The process of settling into a new home can be incredibly strange.
In some ways, the house that you have bought is incredibly familiar to you. It’s the house that you visited for the first time months ago, walked through, and felt it a good purchase. It’s the house you researched, visited again, and ultimately decided was a good purchase.
However, in other ways – and often rather persuasive ways – the house that is now yours is incredibly unfamiliar.
Yes, it’s the same house you viewed, but you are also now going to see it from an entirely different perspective – it’s where you live, rather than somewhere you visit. This sudden change can make the settling in process difficult, but there are a few things you can do to make the adjustment as straightforward as possible.
#1: Visit the property, and its surrounding area, as often as you can before moving day
Some people buy a property incredibly quickly, using a familiar pattern: they contact brokers such as William Pitt, visit a property suggested to them, visit it again to make sure they like it, make an offer, and that’s that: they’re then consumed by the process of moving, and won’t see the house again until their designated moving day.
While this is the ‘standard’ way of approaching a move, it’s not conducive to actually feeling settled in. Wherever possible, visit the property or the surrounding neighborhood while you wait for your moving day to arrive, even if it’s just for 10 minutes – the familiarity will be hugely beneficial to helping you feel settled when the move is complete.
#2: Plan to move on a Friday
Many people select a moving day at random, or just pick the day that is more convenient. This is understandable, and unavoidable in many circumstances. If you have the freedom to select the day and take time off work, then choose Friday! Moving on the last day of the working week gives you two entire days to settle in before you have to return to work. This gives you two days to unpack boxes and make the space feel like it’s yours. You might even have time to relax and unwind!
A small caveat to the above: if you work a non-standard schedule, then Friday may not actually be “the last day of the week” for you, but you can stick to the same principle by choosing to move on whatever day of the week then allows you to have two (or more) subsequent days off.
#3: Create a “home comforts” moving box
On the first night in your new home, unpack a box that contains your favorite home comforts. This could be your favorite coffee mug, the cushion you rest your head on while watching TV, or any other object that makes you feel relaxed and content. By immediately transferring these items to your new home, you begin to feel settled as quickly as possible.
With the tips above in mind, you should be able to settle in your new home as quickly as possible, and get on with making new memories in a house you grow to love.
