House or home?

Home is where the heart is? Even though none of our sons has lived in this house they still 'come home' when they come to see us. It makes me very happy to hear them say that.

Home has love in it and IMO you can make one anywhere you choose.

Home is where I feel safe.

It might sound a bit twee but I do think you can turn most houses into homes. I've had to move a couple of times recently and think we've just about managed it. Yes the building is new to you but the people (and all the love, trust and honesty) are the same. My trick has been to pack up in quite an organised way.....large labels on everything and then unpack the things that I want around me very early on. To be honest if you dont get down to the last few boxes within a couple of weeks, they stay unpacked for months...and months. Once I've got the bed made, the familiar quilt on and a few photo frames around it starts to feel a bit more welcoming. Getting a few pictures that mean a lot up is good too. Once you have got your kitchen straight - then that realy makes things feel like home. getmehrt, am sure that you and your DH will be feeling a lot more settles..its the people that count, not the four walls. All the best in your new home XX

Ditto Ella46

Home to me is when I have my favourite pictures up and my very extra large lounge mirror,it has had pride of place in all our houses even abroad it was the first thing unpacked when arriving and repacked when moving back to UK,and also the DCs saying they are popping in home,that does it for me oh and I must not forget that little JR who sticks his head over his basket when I come in to say welcome home.

My house is a house. I've no affinity to it at all. It's just a place to put things - too many things! My DC and GC look on it as a home though. The GC regard it as an extension of their own home which is lovely.

Home is a comfy, warm nest where all is at peace.
Home is a place where friends and relations love to visit
Home is a place that feels lived in and has just enough clutter around to look lived in.
It makes me extremely contented that lots of people love coming here - to my homely home!!

getmehrt Hi there! We too are in the middle of moving (done it many times when DH was in the army but this is ourhouse!)

As we have decluttered, to sell, and then begun packing and dismantling, it is becoming less and less our home, I feel. But the extensions we had built, and the garden are part of what we put into it, so we're not entirely divorced from it yet.

Still too late to turn back now, eh? And I don't want to anyway. But oh, isn't it tiring?

Ariadne nearly there

My home is where my husband is!

This house is also our family home and our children turn up, raid the fridge, stay a while, leave babies and children and, not so welcome, stuff. It is where the family comes together and a place where they all know they are loved and a haven should they need it.

Our home has had a long[ish] history and different incarnations and is continually being changed and adapted to meet the current needs.

And, I love it.

Easy my dear mum and dad had a home.

My M.I.L had a house.

Sums up our relationship, sadly.

Glad to say my D.D. has a home and I hope she thinks her dear old ma has one too. (If not I don't want to know).

My home expresses who I am. Frequently chaotic, but - I hope - welcoming.

My home is the happy, safe place which has evolved over the last 31 years; it's where the late Mr.G and I grew up together and brought up our children. It's where the children, and theirs, return as often as possible and are surrounded by the familiar. It is full of memories, not to mention clutter - all of which means something to someone. Like Kitty's it has changed over the years, quite dramatically in some parts, as has the garden which has changed shape and halved in size, but that too has many memories - of the baby sleeping in her pram under the lilac tree/playing/camping/barbeques/water fights/engagement parties. It's very true, home is where the heart is, even if one heart isn't there any more

gally