Settling Into Your New Home: 5 Action Steps to Take

After going through that tumultuous experience called moving, it’s now time to face the last hurdles of your new life in a different city: settling into your new home.

Making your new house feel like home is an effective way of helping you and your family adjust to your new place faster. By making your abode feel more familiar and comfortable, everyone will find it easier to get used to life in a different neighbourhood. And in no time, everyone will be calling the new house truly their home.

Seasoned interstate removalists share below the five important steps you have to take to settle into your new home quickly and successfully: 

1.    Clean the house

If you didn’t clean your new house before moving in, take some time to do this now.

Begin by cleaning the kitchen then work on the bedrooms, bathrooms, living room, and other areas. Make sure you use an antibacterial or disinfectant cleaning product, or create your own to get rid of any germs still lurking around.

Additionally, pay particular attention to cleaning the ceiling, walls, floors, and fixtures that are touched or handled frequently such as the door knobs, light switches, and faucets.

You can always hire professional cleaners to clean your home if you’re too exhausted from the move to do this task.

2.    Unpack and fully set up one room at a time

Making your new house more appealing and comfortable always starts with unpacking.  To be able to organize your home faster, unpack and arrange items one room at a time. 

Start by setting up the kitchen since everyone will be spending a lot of time here to eat, drink, or do other activities. This will be easy to do if all the boxes marked kitchen and all the large kitchen appliances have been placed in this room by the movers.

Next, move to the bedrooms. Make sure you and everyone else has a bed ready to sleep in. If you have kids, you can let them design and decorate their own rooms. By doing so, you will help them recreate their own private sanctuaries in your new house.

Once done, set up the bathroom, living room, and other remaining rooms.

No matter which room you choose to organize first, make sure you fully set it up before moving on to the next one. This means you should organize the bedrooms only after you’re done with the kitchen. Don’t start setting up another room while you’re still in the middle of arranging the previous one.

3.    Change the lighting to improve the ambience

Light is a powerful component that can make a new house feel different instantly.

Start by letting in more natural light into your home. Replace dark window treatments with lighter ones. Installing new curtains, blinds, or your choice of window treatments will also give each room a more complete and cohesive look.

You can also change the lights in your home to make it feel cozier. Choose warm white lights that give off a gentle hue especially for living areas – they will instantly give any room a friendlier and comfier ambience. Cool white lights are good for household work areas like laundries and garage. (Find out more about the difference between warm white and cool white lights.)

4.    Arrange your favourite artworks and décor

Hanging paintings and framed photos you brought from your old home is a great way to help everyone acclimatize to the new house. Once you have set up your shelves and cabinets in the living room, kitchen, and other rooms, arrange all the family heirlooms, trinkets, lamps, and other décor you have.

Once you have arranged all these items from your old home, you will instantly feel a sense of the familiar in your new abode.

If you think your living room and other rooms still feel sparse, buy new ones. However, make sure anything you add will mesh with the current design and theme of your home. Don’t forget to avoid over-decorating as well.

5.    Add your personal touches

Once you are satisfied with your new home décor, you can work on injecting your personal style and preferences in the house.

If there is a spare, unused room, you can turn it into your office, a study or reading nook. You can paint it in your favourite colour. Next, fill it with furniture, decorations, and fixtures that showcase your preferred colour or decorating style. 

Whichever look you choose in updating this room, make sure to let your personal touches stand out.

Settling into your new home will take time. The upside is you don’t have to rush things; take one step at a time to turn your new place into something that is organized, familiar, and comfortable.

Pretty soon, you and your family will have fully adjusted to and love your new abode. 

Author Bio

Craig Jones is the Managing Director at Aussiemove, Australia’s largest independent moving alliance. Craig is a respected member of the removalist network in Australia, having served in senior positions, including the President of the removal industries governing body, the Australian Furniture Removals Association (AFRA). With 23 years of experience at Aussiemove, he has the skills and the highly trained team to move families safely and reliably, in Adelaide, across Australia and around the world.