Help – I Can’t Settle in My New Home!

Have you moved home and cannot settle into your new home or area? Don’t worry, this is perfectly normal. In fact, it would be more unusual if you felt right at home straightaway.

It is going to take time for you to get to know your new surroundings and come to terms with all the changes that come with moving home.

So, in this week’s home moving blog, we will share some practical tips to help you adjust and flourish in your new place.

You may also like to read: How Do You Fall in Love With a Home You Hate? In this guide, we suggest ways to let go of your old home and fall in love with your new one. It is an invaluable guide if you are struggling to feel settled in your new home.

How to Settle Into a New Home

Step through the front door, and the place does not feel like home?

Go outside, and everything is different; what you see, smell, and hear is so unfamiliar.

And that is the problem. Nothing is familiar, and we need familiarity to feel safe, secure, and settled.

These 6 easy steps will help make you feel better about your new home:

#1 Clean your new place

Giving your new place a spring clean will help you get to know the place better.

Once it is clean, you will feel more at home, and not only that, but you will be cleaning away any negative energy left by the last occupants.

You may also like to read: How to Deep Clean a Home When Moving. In this guide, we share not only practical cleaning tips for every part of your home but also some recipes for cheap and eco-friendly cleaning products.

#2 Arrange your furniture

Having your favourite armchair under the window, like in your old home, will help with the feeling of being at home. It will reinforce that feeling of familiarity.

Play with the layout of your furniture so that your new place feels cosy and welcoming.

You may also like to read: How to Make a Simple Floor Plan. In this guide, we share with you how to create a simple floor plan so that you can see what the best layout for your furniture is in your new home.

#3 Unpack your moving boxes

The sooner you have those favourite paintings hung, those ornaments displayed, and you are using your favourite coffee mug again, the better.

Just being surrounded by familiar objects will start to make your new place feel like home.

You may also like to read: How Not to Get Overwhelmed When Unpacking. Unpacking can be just as overwhelming as the packing seemed. In this guide, we suggest ways to get motivated and then the best ways in which to unpack your things to make your new place feel like home.

#4 Make it safe

Part of being unsettled about your new home may be that you do not feel as safe as you did in your old home.

Change all the locks to the external doors as soon as possible, and make sure all the windows close and lock securely.

Change the batteries in the smoke alarms, place fire extinguishers on each level of the home, and reset the security alarm code.

You may also like to read: Top Tips for Securing Your New Home. In this guide, we take an in-depth look at how to make your new home safer.

#5 Protect your loved ones

In your old home, you knew where the hazards were and had taken steps to keep your children safe.

Childproof your home as soon as possible; it will be one less thing troubling your mind.

The same goes for pet-proofing your new home, too; it will help your pets settle quicker, which in turn will help you settle quicker.

You may also like to read: How to Childproof Your Home Room-by-Room. This is an in-depth guide on how to childproof every room of your new home.

#6 Redecorate

The one surefire way of helping you settle into a new home is by making it YOURS.

Redecorating is an ideal way to do this, as you can stamp your personality and particular home décor tastes into the home.

Redecorate the room that you spend the most time in first, then work your way through the entire home.

Even just hanging new curtains, adding a rug, or soft furnishings that you have chosen will go a long way to making the place seem like yours.

You may also like to read: How to Make a Home More Relaxing. This is an invaluable guide to help you make your home far more relaxing. From decor to furniture layout to plants, we look at numerous ways to make your home into a sanctuary of relaxation.

How to Settle Into a New Area

We are back to that feeling of everything being unfamiliar; you have no idea of the areas to avoid at night or where the best coffee shop is.

By creating a new life for yourself in your new area, in no time at all, things will start to feel comfortable, and you will start bonding not only with your new home but also with your new area.

Here are some good ways to get to know your new neighbourhood.

#1 Get outside

You cannot put off going out your front door forever; you will never discover the best bits about your new area, or the great people living in your street, by shutting yourself away.

Take it easy, though, if you are particularly nervous.

Get out in the front garden or clean the windows. You will probably get to see a neighbour or two.

Be friendly, and new friends will soon be made.

You may also like to read: Moving Home as an Introvert. Introverts can find moving home particularly stressful, so in this guide, we suggest ways that may help you settle into your new area more quickly.

#2 Explore

The only way to get to know the area is to explore it.

But certainly, in some city areas, it would be wise to do some initial online exploration first.

Use Streetview to get an idea of where the local landmarks are and what they look like.

Check out local forums where there will be a mine of useful information about places to avoid and places that you must visit. Then open that door and go explore.

You should feel more confident having gotten a general lay of the land from your internet searches.

Take the family to a local park or just for a stroll around the local streets; little by little, everything will become familiar.

