• By myunclemike
• In Renovation

How to Settle Into Your New Home

You’re stung by feelings of loss when you think of the old place. You stumble into your kid’s bedroom looking for the bathroom in the middle of the night. You can’t find that spatula you’re looking for in the middle of cooking an omelette. These are all things that happen  after you’ve moved to a new house, which hasn’t quite become the home it soon will be.

Getting cozy doesn’t always come easy and may take weeks or even months if you don’t take an active effort into settling in. Here are some tips on speeding up that process so you can begin truly living again as a family.

Make Sure You’re Safe

Do this before you move in or you may not sleep well the first night wondering if your family is free from danger. For your peace of mind, your should install a security system that will help to prevent intruders from breaking in, along with an outdoor lighting system. Also, locate the main valve for shutting of the water and test the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Once, that’s done, you’ll be able to breathe easy.

Tackle Basic Maintenance

Before you’ve begun arranging your books and family photos, scan the house for any repairs that need to be finished. After all, you don’t want your sofa covered in sawdust when your first guests arrive for dinner. Good Housekeeping provides a list of things you should look out for, which include moisture stains, filthy heating and cooling filters, and peeling paint. Now is also the time to be on the lookout for evidence of mold, which – if left untreated – can create big health issues for your family. If mold is already an issue in your home, take action now. Air purifiers built to aid in mold spore removal are a great place to start, followed by professional cleaning if necessary.

Unpack the Organized Way

What you don’t want is unlabeled boxes strewn everywhere without a clue of what’s inside. Avoiding that means packing and unpacking according to a system that lets you know what goes where as soon as you arrive. You’ll need the essentials like toilet paper and toothpaste, which should be in a separate bag or box from the rest of your belongings. You’ll find the rest in color-coded boxes, each corresponding to a room in the new house.

Decorate in Your Style

Choose an overarching theme before you begin, suggests home design site Freshome. In addition, you should use the same one for the interior as the exterior. Once that’s completed, make a plan room by room to avoid getting overwhelmed thinking about the entire house, and start each one with the biggest piece, whether it’s a piano, a table or bed, then layer each room over time.

Lay Into Landscaping

This is where your children will play, and you’ll hold summer barbecues, which is reason enough to do it up right. Start by getting rid of any eyesores such as dead or rotting branches, and have a close look at the flower beds to see whether they’re healthy. Before going further, step back and have a look at the entire yard for overall composition. Before adding anything, remember that it should frame the house rather than overcrowd it.

Meet the Neighbors

And the best way to do that would be a housewarming party. Choosing a theme such as “Stock the Bar,” which would help you do precisely that and guarantee enough drinks for all the guests. Stick with finger food, set the mood with music and give a tour of the home before playing some fun party games that’ll help everyone get to know each other.

As the days and weeks pass, you’re old home will fade further and further into the recesses of your memory while you discover new things to love about your home and the area where you live. Enjoy it!

Author

Suzie Wilson is an interior designer with more than 20 years experience. What started as a hobby (and often, a favor to friends) turned into a passion for creating soothing spaces in homes of every size and style. While her goal always includes making homes look beautiful, her true focus is on fashioning them into serene, stress-free environments that inspire tranquility in all who enter. The Ultimate Guide to Prepping Your Home for an Open House is filled with tips, tricks and other advice based on Suzie’s years of experience in interior home design that will set you up for success.