The average Brit spends over £5000 making their house feel like a home, a study has found. Researchers also pin-pointed the exact amount of time after moving day for a house to feel like a real home in the study of 2,000 home owners- 17 months and 12 days.
During that time, the average Brit has spent £5,044 personalising their space – first the living room, followed by the main bedroom and kitchen.
However, 40% of homeowners couldn’t properly call their house a home until they stopped receiving the previous owner’s mail, while one in five say a house isn’t officially a home until they’re on first name terms with the neighbours.
The research, which was commissioned by Planitherm glass, revealed aspects of life which help make a house feel lived in and found experiencing a first Christmas, hosting a barbecue, two family visits and six framed photos as big factors.
Laying new carpets, doing up the bathroom and ripping out the kitchen were named as key areas to focus on in the house, while fitting new windows was also high up on the to-do list.
Craig Dodsworth, market manager for Planitherm glass said:
“There are many aspects that go into creating a real home and we all have a seemingly never-ending to do list for things we hope to improve.
“But it seems as well as improving the environments we live in we have to experience certain moments or aspects of life under a roof in order to call it a home.
“We’re very territorial and it’s no surprise to see that we like to feel a place is really ours by quickly getting rid of the previous owner’s influence on the property.”
Nearly half of the survey insisted that for a house to really feel a home, all signs and traces of the previous owners need to be removed.
It takes decorating at least four rooms for the average Brit to feel the place where they live is really theirs, while 40% insist they have to tackle every room in the house to be content.
The average property owner had lived in their current property for over seven years, but one in four still didn’t consider it a ‘home’.
Some people aren’t in much of a hurry– 28% are still yet to fully unpack.
In fact, it takes the average homeowner six months and 15 days to unpack completely when moving to a new property.
Craig Dodsworth from Planitherm glass continued:
“The results show just how important it is to feel warm and comfortable in the place we call home but it takes almost a year and a half for the average person to properly achieve that.
It seems that making renovations to a house has a big part to play in making it feel more like a home. One in four homeowners surveyed said that fitting new windows would make a house feel more comfortable and homely.
TOP 10 THINGS WHICH MAKE A HOUSE FEEL A HOME
- Making it warm and snug
- Enjoying a first Christmas
- Filling all rooms with furniture
- A top to bottom clean of the whole place
- Experiencing all four seasons in the house
- Planting your own things in the garden
- Fitting your own toilet seat
- Stripping the walls
- Having a birthday
- Being on first name terms with the neighbours
TOP 10 HOME TO DO LIST
- Paint each room
- Lay new carpets in each room
- Do up the bathroom
- Rip out the kitchen
- Fit new double glazing
- Add new front door (or paint existing one)
- Re-landscape the garden
- Lay a new driveway
- Add a conservatory
- Extend/add another room
