Creating a Welcoming Atmosphere in Your New Home
Did you know that your olfactory nerves are closely intertwined with your memory? This is one reason why moving into a new home can be so unsettling and unfamiliar—the house doesn’t yet smell familiar. If you want to make settling into your new home quicker, making the place smell like home may be the key. Check out these tips for making your new house feel more like home after a move.
Cook a Favorite Meal
Certain aromas take a direct path through the brain and to parts of the brain that are connected to memory. And the smell of food is one of the most recognizable memories for humans. This explains why you may experience a sense of nostalgia and maybe even a few childhood memories when you smell something like popcorn or cotton candy. If your new place smells unfamiliar, pick one of your favorite meals and get cooking. Doing so releases smells in the air that may give you a sense of comfort.
Do Some Laundry
Everyone has their preferences regarding how they launder their clothes and what products they use. If you usually do laundry at home, the process lends to how your home smells. Therefore, if your new place has yet to smell like home, try doing a few loads of laundry. Target large items like blankets, bedding, towels, and other items that will not be tucked away in a drawer or closet once cleaned.
Hang Your Own Curtains
If the home you moved into had window treatments like curtains that came with it, pull those down and hang your window treatments. Or, if you like the curtains in the house, pull them down and launder them with your products. This can help eliminate lingering smells from the last family in the house. Likewise, if the home has carpeted flooring, the carpet fibers can hold odor particles from the prior residents. Therefore, cleaning the carpets may help make the house smell more like home.
Introduce Familiar Home Fragrances
If you usually use home fragrance products, make sure to get those fragrances distributed in the new place soon after moving in. For example, if you normally use lavender essential oils or a particular air freshener, set up an oil diffuser or give every room a good spritz of your favorite fragrances.
Eliminate Unfamiliar Odors
Sometimes, your new place will not smell like home because too many unfamiliar aromas are in the air. Smells inside a home can come from a lot of things, including:
- Foods the prior residents commonly cooked
- Smoke from previous smokers
- Pet odors from previous pets in the house
- Odor particles trapped in drains
If you have lingering odors in the house, making the house smell like yours can be challenging because these smells can overpower anything new. Sometimes, all that will be necessary is a thorough cleaning and deodorizing process. However, you might need to paint, clean the drains, or take other steps in severe situations.
Focus on Making Your New Place Home with a Little Help
With the help of professional movers, you can focus on making the new residence feel and smell like home. Contact our team for a moving quote to get started.