Ways To Make Your Home More Welcoming
It doesn’t matter if you’re dressing up your home to sell or to make it perfect for your family. A comfortable home is one that makes you feel welcome from the moment you pull into the driveway or park on the street. Welcoming doesn’t mean fancy, picturesque, or even perfect. It simply means that it feels like home. And our ways to make your home more welcoming will help you create a house that feels like home to you.
Start With First Impressions
We can apply the proverb “It’s not the outside but the inside that counts” to both houses and people. Even so, your house’s exterior is your guest’s first impression. It’s the equivalent of the friendly smile you offer strangers that invites them to get to know you better. So when it comes to making your home more welcoming, the exterior is an excellent place to start.
The primary way to make the outside of your house seem more welcoming is to perform some simple maintenance. Having a mowed lawn and trimmed shrubs will give guests the sense the house is lived in and cared for. From there, pay attention to your front door. Surrounding your guests with warm color by painting your front door and adding some planters around it will make them feel welcome before even walking inside.
Don’t Neglect the Power of Smell
Scents have a powerful impact on our mood. Walk into a room with fresh baked cookies and another with an overflowing garbage can—you’ll have all the evidence you need to attest to this fact.
You can use this to your advantage in your home as well. Start by eliminating the bad smells. It’s amazing how far simply cleaning your house goes toward making it feel more welcoming. Then, try your hand at adding pleasant scents with a vase of flowers, a candle, or a diffuser with essential oils.
Focus on Natural Lighting
We naturally feel more comfortable in places where we can see everything that’s going on. That’s why children like sleeping in bedrooms with a nightlight. The more light you add to a space, the more comfortable your guests will feel. However, not all light is the same. Harsh fluorescent lighting can grate on the eyes and the nerves, making people feel ill at ease.
The best type of lighting for one’s mood, naturally, is sunlight, so maximize sunlight in your space with light and airy window trimmings and wall mirrors. And for the evening, when the sun is unavailable, focus on using light bulbs with a white light that matches the sun’s light. Whether you’re welcoming buyers, guests, or yourself inside, whoever crosses your threshold will feel right at home.
