Does your house feel like home?

[ToastedSmores]

Just pondering today as I have been off work so I have been pottering around the house!
Previous house was a large end terraced property, ideal on paper for a family of 4, 3 huge bedrooms, massive kitchen diner, epic ceiling height etc. Lived there for 15 years, redecorated every room multiple times and it never felt like it was 'my home'.
I couldn't take it anymore and rather than redecorate (again) we decided to move. We bought a mid terraced property with exactly the same floor plan as the old house but it is much smaller (most would see this as a downside!?) The kids still have their own rooms but they are about half the size of the old house and we are now on a main road. Sounds awful right?
I absolutely love this house, from day one it felt like it was 'mine'! Like I have always lived here, I didn't need time to settle, I never pined for the old house - in fact I couldn't wait to get out and move here.
I never even think about my old house, the amount of money and sodding hard work we put into the place and it's like my brain has just blocked it out!
I was wondering, as there are a few threads about people that move and miss their old place if there are others like me that have moved without a backwards glance to their 'real' home?

Yes, it does and I love it, but we've been here 25 years and raised our family here. Victorian house, very shabby (not chic) and lived in, but it's definitely 'home'.

Ours isn't home "yet" as we had to downsize after a spiteful divorce (abuse is sadly ongoing) and the new place I could afford is mid-terrace rather than the previous detached, and needs a lot of work. I'd spent a lot of time, love and money making our old house lovely, so it was a wrench to have to leave it, even though I definitely needed a new start somewhere else.

BUT, as we gradually do up our new house and it becomes more comfortable, it is becoming our sanctuary, and eventually I think we will love it just as much as the old one, and will hopefully have a more peaceful life to enjoy it in.

No, but that’s mostly because I’m in the process of sorting out leaving and getting divorced and I’ve given up caring about the place.

Yes ours does. It’s a new build, and we bought it in 2019 so when Covid hit we got stuck into choosing decor and planning it all and now it’s really lovely. The lighting is very soft and it’s always a perfect temperature. Our lives are a bit nuts though with work and kids so I don’t get enough time here alone to enjoy it. But I do love it.

It does, we are supposed to be moving in a year or two. I do love this house plus DD died so as peculiar as it sounds I sort of feel upset she will have never known where we live after moving.

I hope you find somewhere lovely if you eventually move💐

We now live in a bungalow it's just the 2 of us.
Only the bathroom to sort out. It was a mess when we moved in.
Warm and welcoming.

We’ve lived in five houses. Only two really had the “at home” feeling for me. Our second one where our babies were born and had all of their firsts, and our current one which we moved into last year. Never fully “settled” in the other three. It’s such a good feeling when you have that sense of real ownership and fully being at home.

Not quite yet because we've only been here 3 months and it still looks and feels like the ex rental that it was. That is until this week as we've been decorating the bedroom putting some colour and life onto the walls. The building and location very much feels like home already.

My first house where I lived alone. It was so much me, no compromises, exactly the home I wanted, decorated the way I wanted it. I loved that place and never felt alone there.

Current house is much better than the last one, and is home, but more our home than my home, so a different kind of nest.

This house felt like home as soon as I walked in. Even more so now I've been here six years.

What's the saying - 'whereever I lay my cat, that's my home'? (slight misquote). In my case it's the dog, wherever she is happy - that's home.

Yes it does, despite it being a rental. Very similar circumstances to you, last house was much bigger and this one significantly smaller; but I’ve been happier here than I ever was in the last place.

A bought 6 months ago after 8 years of renting following a divorce. We've redone every room bar one, it's full of colour and exactly how I wanted it, it is very me and I love it. I bought all new furniture and appliances and it is very much our home.

It's not my forever home, but the area is perfect for the dc, they can walk to school and their friends are on the doorstep. We are very happy here and our new puppy arrives next weekend to complete our home

No, we’ve been in this house for 10 years now, decorated every room, two new bathrooms. Just doesn’t feel like home 🤷‍♀️ We will probably move in about 5 years.

Yes, always. every house I have lived in has from the first few days, 9 homes. Some rented some owned.

never regretted moving or missed a home, it’s always been time to move on.

If somewhere doesn’t feel right when I view it I wouldn’t try and make it work because of the floor plan or location or so on.

Can you move any sooner? You sound like you are on the same path as me and suffering it for 15 years!
I wish we had moved sooner (but to this house which wouldn't have been available at the time!).
I can't believe how much living here has affected me positively, I can see trees out of my living room and bedroom windows and it is so beautiful in summer! It is an amazing feeling.

I have a 4 bed detached, which was a terrible mess when I bought it. I wanted a 3 bed but bought just after the global crash and most people were sitting tight so there was very little on the market.

It's taken a lot of work, but nearly finished now. I love it. It's big enough to host my family, has a sunny garden and a big east-facing kitchen where I can sit and watch the dawn. 😊

Before that we lived with ex in his house which was horribly gloomy & dark but he wouldn't let me change anything. He refused to move and it made me depressed. Then a temporary one bed flat for a year while I got myself sorted.

Same here. After 6 years I don’t hate it, it’s a beautiful house and I do count my blessings but it just doesn’t feel like home even though we’ve put our own stamp on it with new kitchen, bathrooms and redecorated. I’d be happy to move, but DH loves it so he’s in no hurry.

I adored our last house, I still miss it. But it was just too big to stay there once the DCs had flown the nest. I’d love another (smaller) period property.

Yes. It’s the only house I have ever bought and owned totally on my own.

I do have a lovely little house but when I’m tired or upset I often think “I want to go home” and it’s not this house I mean.

My husband wants to move but I am attached to this house. People and pets no longer with us have been here and anywhere I move it next I feel I’m moving further away from them. Probably doesn’t make any sense but that’s how I feel.

Yes I’d like a 1930s property next time I think. This house is mid 90s, it’s like a box 😕 we bought it for the location, and it has been a lovely area to live in, but I need a cosy home.

I moved/downsized in August and the minute I got here it felt like I should have always lived here. I got the 'feeling' straight away, but as I also loved my previous home, it was a big move for me, now my kids have left home. I did insist that the estate agent let me view it again without the owners present and after they pissed me off pressuring me to make a lifetime decision after a 30 min initial viewing.

No. I've lived in this house for 18 years, which is far longer than I've lived anywhere, and it has always felt temporary.

Our DC have only ever lived in this house and have no notion that their bedrooms could be anyone's other than theirs. But, I just can't relate to this.

I like the house. It's in a decent area and is a good size. We've had children's birthday parties here, which are now turning into teens' parties, and it's suited us well. We have really good, kind neighbours and plenty of local friends. I was even home-based working for six years.

But, it's not home. We've no reason to discuss selling it and moving, but I resent the thought of decorating it, as I feel that'd be for the benefit of someone else - the next owner. I can't be bothered with the garden because I feel as though it'd be doing someone else a favour. The hall carpet is threadbare, but I keep putting off replacing it because it isn't my home!

Initially, I was keen to put my mark on it - new bathrooms, kitchen, windows and doors, re-lawned, decorated, updated the heating etc - and maintain it, but the feeling that it isn't really my home had grown over the years.

Weird!

We need youngest dc to leave home and be through Uni first so looking at about 5 years for that. Will give us time to really think where we want to be and exactly what we want I guess.

The strange thing is, when we bought the previous house I was completely 'in love' with it. I wasn't trying to make it work. It was just over the years, no matter what I did to it, it never felt like it was 'mine'. The house I lived in before that fully belonged to my husband and that felt more like home.