News Edition
Buying a house is an arduous process and moving even more so. There are a million things to think about and even more to do, so by the time you finally get into your new house and are surrounded by boxes, you may feel like this is a never ending process and start to wonder if it’s even worth it. This new place you’re in doesn’t even really feel like yours yet.
That’s not an uncommon thing to feel–especially when you’re moving into a custom home that’s never been lived in before. Thankfully, there are a variety of things you can do to expedite making your house feel like your new home.
Start With the Bedroom
The last thing you want after a long day of moving is to realize that you don’t have any place to sleep. Set up your bedroom first. Put all your things away and clear all the boxes out of that room, so you’ll have some place that is already done. This way, you’ll have somewhere to escape from the mess of unpacking when everything gets overwhelming. It also helps you start to establish the home as yours early on, and the feeling will build as you keep setting up the rooms.
Fill It With Your Scent
Scent is arguably the most powerful sense we have and is often the one most overlooked. Think about how comforting the smell of your favorite food is and how disconcerting the smell of certain cleaning chemicals are. If the house you’re moving into has been vacant for some time or is newly built, it’s likely that the unfamiliar smells will affect how you feel in the home, at least subconsciously.
With each box you unpack, the home will start to smell like your home, but you can speed up this process. Light a candle or diffuse your favorite scent in high traffic areas in the home, so the place quickly starts smelling like yours and not just something you live in.
Take Your Time Unpacking
You might be tempted to unpack everything as quickly as possible in order to get the boxes out of the way. You’re not the only one to have felt that way while moving, but it’s important to take your time while unpacking. It will save you time in the long run. You don’t want to rush to fill up a bookshelf only to realize you hate the layout of the room and need to rearrange it all.
Take your time setting up your new home. Make sure you like how the furniture is arranged before you make it hard to move things around. If you get down to your last few boxes and realize that you don’t actually need what’s in them, they’re already nice and packed for you to take to a donation center. Additionally, by slowing down the unpacking process and setting achievable goals for each day, it’s less likely that you’ll be overwhelmed by everything you still have to do. Keeping stress out of your new house is another way to make it feel like a home.
Keep Your Decorations
When you move, you’re most likely excited about decorating your new space in the way that you’ve imagined. You may have already thrifted the perfect antique bookshelf or chosen the exact color scheme for your living room. While moving is the perfect time for change, you should consider keeping some familiar things as well. Having familiar pictures hung on the walls or keeping the same bedspread helps you subconsciously identify the house as your home.
Get Rid of the Moving Debris
As you finish unpacking in certain rooms, get the cardboard out of there as soon as possible. The discarded boxes and packing materials make your house feel like it’s still in progress. Once everything is out of there and you’re left with only the things you own, your house will truly start to feel like a home.
