What makes a house feel like "home"?

**forHISglory** · 07-20-2009, 10:15 PM

Hubby and I are house shopping. We've looked at lots so far, and one especially has caught our eye. We both agreed that when we walked in, it just felt like home.

That got me to wondering. What exactly is this mysterious thing that makes a place "feel like home"? Is it a remnant of childhood, a fond memory, an acquired taste? And it's interesting that we each, on our own, had that sensation.

SUPER CLEAN, NO CLUTTER: The house we are interested in was super clean. Now, I grew up in a house that was, well...... lived in! It was not super clean, but we didn't die from anything there. And it was cluttery. I went the other direction in my own home. I want it really clean and no clutter.

OPEN SPACE: We like to entertain large groups of people, and the large open space of this home appealed to us. I grew up in a rambling old house; it didn't have the open concept of modern homes, but there was lots of space.

BOOKS/ MAGAZINES: To me, a home filled with reading is really a home. The home I grew up in was filled with books. My own home is, likewise. And seeing a reading nook and lots of books made me feel at home.

COLOR: I don't want bright glaring colors in my home. I prefer more grayed and neutral tones that are calming. Part of my childhood home was neutral and part was very bright. The home we are interested in had the nice calm colors.

I'm sure there are more factors to this. How about you? Do you get that instant feeling that a certain place "feels like home"? What makes it happen for you?

**Nana2two** · 07-20-2009, 11:02 PM

I like warm colors. Im not a big person on open rooms, where like you can seem the kitchen from the living room. To me its cozy. I love hardwood floors. But with me i think alot comes from insecurities i dont like huge rooms and feeling lost in them.

**Wendy99** · 07-20-2009, 11:20 PM

I love Autumn colors for the walls. I love hardwood flooring as well - really dislike carpets.

**Jamielane** · 07-20-2009, 11:22 PM

Well when we bought this house 17 years ago (where does the time ago?) Dh adn I knew the instant we came in the door. The kitchen was the clincher for us. It just "felt" right. I could see us in every room. We outgrew this house many years ago since we had kids but we are still here and I tell Dh we may as well stay now because in 10 more years they will both me grown and maybe gone (insert a sobbing kim here) and the house will be the perfect size again. For me though a house is homey with warm colors and family pictures. Books and quilts. One thing I do know is if we ever moved from here I would not want one of those big cookie cutter houses in the subdivision with the high seilings. I have never been in one yet that felt homey. Of course thats just personal preference. I would liove an old farm house with lots of personality and big windows.

**Contrary Housewife** · 07-20-2009, 11:25 PM

I think it's a sense of the familiar. I like to have my personal items out, things that bring back memories for me. I have things that belonged to my grandparents that were part of my childhood. There's comfort in those familiar items. Vacations are great, but there's nothing like coming back to your own bed, the particular feel of your own pillow, the smell of your own sheets....

**pollypurebred39** · 07-21-2009, 12:16 AM

I think just about anywhere can be made to feel homey, but I like a really maculine den. Very rustic, old English, pictures of hunting dogs, lots of wood, darker earthy colors, big comfortable well worn leather sofas and chairs, a fire place, bookshelves from floor to ceiling filled with fabulous novels, a place where you can see a man relaxing smoking a pipe with a hound by his feet. "feels like home"

I like the feminine upscale french decor, for places like dressing rooms/closets. That beautiful white on winter white tones, small glass chandielier, fabric that stretches to the ceiling. Dressing table & gold mirrors. Feminine elegance with out the flowers. "feels like home"

And any bathroom that BEGS to be lingered in, spacious whirlpool tub big enough for two, separate shower with a fabulous shower head again big enough for two. "feels like home"

Lots of space between neighbors & privacy "feels like home" If fences make good neighbors, acres make great neighbors!

Bedrooms with soft lighting, big fluffy beds that beg to be lingered in. No clutter. "feels like home"

**calimomx2** · 07-21-2009, 12:17 AM

After being in our home 22 years we are finally able to do the things we wanted to do way back then to make it our home. I was so excited to be 25 and in my very first home but it never felt like a home.

For me.....I love neutral/warm colors, hardwood floors, simple, clean/no clutter and an open floor plan. Family pictures and special things we have "collected" over the 24 years we've been married.

