Downsizing

It does take time and a willingness to embrace change and compromise. Year 1 was very hard for me. Year 2 much easier. Into year 3 I'm home. We all adapt at different speeds. One of the first things I did was to buy one of those wooden 'home' signs. I needed the reminder. Now I don't and it's gone to a charity shop.

We downsized to what we hope is our final home and we are so happy to have done it, I pinch myself every day. We had to do so much to the 'new' bungalow that we have definitely put our own stamp on it but it wasn't until we came home from a lengthy holiday that we realised that it is 'home' now. Clearly part of the moving process should be a good holiday!

Thank you everyone I am actually feeling better already ,rearranging ,hanging pictures,and having family over for dinner in the tiny but beautiful kitchen.Good luck to other movers.

We downsized six years ago, moving to a very small two bed terrace in Cornwall. It took us a few months to rid ourselves of that 'holiday' feeling (even worse as we used to holiday in Cornwall!) and it's truly home now. It's incredibly well insulated, so dead cheap to heat, but I miss the woodburner I must confess. Our only problems are lack of space when the family come down, we are 'cosy' to say the least! (We have two greyhounds as well!) And The problem of where to put the Christmas tree, because I won't not have one and it has to be at least 5 foot! This year I've solved it by replacing it with a brand new 'slim' 6.5 footer which will slot in fine!

Very good luck, bluekarma. With your positive attitude I'm sure you will thrive in your new situation. It all sounds very exciting.

I lived in London for the last 36 years in the same house with husband and children. I divorced my husband a few years ago and as I couldn't afford a flat in a nice part of London I have bought a small flat in a seaside town in Sussex. I'm waiting for a date to move in. I can't wait but that may be because I'd been living in 2 rooms upstairs in my old house for 8 years. I'm so looking forward to having a place of my own. I won't have much money but it'll be all mine and ill be able to invite people back to my flat, something I've never been able to do. I've moved away from my friends and family but can get back up to London in the time it would take to get from one end of London to the other. I'm making friends while I'm living in a room in rented accommodation until I can move to my flat. I have to make this work. I've never lived on my own before so only time will tell but I do intend to get to know lots of people and get out and about. Fingers crossed x

We moved about 18 months ago. There were a couple of times when I would find myself driving to my old house ( we only moved about 5 miles).
I would say it took about 6 months.

Good luck with your move merlot.

I think you should just dive on in there and make some changes to the decor notgrandma even if they are not essential - it will seem more like your own then.

I've often stayed in holiday cottages and wondered if it would be possible, spacewise, for the two of us to live there. The answer has always been YES.

The things that are important to me are comfort (ie a squashy sofa and a woodburning stove,) the view from the windows, absolutely no traffic noise and enough room for my books.

A kitchen diner - small is beautiful so long as it's a 'cook's kitchen' and there's room for the whole family on Christmas Day.

Our moving in day is now the 15th Dec.....Can't wait!!

Perhaps the answer is to go on holiday notgrandma.
Then when you come back, the bungalow may feel like home.
We moved to Hongkong in 1974. Obviously it felt strange and weird, for months.
Then we went to Malaysia for a short holiday and returning to HK felt like coming home!

We have been in our smaller apartment for nearly 6 years now and are just about feeling the homely feel again,when we first moved here it was very strange with regard to the layout and the obvious lack of large amounts of storage and space but now after putting our own "stamp" on it so to speak (and there have been a few mistakes on that topic)we enjoyed the time spent getting things just right for us we are now very content with what we have done over the years so don't worry you will soon settle and loose that holiday feeling.

I remember that feeling well when we downsized from a large farmhouse to a three bedroom bungalow 25 years ago. We're about to do it again by moving into a one bedroom 'granny pad'.

I'm quite looking forward to having that 'holiday cottage' feeling again. The housework will take me all of twenty minutes and years of clutter is already a thing of the past.

Enjoy it!

It took me a good six years to feel that home was really home. The change came when we began redecorating and making changes to the layout of the house. We'd been lucky to move into a house that had been nicely renovated and didn't need our input initially so it did feel like a holiday home for a long time. We've now lived here 12 years (the longest either of us have lived anywhere in our lives) and it feels like home although it's very possible we will have to move again. If so, I'll certainly make sure we do something to the place to make it our own right from the start... good luck in your new home notgrandma, hope you'll be very happy there.

I don't mean to sound rude but I think the simple answer is because you haven't lived there for 40 yrs
Give it time.

We moved into a smaller house near to our family 4 months ago. I am still feeling the same as you. I guess it is partly because of the lack of familiarity with every inch of the house and also exploring the area which is new to us is just like being on holiday. I have had up and down days but am trying to treat it like an adventure and just hope the familiarity
eventually just kicks in without me noticing