From the moment you put in an offer on your dream house, you’ve likely imagined yourself living there. You probably considered the furniture you’d buy, the dinner parties you’d host, and the bedroom you’d make beautiful, all before you even got those keys. And when that day finally came, it likely felt like those dreams were set to become a reality.
But then, something strange happened. Now that you’ve moved into your new property, none of your visions have come true, and that’s all down to one undeniable thing – you simply can’t shake the feeling that you’re living in someone else’s home.
You see the old owner (or your version of them) in every corner of every room, like the ghost of an unwelcome house guest. They hover over your shoulder any time you try to invite friends over, and at this point, you’re quaking in your boots about this unwanted haunting.
That’s certainly no way to live, but you may be surprised to hear that it’s more common than you think. After all, moving into what was once someone else’s sanctuary is a strange process, and it’s no wonder that you and the old owner now become a little too close for comfort. Luckily, you needn’t live with the ghost of another person for much longer. In this article, we’ll discuss why your new home still feels so much like someone else’s house, and what on earth you can do about it!
The Three D’s That Are Damaging Your Chances to Settle
This is your dream home, the property you searched high and low for, so why does it still feel like such a poor fit? Far from suggesting you made the wrong decision with where to put your mortgage, your difficulty settling in can be more easily explained by something we like to refer to as ‘The Three D’s’.
While they might sound harmless, and even a little cute, these dastardly d-words can significantly drag down your new home experience. But what are they, and why are they taking such a haunting toll right now?
# 1 – Dirt
In an ideal world, you might have liked to move into a shining home that was scrubbed from top to bottom. Unfortunately, many past homeowners simply don’t have time to make sure that’s the case, and who can blame them – they’re busy getting ready for a home move of their own!
Understandable as it may be, this lack of deep clean power can lead to your living with someone else’s dirt. And, it doesn’t get much worse than that. From stray hairs in the shower to suspicious splatters down the back of the toilet, there’s likely enough of the old owner’s DNA left in your new home to make a few hundred Voodoo dolls.
And, with that being the case, is it altogether surprising that you can feel their presence to such a severe degree?
# 2 – Decor
Living with someone else’s decor might not be as bad as dusting their skin cells, but it’s another thing that could be putting a dampener on your settling-in process. After all, how can you possibly live out your dream visions when every single room is covered with what someone else had in mind for your property?
The simple answer is that you can’t, and before you know it, it might start to feel like that old owner’s decor preference is a bad nightmare you can’t wake up from!
# 3 – Disorganization
In an ideal world, we would move into our new homes and have everything unpacked the next day. But, even if you get stuff out of the boxes in time, there’s simply no chance of having things organized exactly how you want them right away.
For your first few weeks, or even your first months in your new home, you’ll probably be battling with piles of belongings that don’t have a place yet, boxes that you simply shove out of the way, and furniture that you know isn’t where you want it.
All of this has the unfortunate result of adding to your feelings that this isn’t your space. Instead, you may well feel like your belongings are just borrowing those places until the real owner comes back and demands you move everything.
How to Take True Ownership of Your New Home
If you’re fed up with letting the Three D’s drag you down, then we’ve got good news for you – there are plenty of things you can do to take true ownership of your new home, and we’re going to consider the most pressing on them here –
# 1 – Stick Your Stuff in Storage and Start Deep Cleaning
While you can clean around your belongings to some extent, it’s difficult to truly erase every trace of the old owner from your new home if you immediately put sizable furniture pieces in place. This will mean that, despite your best efforts, the truly ground-in dirt in things like your carpets and corners is near enough impossible to get rid of. Yet, as we’ve discussed, you definitely don’t want someone else’s dirt damaging your new home journey!
So, what can you do about it? Well, we think putting at least your largest furniture items in storage might be a great place to start. Admittedly, this might be a bit of a challenge upfront, but we can assure you that you’ll be glad you took this step when you’re finally able to ensure everything from deep carpet cleaning to complete fumigation of those nasty dust buildups.
You could also simplify this task by hiring a storage unit for a month or so, and simply moving your furniture one room at a time until the whole house is sparkling and ready for you to make your mark!
# 2 – Don’t be Afraid to Play With Layout
Even if you had your own vision for your property, there’s a chance that it was more influenced by the old owner’s layout than you might imagine. After all, we humans are easily influenced, and it can be tough to entirely reimagine a property when we’re looking at pictures of it looking a certain way. Whether you realize it or not, there’s a pretty high chance that you’ll choose the same master bedroom and even a similar layout for your living room.
But, we’re here to tell you that it doesn’t need to be that way! Sometimes, even a simple step like positioning your bed on a different wall can make it feel a lot more like the space belongs to you (and your family, of course!). It’ll certainly get rid of many of those old owner vibes you’ve been trying to shake.
If you struggle to envision this change, then don’t be afraid to just play around with decor layouts, or even change the purposes of a few rooms. This way, you can slowly start to undo the hold that the old owner still has on you.
# 3 – Hire Pro Decorators
Redecorating an entire house is a major task, and it could take you years to finally get around to every room. In the meantime, you’ll have little shrines to the old owner’s preferences sitting right there in the house, bothering you even if you keep the doors closed! This is a reality you don’t want to face, and it’s something you can overcome by simply trusting pro decorators to tackle the task for you.
We’ll be honest, this one could set you back anywhere between $2,000 and $12,000 depending on the scope of the task, but look at it this way – you won’t need to buy equipment, stock up on paint, or somehow scrape together the time to get things done. Plus, decorators are professionals with a great deal of design experience. Whether you have a specific brief or simply give them the feel for how you’d like your rooms to look, they’re some of the best people for bringing your vision to life in your home at long last.
# 4 – Give it Time
We know what you’re going to say – this last point is no help at all! But, hear us out.
Even if you’ve cleaned every trace of another person, have set the mood with your decor, and have busted your backside to position your furniture in the right places, this property is still incredibly new to you. You certainly don’t have many memories here yet, so that may be the primary reason why someone else’s experiences here are haunting you right now.
Your last best chance of silencing that ghost is to simply take the time to truly live in this space. Trust us – the whole house will feel a lot more like a representation of you for every cozy evening or raucous party you have here.
Takeaway
There’s no reason to let the ghost of your home’s old owner haunt you any longer – it’s time to take full control with our help!