**frugalfranny** · 07-21-2009, 02:18 AM

Lots of light from windows is my first pick. I hate dark rooms or small windows, unless there are lots of small windows. Like warm colors but subtle. I like open space but dislike the cathedral ceilings, just from the practical standpoint...the heat bill!

FURNITURE........I always hated my mothers choice in furniture. Thought it was cold and ugly...(Italian Prov)......like overstuffed, 'fluffy' furn.

**joyofsix** · 07-21-2009, 07:29 AM

For us it has to be casual. I don't want to have a house so nice I'm afraid I'll break something. Dh and I have always gravitated to old farmhouse style houses. *note-though these are cheaper to buy you must be aware of how much fixing you'll be doing. I also must have a good sized yard with a clothes line and trees. The yard is almost more important to me than the house. It's good to have a kitchen I can feed 9 people in too.

**2ndGenGranola** · 07-21-2009, 07:46 AM

We live in one of those "cookie cutter" homes but have made it our own. I refused to decorate like the model home did.

We have recently repurposed the stair closet into our pantry rather than the designated pantry. I love it. It is so much more me and convenient.

We repurposed the old pantry into our mud/storage room. The washer and dryer is in there (why they put that with pantry goods that are supposed to stay "dry", I don't know). I hung a huge pegboard on the wall and have seasonal decorations, stringed lights, lessor used pans in there.

The institutional white they painted it is now a rich morning coffee with 2 creams color. Hubby and I had never gone this dark but we are in love with it. We have blackout curtains too. Our sleep has improved 100%.

Of course my bed is not where the model home had it. LOL. I must do my own thing!

I like spaces I can repurpose or be creative with. A place where the bed HAD to go into this place and the sofa HAD to go into that place would not be home.

**lmbaker520** · 07-21-2009, 07:49 AM

It is important to me that my house be inviting for not only myself but for others to come and relax and visit in. I don't like very formal furniture or rooms...I like for it to appear to be lived in but in the same time be simple, clean and without clutter. I have always thought that lots of books and family pictures make a house feel more like a home. I like the privacy of trees and woods. It's all up to personal preference, but it is whatever makes you feel comfortable in your home. I think that it is so important for you to have your home feel like the most comfortable place for you to be. For me, there is a calm that comes about when I am just at my house without the distractions and stresses from everything going on out in the world.

**Momto2Boyz** · 07-21-2009, 08:23 AM

For us, it was simply the house. We looked at tons of houses when we were house hunting, and even though this house didn't have alot of the things we were looking for, I knew it was home the minute I walked in the door and so did DH.

**KCLove** · 07-21-2009, 09:37 AM

With our house it was the open space behind the house. It is part wetland part woods. There is a ton of wildlife around. DH is a city boy and I am a country girl. The house is in a great subdivision that is close to his job. It has a huge yard that is fenced for the kids and grandkids. We could just visualize everyone at the house. Didn't hurt it had 4 bedrooms. With 6 kids (only three are at home now) and now 3 grandbabies (who visit all the time) it was perfect for us.

**forHISglory** · 07-21-2009, 09:45 AM

I was thinking some more about this. A home that is decorated with chrome and glass just doesn't do it for us. It's too hard, too cold and slick and shiny. I want my floors and mirrors to shine, but don't want a lot of shine elsewhere. And I agree about the high ceilings in modern homes; it doesn't feel cozy.

**tracyq** · 07-21-2009, 09:59 AM

Oh, what an interesting topic!

I know when we bought this house, which is now a home, the thing that made my heart sing when we first saw it was the backyard! It isn't landscaped all beautifully perfect, but it had scattered flowers within it, like tiger lilies, lily of the valley, ivy as groundcover, and rose bushes, especially lots of BEAUTIFUL rose bushes. The yard had a huge maple tree, right in the middle of it.

When I saw it, I thought, GRANDMA and GRANDPA's backyard!!!! It just made me warm all over, as I lost them both three months apart when I was only 9 years old. I LOVE my backyard! We've been here about 15 years.

Our home is small, dated, and needs some much TLC after these years of much use (we live in it 24/7 as a homeschool family). But it's full of the love of family, which is to me, what make a house a home.

Tracy Q.