It's a concept that is regularly mentioned on home improvement programmes, and when companies advertise their products, they will tell you that you need to buy from them if you want to create a homely feeling.
Yet surely a home is about more than the bricks and mortar walls around you. Surely it's about more than the items that your home accumulates.
I think the following are what truly makes a house a home.
#1: The people (and animals) that live with you
It's the sight of your children playing games in the garden. It's the sight of your partner curled up in front of the television and the dog on the sofa. It's the feeling of family when you're sat together with your mid-week roast. And it's the buzz of life that exists whenever you step through the front door. You know you're home when you see the people you love. You know you're home when you're then swept up in the everyday swirl of family life.
#2: The sounds you hear
#3: The memories
It's the marks on the walls measuring the growth of your children. It's the dinner table that hosted your family Christmas get-togethers. It's the photos on the walls that chart your family adventures. It's the house extensions that were added to welcome in the arrival of new family members. It's the cabinet filled with models and paintings your children produced at school. Within your home, there are memories at every turn. You think of people still here, and of people now gone. And you remember the faces and the voices of your loved ones through the passages of time. Memories; your home is flooded with them.
#4: The lived-in feel of your home
It's the dip in your sofa that you have sat in time after time. It's the dings and scratches in the woodwork that your children have played near. It's the hole in the garden where your dog hides his bones. It's the mess that, despite your best efforts, often appears. And it's the familiar smells of home cooking, unwashed children, your cosy bed sheets, and the other unique scents your home provides. This isn't a bricks and mortar house that has stood empty for an age. This is a lived-in home, and there is evidence to prove it!
#5: Your regular rituals
It's the Friday movie nights sat in front of the TV with the bowl of popcorn. It's the monthly games nights played with family and friends. It's the Sunday afternoon sleep after lunch and the Monday morning work routine. It's the time you go to bed and the time you wake for breakfast. It's the things that you do on a regular basis. They're the habits that are created within the life of your home. They're the traditions that form a part of each room. These are the things that offer you comfort, familiarity, and the feelings of being home.
What things do you feel make a house into a home?
*Collaborative post
No comments