What makes a home…home?

Have you ever thought about that? What is it that can make a place feel like home?

Yes, definitely, there are things like family, love, etc. I completely agree with that. But…for me, there are other things that make a place feel like home.

A feeling of familiarity — nothing quite says home like knowing your way around a place, knowing where a good place to eat is, or knowing where the grocery stores are. But even more than just that bit of basic familiarity is knowing where some of the not-so-well known areas are…like the parks and trails. I think, too, there’s knowing the alternate routes to get somewhere. In the Tri-Cities, it’s knowing that if the bypass (Hwy 240) is slow, you can get onto GW Way to get to Kennewick, or knowing that you can take Davidson to McMurray if even GW Way is really crowded.

There’s also familiarity with the place you’re living IN, at least for me. It’s little things like knowing where the light switches are and which one turns on what light that helps.

A feeling of comfort — you know why I think family is associated with home so much? I think it’s because, for the most part, we’re comfortable with family. We can let our hair down around family. We can be ourselves around family. The same goes for good friends – you’re familiar with them, and they’re familiar with you, and you can just have fun.

I realized recently that for me, there were some other things that made a place home…the house we live in didn’t quite feel like home until I baked bread here. For some reason, actually baking something – for me, specifically bread – was like breaking in a good pair of shoes. I was surprised what a difference it made to me. At the temporary housing, I had this almost burning ache to bake something, ANYTHING, to make the place feel a bit homey. I bought a really cheap foil cupcake baking thing, some cupcake liners, and a cheap little box of muffin mix (love Jiffy!), and the place just felt more comfy after I’d baked them!

There’s also a smell associated with home – and maybe that’s what the baking did for me, bring in that homey smell for me. But you know how a place will have a unique smell when you move into it? Having your own smell in a place adds to that feeling of home – it’s like it has YOUR smell. I know it sounds a bit weird, but I hope you get what I mean.

I guess I’ve just been thinking about all the things that make a place feel like home because of the recent move into this house. I’m still not 100% feeling like this is home, but it’s getting closer. I think when everything is unpacked and has its place, that’ll help, too.

And, maybe a few more baked goods wouldn’t hurt. 🙂