish the walls with the history of your family. A great place to do this is in the hallway. A contrasting wall colour to the picture frames will highlight the pictures on display.
There is no greater way to make a house a home than to embellish the walls with the history of your family. A great place to do this is in the hallway. A contrasting wall colour to the picture frames will highlight the pictures on display.
A kids’ art wall: Sometimes we forget that we are not only uprooting ourselves. Our children may also experience a sense of loss, and unfamiliarity in their new home. An art wall, where they can record their daily lives and hang school projects for all to see at breakfast time, is a great way for all the family to interact.
Tip: Blackboard paint is my choice for such a wall. It’s fast to apply and economical to buy.
Tip: Blackboard paint is my choice for such a wall. It’s fast to apply and economical to buy.
8. Storage
You can never ever have enough storage in your home. When I move into a home I quickly add storage by installing robe hooks behind bedroom and bathroom doors. I head to the nearest hardware store and buy simple chrome rods for hangers and I hang shelves made of material such as canvas so that we have instant robe space.
You can never ever have enough storage in your home. When I move into a home I quickly add storage by installing robe hooks behind bedroom and bathroom doors. I head to the nearest hardware store and buy simple chrome rods for hangers and I hang shelves made of material such as canvas so that we have instant robe space.
Robe storage: When moving into a new home, the most obvious lack of storage is often in the bedroom. With older homes, this can prove a major problem, as built-in robes were never considered a part of the overall design. One of my favourite design solutions is to steal space on either side of a bed as well as the space above it.
9. Lighting
If there is one item that has an immediate impact on the mood of a new space it’s the lighting. Replacing pendants for new light fittings and incorporating side lamps in your room will allow you to recreate the feeling of a familiar space… or a totally new one.
Shining the Light on Good Lighting Design
If there is one item that has an immediate impact on the mood of a new space it’s the lighting. Replacing pendants for new light fittings and incorporating side lamps in your room will allow you to recreate the feeling of a familiar space… or a totally new one.
Shining the Light on Good Lighting Design
10. Accessories
It’s the small things that make a space: the soft furnishings, the side lamps, your favourite artwork, that quirky side table and your cherished throw rug. Some beloved items are like family members and transplant from home to home with ease, creating an immediate sense of familiarity.
It’s the small things that make a space: the soft furnishings, the side lamps, your favourite artwork, that quirky side table and your cherished throw rug. Some beloved items are like family members and transplant from home to home with ease, creating an immediate sense of familiarity.
11. Garden
The garden of your new home usually reflects the character of its previous occupants. A quick way to make it your own is to choose a corner of the garden and create a herb and vegetable patch. There is something therapeutic about growing your own food.
The garden of your new home usually reflects the character of its previous occupants. A quick way to make it your own is to choose a corner of the garden and create a herb and vegetable patch. There is something therapeutic about growing your own food.
Planter boxes: Even in the smallest of gardens, raised planter boxes can quickly be constructed to produce an edible garden, and are easily dismantled once other, grand, plans come into play.
12. Garage
I’m sad to say that of all the homes I’ve lived in, I have never had my own garage. I’ve had a small shed, a row of cupboards, even a carport, but never a place to store my car. Whether you have a single or double garage, you want to house your storage on the perimeter of the room so that parking your car and accessing it are possible.
A combination of floor-to-ceiling cupboards, work benches and long-term overhead cupboards work wonders. Items that you want to access on a frequent basis should be at eye level and not located so high that you would need to drag out a step ladder every time you need to grab them.
I’m sad to say that of all the homes I’ve lived in, I have never had my own garage. I’ve had a small shed, a row of cupboards, even a carport, but never a place to store my car. Whether you have a single or double garage, you want to house your storage on the perimeter of the room so that parking your car and accessing it are possible.
A combination of floor-to-ceiling cupboards, work benches and long-term overhead cupboards work wonders. Items that you want to access on a frequent basis should be at eye level and not located so high that you would need to drag out a step ladder every time you need to grab them.
Your new home
It doesn’t take much to make a house a home, space is merely an empty space until it is filled with what is yours.
Tell us
Have you moved house and created a new home? Tell us in the Comments section below. And don’t forget to like or share this story and save your favourite photos. Join the conversation.
More
Find an architect near you
It doesn’t take much to make a house a home, space is merely an empty space until it is filled with what is yours.
Tell us
Have you moved house and created a new home? Tell us in the Comments section below. And don’t forget to like or share this story and save your favourite photos. Join the conversation.
More
Find an architect near you
Floorboards: When you walk into a new-to-you home, there is often an unfamiliar smell. It can be pleasant or downright awful, but one thing is for sure – it’s not your smell. Try ripping out all the old carpets and, if you’re lucky, you may find some floorboards. Rather than undertaking a complete sand and polish, apply a quick lime wash and start transforming the space so that it becomes your own.