10 ways to turn your house into a home

A unseasonal post (or a break, depending on your point of view) that does what it says in the title.

It’s the time of year when everyone’s feed is full of all things tinsel and glitter. Mad About The House aims to be a respite from all that, offering instead all things home (topical at any time of year but particularly apt when it’s cold outside and we want to make the most of our own places and spaces). As ever, I’m enormously grateful to those of you who have subscribed, and I hope you find these posts helpful and interesting.

Home is as much an idea as a physical place. We can all aspire to own a house (or a flat) but the magic comes when you turn it into a home. It is one of the few words in the English language that works as noun, adjective, adverb and verb. To be ‘home’ is to be surrounded by all that is comfortable and familiar and safe.

Home is the place we want to retreat to when we feel threatened or scared. It is where we long to return after we have been away, either by choice or through circumstance. It can be both an entire country – homeland – or a set of walls and a roof.

But to leave the conceptual aside and return, if you will, to the concrete: how do you go about turning one into the other? Here are 10 tips to get you started. Make sure you think about each one and how you wish to interpret them according to your own style and you will be well on the way.

Your home should tell your story. Think of it as the cover of your biography and decorate accordingly.

1. Personalise, personalise, personalise

I do not mean adding your initials to everything – although that has turned from what I assumed would be a short-lived fad to an ongoing trend that never seems to end. Doesn’t work for me, as most companies offer two initials for free and I have three. And a hyphen. So no, this is not about that.

It's about putting yourself into your space. It’s the opposite of what the estate agents advise when they tell you to declutter so that prospective buyers can see themselves in your home. I say put out your photos, peg up your kids’ artwork and arrange your collection of Moomin mugs.

Years ago, we decorated our houses so we could sell them quickly and it was all about neutral colours and bland interiors. Now, the boom years are over and we buy our houses to live in them. Decorate your home to reflect the people who live there.

2. Something old, something new, something black and something gold

This mantra is the key to every room. Something old – a vintage piece that came from a previous house or an elderly relative; something with character and history. It doesn’t have to have been in the family for ages, but it must be pre-loved - and it doesn’t matter who by. It will bring personality to the space. There’s something about the patina of an old piece that doesn’t come from new stuff.

And let’s be honest, there’s always something new – the sofa or the mattress, or the rug that brings the whole thing together.

Then you need something black to anchor the space and give it some edge. It doesn’t matter if you prefer pale colours, a dash of black or charcoal will show them off better and create definition. It can also be dark wood, which will always bring more character than modern, pale oak. In fact, if you live in a period property or have old furniture, I would always choose dark wood over light.

Finally, it doesn’t have to be gold but something metallic that will bounce the light around and create interest, as well as reflecting the details of the room. Mirrors are obvious but they do work. If you have an especially large mirror the effect can be a bit “gym”, so look for one of those old speckled or “foxed” versions which are kinder to the room. There are online tutorials on how to achieve this effect yourself.

In my sitting room above, the old is the coffee table, the rugs, the sofa in the bay window. The new is the chocolate brown velvet sofa. The black is, in this case, the dark accessories and walls. The gold is, obviously, the brass palm tree lamp.

3. Remember the touch points

Handles, light switches, bannisters. If you touch it, make it count. The brain remembers the pleasing warmth of a smooth wooden bannister, the clunk of a metal toggle light switch, or the cool grip of a porcelain door handle. You may forget, or dislike, a colour, you may not care for the furniture, but you will always remember how a space felt.

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