After a somewhat arduous move across the country, my family is finally settling into a temporary residence.
We’re blessed that we’ve been able to begin searching for a new house right away because our previous one sold quickly. However, until we complete our search, we’re residing in a small apartment.
Many of our possessions are in storage and we’re limited in what we can do to decorate the apartment. It kind of feels like we’re in a hotel and not at “home.” After searching for ideas, I’ve tried a few simple things that have made a big difference.
Making home of a temporary residence
- Avoid living out of suitcases or boxes. Because we will only be in our apartment for a few months, it seems like the most efficient thing to do is to leave most of our possessions boxed up so they are ready to be moved again. While this is efficient in many respects, it detracted from efforts to make our apartment feel like home. In order to feel comfortable in our space, we had to unpack enough items that we could open a cabinet and pull out a favorite mug, see framed pictures of our family out on tables, and have clothing organized in closets and dressers.
- Introduce familiar scents. Scents have a powerful way of bringing back memories and creating a sense of comfort. We have certain scents that we like in our home, so a very easy and affordable way we’ve created a homey atmosphere is by diffusing oils and burning candles of these scents. Another way we’ve introduced familiar scents is by cooking foods that we love and brewing a pot of coffee.
- Set out favorite items. As noted above, it seems counterproductive to unpack inessential items while living in temporary housing. However, the presence of a few favorite items goes a long way in making us feel comfortable. By selecting a few items we really enjoy (throw pillows and blankets, shower curtains, mugs, etc.), we’ve been able to make our previously unwelcoming apartment feel more personal.
- Keep up routines. It takes more than familiar possessions to make a space feel like home! Routines and traditions play an important role in fostering this familiarity. We’ve found that our space feels homier when we stick to our usual routines and behaviors. This means using our usual menus (which contain many of our favorite meals), keeping our daughter’s typical routine, and taking part in our usual recreation activities.
- Use curtain rods and wall hooks that won’t damage walls. We’re unable to paint or put many holes in the walls of our apartment, but we are able to decorate our walls a little by using tension curtain rods and adhesive wall hooks. These curtain rods were so beneficial in helping us hang curtains to darken my daughter’s nursery!
- Listen to favorite music. Music can have impacts similar to those of scents. By simply putting on a favorite CD, we can create in our apartment whatever mood we need at the moment (celebratory, peaceful, etc.).
Hopefully these strategies will continue to keep our apartment feeling like home until we get into a house that will serve as our long-term residence. Do you have experience living in temporary housing? What things did you do to make this space feel like home?
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Really great tips! I think familiar scents and items can really make you feel more at home for sure. And routine is key, especially with little ones.
Thanks for sharing at the Shine Blog Hop!
Hi Tiffany,
The scents make a huge difference! I have to laugh because sometimes I feel like the apartment smells like dirty diaper (courtesy of my infant) and this was the case before we moved, too. This wasn’t exactly the scent that I was thinking about!
It is so hard to make yourself feel at home in a temporary space but it sounds like you are doing a good job of it. Surrounding yourself with your personal things sure helps. Hope you are soon some place permanent.
Hi Rebecca,
It has been a challenge, but personal things have helped. Since writing this post we’ve looked at many houses and have one under contract. If all goes well with the inspections, we’ll be in a permanent place in no time!
Great thoughts here as I’ve been living between our church crèche, a caravan and a rental house for the last 8 months, finally moved into the rental properly today!
Wow, Lizzy, you’ve been in so many places! I hope the new property quickly feels like “home.”
I have been in temporary housing just a few times and your tips are spot on. Right now we need to renovate the entire house – which was part of the deal – so I haven’t unpacked any decorations. I really miss them! It does help me remember that “this world is not my home…I’m just passing through.”
You make a great point, Jendi. It does help put the temporary nature of our time on earth in perspective. Thanks for the reminder!
These are great tips! We lived in an apartment when we first moved to Florida and it was hard having so much stuff in storage…I really missed my things (and my girls did too)! It was hard but we made it through just fine.
Good luck with your house hunt and I hope you find the perfect on very soon 🙂
Visiting from Coffee & Conversation
Hi Lisa,
It is difficult, but I think we’re making it through just fine, too!
We have a lovely house under contract. As long as the inspections go well, we’ll be settling in soon.
These are great tips. We’ve been renters for 5 years in 4 places. I have to say though, after living in temporary housing for so long and moving so many times, if it was only going to be 3 months I would unpack as LITTLE AS POSSIBLE!! Haha, it’s just such a project! especially with littles around 🙂 good luck with the move!
Wow, Renee, you’ve moved a lot! Yes, unpacking is a huge task. We’ve left much of our stuff packed and in storage to avoid too much work.
Hey there! Found your blog through the Shine Blog Hop. These are great tips. We travel and move a lot and I’ve found that I have to make things as familiar and home like as possible for my kids. All these tips you gave are great and things I’ve done too to help us settle in. Two things that I always try to do are bring pictures or art (if I can) that I can put on the walls or prop on furniture to make things fell like our home. I also bring some seasonal decorations with us and decorate with the seasons. Even if we’re in a climate that doesn’t feel like the season (fall for example) and we’re far from home, it helps create rituals within our year and hopefully will give my kids a sense of the tradition I want to instill in them. Thanks for these!
I like the idea of seasonal decorations, Kacie. Thanks for sharing!