Do you have a house, or a home?

Posted by Lindsay Castergini on November 18, 2014

house or home

Your a buyer, looking for that perfect home. I don’t mean perfect as in, granite, hardwoods, stainless appliances, large master suite and enough space for your family, as well as guests and of course those holiday hosting events.

I mean perfect home as in, you walk in the door and the feelings of “this is it” surrounds you. Your coat comes off, the children automatically label bedrooms as “theirs” the fireplace is sparkling with golden flames as you picture your family holidays around the large dining room table.

This is what many buyers are looking to find when they start their search for their perfect home. What I will share with you is that I found those feelings don’t always come as you walk through the door. Sometimes the perfect home for your family will at first be calculated by school districts, yard size and bedroom numbers. A house most often becomes your home at different times for everyone. For me, it was that first night I lit a fire in our woodstove.

I had lived in my house for about 3 months, still trying to feel it out, not sure if it was really the right choice for my family or not. We had moved from a small home with close neighbors who we loved, close to downtown where we could walk to anything, a great back yard and a home we all were sad to leave. We moved to a large home, a good drive away from town, into a neighborhood we didn’t know, with houses that were spread far enough apart that you couldn’t shout from window to window.

Was this the right fit for us? Did we make a mistake moving? Were my children going to like it here? Where do we walk with a stroller? Will we meet new friends? These were the questions I had on my mind and my children clearly had on theirs. It was a transitional few months were we went through the normal everyday routines of life coming home, going to school and work…but something felt different, it wasn’t quite a feeling of coming home, but more a feeling of this is where we live.

It wasn’t until that first chilly day when I decided to light a fire in our oversized fireplace holding an old cast iron woodstove that changed our home from a house to a home. The smell of the wood burning, the coziness of the heat from the woodstove, the amber light of the flames from the open screen and the gathering of my children around the warmth of the living room. This moment, was what we needed. This night was the night my children said they loved our home, this seemingly small act of lighting a fire is what made our house, our home.

So I urge you, when looking for that perfect home for your family, ask yourself, does everything, or most everything we want come with this home, does it feel good? Can you see the potential to turn this house into a home?  If your living in a house that you haven’t quite fell in love with yet, give it time and love. The home will come.