This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of CORT. All opinions are 100% mine.
I’ve truly realized over the last 3 years that turning house into home doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that requires patience, but is so worth the wait when you can sit and enjoy the home that you thoughtfully created, one step at a time.
If anyone would have told me that there would be a time that I would plan a wedding, buy a house and remodel said house simultaneously, I would have laughed and called them out for the being the crazy person they obviously are. Well I guess I became the crazy person because about 3 ½ years ago I did just that. Simultaneously. Yep. Crazy. The good news: we lived through it and even with all of the stress of so many life milestones circling around us, we actually still wanted to get married (as opposed to kill each other haha). The bad news: there were mistakes. Faux pas. A lot of them.
We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to turn the new house into home stat. From floors to paint to bathroom to kitchen to furniture to decor to everything in between, we wanted it all done, like now. I’ve realized it doesn’t really work like that… I don’t think there is a presto it’s home wand; taking an apartment or house to home is (and should be!) a process. Because we rushed ourselves through all of the above, we made hasty decisions that don’t really reflect how we feel about our home now. A home has a personality, you have to settle in and get to know it a little before deciding what it should wear!
5 Keys Steps in the Process of Turning House into Home
Reassess Priorities
And then reassess again. And do it daily. Don’t feel like everything has to get done before you move in. If you’re lucky enough to have some time in your new apartment or house before you move in, recognize what the priorities are… the need to do vs. the nice to do. If you’re refinishing or installing new floors, when possible that should definitely be done before you move in and DEFINITELY before painting (this was a big fail on our part!) The freshly painted walls act as a magnet for all of the floor and construction dust. Bonus if you’re able to paint before moving in, but only if there aren’t any major renovations.
Rent
When I look around our living room, there isn’t one piece of furniture that feel like us. Now in the 3 + years we’ve lived here I’ve seen a zillion pieces of furniture that did, but we had already rushed into buying what we have now… a rug that’s too small, curtains that were too short and furniture that matches but that has no personality. If I had known that we could rent furniture from CORT Furniture Rental this would have alleviated this mistake. We could have rented the any furniture that we needed, on-demand in fact, making the house move-in ready and enabling us to wait until we found the pieces that fit us perfectly.
Repurpose
Don’t think that all of your “old” decor has to go. How could you change it to be something that fits you/your home now? One of my favorite projects (and one of the top posts on my blog) was made from a dollar store basket and $15 in rope. Resale and thrift shops are great idea starters for what you can repurpose on the cheap.
Refresh/Rethink
My first mission in our house became to rid it of builder-grade everything. Again, not realistic. I adjusted my thought process and realized that there was a lot more that I could live with than I originally thought. I desperately wanted (and still do!) new cabinets but they are costly and we don’t have that in our budget right now; painting them white was a perfect temporary solution.
Let Go
There were things that I brought from my condo to our house that just didn’t work anymore but for some reason I held on to them. If felt so good to begin to let go of things, it’s when I realized that getting rid of excess makes room for the right things in life (on so many levels).
What are some of the ways you turned your apartment or house into home?
Margaret says
Hey Lydi,
what a great blog you share I got some new tips here to apply in my new home. This article makes me smile. Thanks for sharing this post. Seriously, thanks for all these awesomeness.
Lydia says
Thanks so much Margaret!
Esther Diaz says
Thank you for sharing this, Lydia! Amazing points and well informative. I just moved into my new home and I’m really still trying to adjust to make it feel at home. Love your blog. Cheers!
Lydia says
Congrats on your new home Esther! 🙂
Andrew says
Nicely thought out tips. However letting go of some of my old stuff is somehow challenging.
Thanks.
Lydia says
I understand that Andrew, I have a challenge with it often! 🙂
laurel says
brilliant article mate, looking forward to implementing some of these at my house
Lydia says
Thanks so much Laurel! 🙂
Jane says
Hi, Super helpful tips. You make it seem really awesome and straight-forward in your step by step process.
Thanks for sharing great tips.
Lydia says
Thanks Jane! 🙂
Susan says
Great article. It’s not easy to turn a house into a home as many would think and you have outline the steps involved quite clearly.
Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Lydia says
Thanks so much Susan, I’m so glad you found it helpful.
Kathleen Calado says
Very resourceful tips especially to mom’s out there who love to decorate their homes. I’ll share this to my fellow moms out there and I hope to see more of your blogs in the future. Thanks, keep it up!
Lydia says
Thanks so much Kathleen!
Jamie says
Great ideas to take it slow and process oriented!
Lydia says
All about that process Jamie! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment!
eileen says
You voiced my feelings about home and the ongoing process of making it more me so well. Thanks.
I think that impulse is there for everyone, I think the trick is to not act on it immediately.
Lydia says
I’m so glad it resonated with you Eileen, thanks so much for your comment!