What makes a house a home ?

For me a home is somewhere that any family or friends can come to, kick off their shoes and curl up on the chairs or sofa and not have to sit to attention!

Teetime can I pop in with Bridgeit next time I am in the UK? Sounds just lovely and I promise to bring something delicious. ????☕️

Teetime that made me laugh. I do bake my own bread but there the similarity between our homes ends. The music playing is likely to be Jungle Book songs, the flowers a few semi-neglected plants. There are things everywhere including on the kitchen table, alongside baskets of veg from the garden, a large cereal box with odd things stuck to it and a shoebox liberally decorated with windows and a door. I often have conversations with visitors in the porch because there is a bike and a scooter just inside the door. I did dream of having a quiet, tidy home when I retired but my DD changed my plans and ten years on the evidence is in every room of the house. It is sometimes exasperating but it is definitely home.

ditzyme I could have written your post word for word. It was often a bit of a challenge making service accommodation feel homely (some of it was truly dire!), but you did what you could, imaginatively and within the permitted boundaries, and the emphasis was on it being a welcoming place for friends and family. This is what I hope my home is now, despite the fact that it is littered with my “treasures” and nothing matches anything else!

Nice cup of tea or coffee sitting in my comfy chair chatting with dh watching the television and just chilling

Oh ditzyme and greyduster you have brought back memories of various married quarters around the world. Some wonderful and some truly awful but, after a fashion they all became 'home'. I brought my babies home to them and each house became filled with friends and laughter.

Sunday lunch with all the family, Christmas Day with and without the family the smell of baking cakes. A safe haven where they can come and relax and be waited on.

heat, food, furry things and silly words you use. We have " the gnome corner" for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

Cosy and not clinical, not the show home look or staged to be like on TV. Somewhere you can relax in comfort without worrying if everything is not perfect. Comfortable and clean with favourite things around you, but not cluttered up.

Love

Soft lighting, no harsh blazing overhead lights. Comfy chairs, and lots and lots of books. And a cat to spread fur everywhere.

Well, not looking like an IKEA advert for a start! A manageable amount of clutter, some cuddly/scruffy cats or dogs and definitely no-one under 30 dressed in designer togs, clutching a champagne flute in a kitchen the size of a ballroom that looks like a laboratory.

Ignore those bluddy advert images!!!

Here here Margs!

Smaller, cosier and less cluttered than the one we have now! Our house is more a dumping ground than a home and it's an embarrassment to me but not DH who thinks its fine

I was suffering with terrible depression when I moved into the flat I am in now. It was in a town I was unfamiliar with, I had been forced to 'downsize' so had boxes of stuff everywhere and I literally slept on the sofa because I could not get to the bed for three years!! Little by little, my depression eased, I made friends with my neighbours, the wonderful people from Save the Children would come up to my second floor flat to carry away boxes and bags of things I had (very slowly) decided I didn't need. Then one day I had a guest coming to stay for a couple of weeks which motivated me to put the bed in order and clear a path to get to it. After she left, I started sleeping there myself. Eventually I began to love the little place, I hung pictures on the wall, and it started to feel like my home. Now I love it to bits and can't imagine being anywhere else!

Cosiness, above all. A sofa with squashy cushions where I can put my feet up with a cup of tea. Soft carpet underfoot.
Personal items like books and ornaments which are a reflection of my taste and personality.
I simply can't do 'minimal' - it's just not me.

That's a real turnaround schnackie well done getting out of that depression and making a home for yourself, it must have been so hard for you.

I think what makes a house a home is the comfortable feeling you have whilst in it and the looking forward to going back to it when out. Also I am certain it is those who live there that make a house a home.

I don't think it really matters where you live you can always turn a house into a home. Pretty flowers either fresh or faux, bright cushions on comfy furniture, lamps glowing and a fire of some sort even if it's just to give a focal point to a room. Yes family help if you're lucky enough to have them visit but even if you don't home is where you feel safe and comfortable. The other night my husband said he likes driving home on dark nights as he come in and the lamps are on, the candles (mostly battery ones) and tea is cooking - as we often say lets get home and get curtains pulled

Annie I hope your bungalow soon starts to feel more like home - it does take time sometimes to get to that point and we know it's been hard for you since you went in there

Love makes a house a home (so does a cat!)

p.s. (and a garden!)

To me home is a safe place. Somewhere to set roots.
A permanent home, no need to move home or leave to live in another house.
The knowledge that I can stay forever if I choose.

A home is full of memories, of loved ones past and present. Somewhere you feel safe and comfortable.

I sometimes get the urge to downsize, but I am not sure I could live somewhere that my parents had not been/seen, that I hadn't brought my babies home to, or in one GC case they had been brought home to. It has seeen many a teenage tantrum, heartbreak over girlfriends/boyfriends, when the AC were all here it seemed to be sleepover central!!

Sometimes it's neat and tidy, and I am cooking/baking, other times it is chaotic and we have a take out meal.

I love going into a home that has a bookcase with all sorts of books. Books speak tons about people.

Anniebach
I'd imagine you've had far too much taking up your thoughts to even think about relaxing into your home.
I hope you find a little peace. Maybe it isn't the right home for you? Sheltered accomadation may be available somewhere or in a style that is a bit more suitable for you.