You’ve had your building survey, completed and moved in, but what’s next? Your survey report may recommend works that you need to do fairly urgently to fix issues with the property, but the aesthetic side of making your house your home also needs consideration.
Taking someone else’s home and turning it into your own is a personal experience. It varies from person to person, depending on the status of the house and their ambitions for it.
But some things are the same for almost everyone. That’s why our five tips focus on the things most houses share — a lounge, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and garden.
We’ve given you actionable advice and included links to helpful resources. All you need to do is read our tips, put them into practice and you’ll soon make your new house a home.
Tip 1: how to make your new lounge more homely
Your lounge is your comfy area. It’s the part of your home where you and your family kick back or treat guests to light entertainment. To make your new house a home you need your lounge to be set up as the perfect comfy area.
Relaxation is incredibly important. It increases the flow of blood in your body. This boosts your energy levels and soothes your mind.
Setting your lounge up as a relaxation station is about making sure the things that you need are readily available. This means picking the right sofa, getting the perfect entertainment features and painting the room in soothing colours.
We don’t have residence inside your head, so can’t advise on the best furniture and features for you. What we can do is give you some advice on the colours you can pick for a relaxing environment. Green is our personal pick. It’s a diverse colour that can be restful, soothing and even energetic if it has a yellow tinge.
Tip 2: how to make your new kitchen more homely
Your kitchen is a multi-faceted room. It’s where you kick yourself into gear during breakfast, boost your energy levels at lunch and socialise over dinner. To make your house a home, you need a kitchen that serves all these purposes.
The dining table is what knits together all the facets of your kitchen. It’s the place where you share all the important moments in your kitchen and the big choice you need to make is over its shape. Specifically, whether you go for a rectangular, round table or oval table.
Rectangular tables are perfect if you want the option to entertain plenty of guests. Round tables are ideal if you want intimacy with a tight-knit bunch. Oval tables are superb if you want a little bit of the best you get from a rectangular and round table.
Think about what you want from your kitchen table, then invest in one that offers the right dining experience for you.
Tip 3: how to make your new bedrooms more homely
Your bedroom is where you recharge. It should be a nice, quiet place. For your new house to be a home, you need a bedroom that’s as restful as possible.
You start off without having anything in your bedroom, meaning there aren’t any electronic devices in there. This is a starting point you might consider keeping, as electronic devices make it harder for you to sleep.
We both know that the darker the room, the easier it is to sleep. But what you might not know is how important temperature is to your sleep. This is why we’re going to give you a little advice on how to set the temperature for a restful bedroom experience.
Once you’ve been in your house for a while, you might be in a position where you want to make some structural engineering changes, ones that make it your own and boost its value.
A loft conversion is one of the best structural changes you can make. You can convert a previously derelict space into a brand new bedroom, giving yourself some more space and adding some welcome pounds onto the worth of your home.
Tip 4: how to make your new bathroom more homely
Your bathroom is your wash area. It’s where you recharge in the morning and refresh in the evening. It’s an important part of every home and a room you need to stamp your mark on to make your house your own.
Getting the plumbing basics right is the starting point for any bathroom. Warm water? Check. Working toilet? Check. A flushing toilet? Check. Good, then think about how to give yourself a more pleasant washing experience by investing in a bath.
While many bathrooms do have a tub, it’s not always the case that there’s a bath for you to soak yourself in. It’s easy to make cleaning the focus of your bathroom, but adding a bath to it introduces a relaxation element that you don’t quite get from a shower.
Baths help with physical ailments by relaxing your muscles. But they also help physiological issues. A study focusing on the benefits of baths found that people who take baths are less stressed, fatigued and depressed. Investing in a bath not only makes your house a home, but it also makes it your own personal wellness centre.
Give some real thought to getting a bath for your new home. Because your bathroom isn’t only about helping you stay clean, it’s also about helping you stay balanced.
Tip 5: how to make your new garden more homely
Your garden is your adventure area. It’s where your home meets nature and where you have a chance to control a living, breathing environment. If you want to make your house a home then you need to look beyond your four walls and try home gardening.
Gardens in new houses vary hugely. Some are well-maintained, while others are wild. Regardless of the condition you find yours in, chances are you’ll want to stamp your mark on your garden to really make it your own. The foundation to this is ensuring it’s healthy.
Getting your garden healthy begins with putting your soil in a good condition. Soil is the life support system for your garden, it feeds your flowers, bushes and trees. If your soil isn’t rich and full of nutrients then your plants won’t grow to their full potential — they may even die.
Like all living things, soil needs food to survive and it needs the right nourishment to thrive. Using an organic fertilizer for a natural ecosystem is what your soil needs to be your garden’s support system. It ensures an environment where your flowers, bushes and trees reach their potential. Fertilizing your soil and keeping it maintained gives your plants life.
Once you’ve got a thriving ecosystem then you can really begin to play with your adventure area. You can add your own flowers, bushes and trees. You could add new grass, or some garden ornaments. You might even build a treehouse. You can make your garden whatever you want it to be, safe in the knowledge that you’ve given it the life support system it needs to survive and thrive.
After addressing any urgent issues highlighted by your survey, making your new house a home will be a priority. By making tweaks to the lounge, kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom and garden, we think that you will soon have a place that feels truly yours.
We’ve covered all the key bases and given you actionable tips. All you have to do is decide which one you want to begin with and then get started.
This article was contributed by Laura May, Digital Editor at Just Another Magazine.
