10 Tips for Making a New House Feel Like Home
Moving into a new house can be both exciting and daunting, but there are proven strategies to make it feel like home quickly. This article presents expert-backed tips that go beyond mere decorating, offering practical advice to create a personalized living space. From designing a bedroom sanctuary to gradually furnishing your home, these insights will help transform an unfamiliar house into a comfortable haven.
- Design Your Bedroom as a Personal Sanctuary
- Create a Signature Scent for Your Home
- Add Personal Touches and Host a Gathering
- Incorporate Meaningful Objects from Favorite Places
- Tackle a Small DIY Project
- Make Your First Meal in the Kitchen
- Transform Your Outdoor Space into Living Area
- Paint Walls to Reflect Your Personality
- Deep Clean and Personalize with Scents
- Underfurnish Initially and Decorate Gradually
Design Your Bedroom as a Personal Sanctuary
For first-time home buyers, my best advice is to create a sense of home by thoughtfully designing your bedroom first. Buying a home is an exciting milestone, but it often comes with a wave of overwhelm, with financial decisions, boxes everywhere, new routines, and a never-ending to-do list. That's precisely why the bedroom matters. It's the one space that should be designed to give back to you, not take away from you, when the rest of the house is still in restoration.
The bedroom is the room where your day begins and ends. It frames your mornings, sets your mindset, and cradles you when the world feels heavy. A well-designed bedroom helps you feel grounded, safe, and at ease. It's created for comfort, not just looks. That feeling is fundamental in those early weeks of homeownership, when everything feels unfamiliar and nothing is in place.
My advice? Be intentional from the start. Choose a calming color palette that supports relaxation. Invest in a bed that feels like a retreat. Think layered textures, soft sheets, a supportive mattress, and a statement headboard that brings elegance without fuss. Lighting matters more than people realize, including warm bedside lamps or dimmable sconces, so your space transitions with your day. And don't underestimate the power of a great rug underfoot or a favorite candle on the nightstand. Those small, sensory details make a room feel lived-in and loved.
In my own home, the bedroom was the first space I finished. Everything else could wait, but I needed one room that felt complete, intentional, and mine. That decision made the most significant emotional difference. No matter how hectic my days were or how long my list of projects grew, I had a space that reminded me why I chose this home in the first place. Your bedroom doesn't just hold furniture; it keeps your rest, recovery, and a sense of self. Prioritizing this space is one of the most loving things you can do for yourself during such a transformative season.
Create a Signature Scent for Your Home
What's one tip for first-time homebuyers on making their new house feel like a home?
Do not rush when creating a signature scent. Instead of reaching for generic candles or air fresheners, pick a scent that speaks to your personal narrative — say a citrus-woody diffuser by the entryway that transports you back to weekend market visits or a whisper-soft vanilla-lavender spray for the bedroom that conjures up childhood comfort. This olfactory anchor is an invisible welcome mat for guests and a cozy comfort for you, even on hectic mornings.
What personal touches made a difference for you?
In my living room, I affixed an interchangeable art display rail — a basic aluminum track — and voila: a spot where I can swap in local prints, family snapshots, or even children's drawings without hammering new holes every time the mood strikes. In addition to maintaining clean walls, it was a living gallery of our family's landmarks and discoveries from the neighborhood. I remember having my friends over, and they were like, "This doesn't feel like a staged space; this feels like a lived, breathed story," and maybe that is also the definition of what makes a home a home in the first place.
Add Personal Touches and Host a Gathering
One tip I always share with first-time homebuyers is to start small but make it personal. You don't need to renovate the kitchen or repaint every wall to make a house feel like yours. For me, it was as simple as hanging up a few framed photos from trips with family and friends and adding a cozy reading chair by the window. Those little touches reminded me daily that this place wasn't just a property; it was mine.
Another thing that helped was hosting a small get-together within the first few weeks. Something casual, with a few neighbors, some close friends, and nothing fancy transformed the space from a quiet shell into something filled with memories, laughter, and life. That shift from 'new house' to 'my home' happens faster when you fill the space with people and pieces that matter to you.
Incorporate Meaningful Objects from Favorite Places
One tip I love to share with first-time homebuyers is to bring in something that connects you to your favorite place or memory—like a jar of sand from your favorite beach or a framed map of your hometown. For me, adding a driftwood centerpiece from the South Carolina coast to my dining table was that touch of Lowcountry charm that made every meal feel special and grounded me in my new space. Small nods to what you love can transform a house into your personal sanctuary.
Tackle a Small DIY Project
One tip I always share with first-time homebuyers is to tackle one small DIY project that reflects your personality—maybe building a custom bookshelf or painting an accent wall with your favorite color. For me, installing a handcrafted coat rack by the front door was not just practical; it made the space feel truly ours, and every time I hang my jacket, it reminds me that this place is more than four walls—it's home.
Make Your First Meal in the Kitchen
One thing I always recommend to first-time homebuyers is to get your kitchen up and running—even if it's just the coffee maker and that first stack of plates. After a long moving day, making tacos in my new kitchen (surrounded by boxes and my dog hoping for scraps) made the place feel genuinely lived-in. There's just something about sharing a favorite meal in your new space that turns a house into your home right away.
Transform Your Outdoor Space into Living Area
Make your outdoor space livable too. If you have a patio, porch, or balcony, put some kind of seating out there, even if it's not the outdoor furniture you want in the long run. What this does is make the entirety of your home more livable so that you can appreciate more of it. It can encourage you to spend time in your backyard, which can get you more familiar with and appreciative of the space, which in turn helps it feel more like home.
Paint Walls to Reflect Your Personality
I would definitely say painting is a big factor here. Often, homes on the market might have been repainted to have a more neutral, broadly appealing look. This is especially the case if you're purchasing a newly built home. I had this same experience, and it felt odd moving into a home with white walls that didn't really reflect my family's personalities or tastes. Sprucing up the various rooms with different wall colors really made all the difference! I'd definitely recommend painting as a way to make that new house feel like a home. This has the added benefit that painting rooms will be easier before you're completely unpacked!
Deep Clean and Personalize with Scents
Hello!
I'm Ahmed Mezil, CEO of Hellamaid, a top-rated home cleaning service in Canada and the U.S. (now expanding in Austin, TX). We've helped thousands of homeowners prepare their homes for move-in, and I've seen firsthand how small, intentional touches make a big impact.
One tip I always recommend to first-time homebuyers:
Start with a deep clean, then layer in your personality!
Before unpacking, treat your new space to a professional deep cleaning. It resets the home's energy and gives you a true blank canvas. Then, personalize the air: light a candle you love, simmer cinnamon sticks, or diffuse essential oils. Scent connects to memory—and making the house smell like you turns it into home.
What made a difference for me personally?
- After moving into our first family home, we framed our daughter's first scribbles and hung them up in the hallway. It instantly made the place feel lived-in and rooted in love.
If you'd like more insights from a cleaning expert's perspective, I'd be happy to share!
Best regards,
Ahmed Mezil
CEO, Hellamaid
https://hellamaid.com
https://hellamaid.com
Underfurnish Initially and Decorate Gradually
This is an area where having patience is important. Your house is not going to feel like it's truly your home when you first move in, no matter how much you work to make that happen. Instead, I recommend under-furnishing and under-decorating your new home. As you get a feel for the space and what you need out of it, this will let you choose the perfect pieces for your needs.