And with familiarity will come confidence as you come to know the area better and better. By discovering what a great place it is to live, you will soon settle in.

You may also like to read: How to Make a New Place Feel Like Home. In this guide, we suggest ways to become familiar with your new area so that you feel like you belong there as quickly as possible.

#3 Get involved

The assistant at the grocery store does not greet you as they did in your old grocery store. Why would they? They don’t know you.

You don’t have the circle of friends that you had in your old town, of course not, you have not met your new best friend yet.

The only way you will make friends and a new social circle is by getting out to meet people. How about joining a local toddlers group, a model makers club, or the local gym?

You may also like to read: How to Overcome Loneliness After Moving Home. This guide examines how to make being on your own a strength, and, combined with moving to a new area, how it can be the catalyst you need for a wonderful new life.

#4 Create a routine

People are creatures of habit.

They will walk the dog around the same time every day, catch the same buses, and shop at the same stores. Create a routine for yourself.

You will soon start to see the same faces every day, adding to that feeling of familiarity, and in no time at all, you will strike up conversations and start making new friends.

You may also like to read: The Health Benefits of Moving Home. In this guide, we look at the surprising health benefits of moving home and how a new home could be just the thing you need to become a happier and healthier new you.

#5 Do what you did before you moved

If you had a particular hobby or leisure activity that you enjoyed in your old place, find the local venue to carry on doing it in your new neighbourhood.

It is a great way to make new friends as you have a shared interest.

You may also like to read: What to do When Homesickness Strikes. In this guide, we suggest practical ways to overcome that feeling of homesickness after moving away.

#6 Accept invitations

If your new work colleagues or neighbours invite you out, go.

It may be daunting at first getting to know all these new people, but they will offer a wealth of local knowledge, and you may just realise you have more in common than you thought.

You may also like to read: How to Make Friends in a New Neighbourhood. To help you feel settled in your new area, you may need a new social circle. In this guide, we suggest ways to get out there and meet new people.

Why Can’t I Settle In My New Home?

You should give yourself time to adapt to the changes that a home move presents to you.

You are unlikely to fall madly in love with your new home in the first few days, weeks, or even months.

You have got to create a bond, to know the quirks of the home that you will grow to love, and to make an effort to create new and wonderful memories within your new home.

It will take time, but eventually, you will fall in love with your new home.

Notice that I keep using the term ‘ your home’, for that is what it is, you just have to take the time, and make the effort, to make it truly your home, only then will you start settling in.

However, it may not be the home or location that is the issue.

Maybe there is something else that is troubling you?

Something you felt a home move would help resolve? Only you know the answer to that, and no matter how many home moves and new places you move to, that search for a feeling of inner peace may never be satisfied by a physical relocation.

The internet has closed the miles that a home move could have created between you and your old friends.

It can be a useful tool to help keep in contact with them and still have a support network.

Use that support network to help you realise what a wonderful opportunity this home move is, to reinforce that you have made the right decision in moving, and that you have much to look forward to.

And finally, remember that most home moves are not a one-way ticket. There are always options if you look hard enough for solutions.

You may also like to read: The Bright Side of Moving Home. In this guide, we look at what a wonderful opportunity a home move is to reinvent yourself, to do the things you have always wanted to do, and to make a home you can love.

Dealing With Relocation Depression

Relocation depression is a very real consequence of moving home for some people.

There is a feeling of loss, recollecting the memories that you made in the old home, the dread that you will not be able to make new and wonderful memories in the new place as you did in the old.

Taking the steps that we have suggested above will, in most cases, stave off relocation depression.

However, in very severe cases, professional help may be required to help you.

It pays to be aware of what the symptoms of relocation depression are so that you can identify them and take the necessary steps to get yourself back on track.

• Becoming a hermit. If you really cannot face getting outside the home and facing the world, it may be a sign of relocation depression.
• Excessive sleep. Don’t be over-concerned if you are exhausted for a few days after your home move. The body deals with stress and anxiety by taking longer periods of rest. But if this goes on for more than a few days, then this may be a sign of depression.
• Having no energy. Feeling exhausted and having no energy is understandable after the hectic days of moving out and then organizing your new home. But if you do not even have the energy after a few days’ rest to start unpacking, then this could be a sign of relocation depression.
• Lack of interest. A complete lack of interest in not only your new home but also the loved ones around you is another sign of relocation depression.

You may also like to read: How to Deal With Relocation Depression. Relocation Depression is such a vast subject that we have dedicated an entire post to it. This guide is invaluable reading to not only prevent relocation depression but also to learn how to cope if you do feel depressed after your home move.

If you have any tips for other home movers on how you coped with settling into a new home, please share them in the comments below.

Good luck in your new home. Just give it time.

It will be fine in the end, and if it’s not fine, it’s not the end…………