What makes a house a home to you?

Dogs!

Probably different things to different people make a house feel like a home. I think you’ve nailed it if you come home, close the door behind you and let out a sigh of utter contentment to just be there.

When you walk into your house and it feels good to be home.

I don't attach to a house, probably due to around 20+ moves as a child (parents marital problems). I'm at home once I've had a long bath in a new house, or hotel.
Home is a comfy sofa, my Tunisian rug on the floor, an open fire or log burner, and AC visiting, staying over and treating it like their own home. DGC being here makes it even better. Also the few ornaments I have, like the clock we bought in France on our 25th anniversary or the bowl from a holiday in Amsterdam.

Comfortable, welcoming and not too precious, I hate homes where the owner is always fussing at the least thing and if there is a spillage makes a big fuss and gets the cleaning products out.

We moved almost 3 years ago. It became home when the grandchildren had visited enough times to know where everything was kept. It didn’t take them long to find out where their toys, cups, plates and what they call ‘the chocolate drawer’ were!

Pets and books

also in a victorian home, oopsadaisy1, it feels like it gives me a hug... and full of paintings, rugs and feelings of safety and joy.

That is all just so accurate M0nica
Perfect.

I understand that about being re-rooted. Roots are important, many of us have had to move around because of work and now AC, we are a long way from our childhood roots so we have to make the best of where we are. because of where the AC have settled. If those roots can be found in a home that has good vibes in its walls, then good

I think I would be scared to have bought a second hand home because of the potential for bad vibes. I am putting vibes into my new build and they are good

Feeling safe, that comes top of my list really, I could not be safer than were I live now.

I wasn't discarding feeling safe. I was just saying that that is such a basic requirement in life, let alone at home, that when discussing what makes a home feel home for us, feeling safe should be assumed, just as we assume the house will be properly built, no water coming through the roof, electrics working etc etc. The house should be in a country which is not at war, not under threat from extremes of weather: not threatened by wild fires, floods or hurricanes and so on and so on. Your family around you

I had a peripatetic childhood as my father was in the forces. We lived in army quarter after army quarter all over the world with all kinds of decor and furniture, but what turned each of those into our home, was when my mother unpacked the boxes of our own household goods and got the familiar pictures on the wall, ornaments on the shelves, cushions on the chairs, my sisters and I unpacked our favourite books and toys.

For me home is and will always be where I am surrounded by the familiar and since I now am not always on the move and can choose my home. living somewhere that has been survived so many centuries, housed so many families for so many generations is part of that sense of being rooted inlife.

I agree with karmalady that many of us live alone so a home is not always about involvement with other people .
I live alone with my little dog , and I just love my home , as I feel it’s always so warm ,cosy and inviting with fresh flowers , throws , soft lighting and my large comfy sofa .
After spending enjoyable afternoons out with family / friends groups & clubs , it’s so lovely to come home to a quiet, peaceful & relaxing place that is home , a place to chill out and to cosy up on the sofa with my lovely little dog .

tiny not tint. My friend has a cottage, low ceilings, beams, old brown furniture. It is dark, cosy enough in winter with the log fire burning but she gets winter SAD even if it is not winter

houses have vibes, good relationships seem to be transferred to new owners

I have done the beams/cottage thing. not for me. I actually dislike beams, tint windows and low ceilings, they hinder the energy flow, which I have in spades in my present home

re people to make a home, many of us are widowed or single, we make a home without other people involvement. It is all about the ambience

merlotgran

The feeling that not only do you love your home but it loves you back.

Oh, exactly that merlot!

Oopsadaisy1

Monica I was quite touched when our friend made that comment, nothing high minded about it at all and I’m surprised that you made that comment.

I’ve done the 400 yr old thatched cottage in the country, with the inglenook fireplaces, but all the beams and books in the world won’t help you if you don’t feel safe.

I agree. I too have lived in very old houses - the last house was Grade 2 listed - thatch, beams, etc - but my now ex and I were having a bad time in our relationship, so the house was not a home. In a Victorian terrace now and this is my home!

a cooks kitchen, comfy chairs, books around the place, knitting on a side table, a cosy feeling like a hug when I come home

The people in it.

Monica I was quite touched when our friend made that comment, nothing high minded about it at all and I’m surprised that you made that comment.

I’ve done the 400 yr old thatched cottage in the country, with the inglenook fireplaces, but all the beams and books in the world won’t help you if you don’t feel safe.

The feeling that not only do you love your home but it loves you back.

An unmade bed ? otherwise, you call it a ‘hotel’ - don’t take any notice - the sun’s got to me…

Somewhere you can be truly yourself and know you are accepted and loved as you are.

I have to have a cat and a garden. Having family and friends is a given, I would have thought.

Lots of the things mentioned make a home comfortable, cosy and pleasant.
But for me it's a home when the people I love are in it.

Being with people you love and having things around you that make you happy.