The Home Lovers

How to turn a house into a home

In the many years I have been involved with the construction Industry I occasionally ponder over what different people call home. Or more to the point, 'what makes a house into a home'? It could be related to a part of the world they have lived, a place where their parents live, the place where they were born or maybe the place they live with their family! All these places are where they have acquired memories that are important to them in one way or another. Personally, I tend to stick to the old adage 'home is where the heart is'! 

The part I have never been able to get a hold on is why some people look after their 'homes' so much better then others. On the whole most people who have worked hard for several years to get a deposit together have a tendency to appreciate all the effort that it has taken. Keeping things clean and in their rightful place seems to be part of a natural process they automatically accept. It also seems par for the course to 'keep up with the neighbours' to ensure everyone is friendly and not seen to be bringing the neighbourhood down. People who venture onto a self-build are generally even more meticulous in their approach. So much so, that windows are washed weekly, drives are swept regularly with all items having a place where they live and should never be left anywhere else. 

 One of the great attractions of self-build is that it gives you the opportunity to create a home to suit your lifestyle. Perhaps you are after a property for your uh p-and-coming family, or perhaps one to prepare yourself for retirement with a spare room for guests to stay. Whatever the reason you start a self-build, one of the great attractions is that you will have a property designed to suit your lifestyle and allow for possible changes in the future. But no matter what the reasons are, you will put more effort into planning and building this then any home that you could buy off the shelf. I guess both these ways of looking after your home is fairly evident and understandable but what I can't get my head round is the people who rent properties.

 Now I don't have a problem with people who rent as in many cases it suits or buying is out of the question. The part that I don't seem to get is the attitude that 'it's not my house so why should I look after it'? Although it is not their property, do they not live in it, therefore making it their home? In many cases these people live in them for many years. By this I don't necessarily mean maintenance of the property but just keeping things together like putting your bins out of the way, cutting your grass and not having scrap cars outside. To me a house is a pile of bricks but a home is where the heart is! If you don't care for your house it will never become a home!