Are you living abroad, planning a long trip, going to college or just looking to keep the ‘stuff’ you have to a minimum? Well, you have come to the right place!
Because today I am partnering with Tivoli Audio to bring you Five Tips on how to make a new or temporary home feel like home. You can find more information about their product in one of my steps below. (Trust me: you will like it!)
I have been staying in Berlin for a while now after getting rid of almost all of my stuff. Which means that I moved here with one suitcase (+ a backpack with my favourite dresses). And even though I am planning to keep my possessions to a very minimum while staying here, I did purchase and make a few things to create a ‘home’ for myself.
It is very hard to explain the definition of home when it comes to how you feel about it. I guess I am one of those people that can feel at home pretty fast, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t things that helped me get there. So here are 5 things that helped me settle in my new temporary apartment. (besides family, friends, etc. of course, because that’s a given)
Scroll through this article or jump to a favourite topic within this post:
Unpack that suitcase
Items to practice the things you love
Plants
Music
Inexpensive Decorations
UNPACK THAT SUITCASE
Whether you are staying for a few days or a few months, if a homey feeling is what you are looking for then unpack that suitcase on the first day.
Organising a room or house and placing my items in it gave me a feeling that I recognised. Like doing laundry or making your bed, ( I am not saying that they are fun activities;) these are things that you do at home. And I think that getting a rhythm and finding your belongings on shelves and in cupboards will help you acclimatise to the new space.
My temporary apartment came with a few basic furniture pieces: a sofa, a bed, open cupboard and this clothes rack. This made it easy for me to unpack, since the rooms had a place to hang and place everything. But I think that if especially the clothes rack wouldn’t have been there, I would have bought one. They are very affordable at Ikea and it is something that you can take with you to a new home, or give to someone else that needs it afterwards.
ITEMS TO PRACTICE THE THINGS THAT YOU LOVE
Having limited space in a suitcase can be very tricky when you have to decide what to bring. Or even when you are moving to a new home, you will probably want to get rid of things to make room.
I actually made a list when moving to Berlin starting with the things I use the most in my daily life. After having made that list I categorised it by size, putting my dishwasher at the very top;)
Now, of course I couldn’t bring my dishwasher with me, that was a pretty obvious one. Put after the dishwasher came my sewing machine. And that is when things got tricky.
I knew I needed it for this blog, and other projects. But it would fill up almost 1/3 of my suitcase. I had to decide between taking it with me or leaving it behind and buying or renting a new one..
In the end I took it with me and I am so happy that I did! I use it so often and it really was worth bringing a few less dresses with me.
For me, my sewing machine was the hardest choice when it came to packing my suitcase. But I am sure that you have a relatable item that might not fit into your suitcase-schedule. Like a guitar, a yoga mat, etc. All of these things are not necessary to live abroad and you probably won’t need them like you need a warm coat.
But to feel like home, you have to be able to get to do the things that you love the most. For me this is making projects on my sewing machine and doing Yoga with Adriene on a daily basis.
PLANTS
One of the first things that I did when moving into this apartment was buy basic items that I needed that the apartment didn’t have (pillow, pan, etc.) and get a plant.
The apartment was so empty and all of the walls are white, which I think is perfect for now. But it just needed colour and life. Soon after that I collaborated with the Joy of Plants and more plants filled my living room. And I noticed how nice it felt to have them around.
The good thing about getting plants for a home that you know you will have to leave, you just know that there will always be someone to happily keep your plants afterwards. They are not a wasteful thing, you can give them away and make someone else happy with them.
The only problem I had with getting plants was the cost of flowerpots and planters. So I decided to make them myself or restyle the cheapest one I could find at Ikea (which is a new DIY project for the blog!)
MUSIC
One of the few luxuries I allow myself to have is my Spotify account. I use it every day and I don’t go on my bike without listening to my favourite playlists.
Music has always had a big impact on me, I can relive entire moments by hearing a song. This makes having music around me crucial to achieve a sense of ‘home’.
But at home I use my laptop to play my music and I always miss the sound system that I had in my previous home (which didn’t make the cut during the suitcase-packing-lists)
Until now! I am so happy with this collaboration, because Tivoli Audio turns out to have the perfect solution for this: a speaker that works through Wifi or bluetooth and can be activated through a very easy to use app on your phone.
This means that I can listen to my Spotify playlists and favourites cd’s on an actual good sounding speaker without having to plug my phone or laptop in.
So now, when I am sewing away, taking photos at home or even try to cook (yes, I am the worst chef in the world, which is why you can see me slicing bread in the picture below and not making a fancy meal;) I can keep listening to my music through the speaker, without having to walk around the house with my laptop.
The speaker that you see in the pictures is the ART cube and the reason why I choose this one, is because its size is perfect for my suitcase/nomadic lifestyle. I can easily bring this with me to my next home! And if I decide to settle for a long-term home, I can get a few more and slowly build an entire home system. (sound goals!)
I am already so happy with this addition to my sense of home, that at first I overlooked how great it actually looks! It would be a really nice (holiday) gift to give to someone that is about to go to college or also stay in a temporary home, but honestly I think I will just keep this one for myself;)
If you would like to know more sign up for the Tivoli Audio emails and get a 10% discount on your own speakers which are available around the world and online.
Which one would you choose?! Let me know in the comment section below!
INEXPENSIVE DECORATIONS
And last but certainly not least, my favourite way to make a place feel like home, is to fill it with decorative projects!
When you move into a temporary home, the chances are that you are living in a home that has been decorated by someone else. There might be some of your stuff there but you probably won’t bother to paint the walls or replace the curtains. Which means that you are staying in someone else ‘style and taste’.
You can be lucky and have a blank canvas or unlucky and live in a house that has been covered in pink paint (although now that I am writing this, it also sounds pretty cool to have a pink house!)
You won’t be able to do a full before/after on your temporary home, but there are a few things that you can do to adjust it to your taste:
– Remove and store any items that you don’t need and don’t like to look at (I put the giant old skool tv that came with my apartment in the closet)
– Rearrange the furniture to your liking.
– Hang things up on the wall. If you can use nails, great! If not, use washi tape.
– Buy candles in your favourite scent and light them at night.
– Add accessories that you might not need, but will add charm to the room. These don’t have to be things that are expensive. I made this Paper crane mobile in my bedroom (see pic above).
-Add plants to your rooms. You can even go vertical will my wall planter project(see pic below).
And that is it for now! Since I haven’t been living like this for long, I am also still learning and finding new ways to feel like ‘home’.
Do you have any special things or rituals that help in this situation? Let me know in the comments below or send me an email! x Lana
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tivoli Audio. All opinions are 100% mine.
