How to make a house feel like home

I’m struggling with homesickness right now. Double homesickness. It’s the Argus Cycle race in Cape Town and Facebook is flooded with pictures of my friends cycling from one ocean to another. All week I’ve been gazing at photos of mountains and beaches, which I used to run on every day and which are so beloved to me. The cerulean blue skies mocking me just as the long rains have arrived in Kenya. As I hunker inside my house whilst the rain cascades down outside, I can’t help but think of England. England, and all my friends and family that I’ve left behind. How I miss you all.

I’ve decided that choosing action over inaction is the solution. With Pinterest and my imagination as my weapons, my mission is to make my rental house feel like a real home.

Paint, paint – glorious paint.

In Kenya a tin of paint costs 7 dollars and you can buy it in any of the hardware stores. It comes in all colours of the rainbow.

Colour is my weakness, the gaudier the better. I’m reined in somewhat by my husband, but have to admit I went a bit mad in the kid’s rooms.

My daughter’s room is now painted mint green, with a giant tree sticker shipped in from the UK.

The boys have a slightly schizophrenic theme, with a Power Ranger lightening bolt on one side and shocking blue wall with batman on the other.

Then to the toy room. I made mountains (told you I was missing my Capetonian mountains). These are the easiest things to paint. Bit of masking tape, couple of glasses of wine and it only took me a few hours. Find out how here.

I then tackled the crumbling pallet furniture that we’d shipped from Cape Town. It looks pretty good if Ido say so myself.

I have plans for the living room. Bright pink definitely features, but hubby is proving a harder nut to crack than expected.  It doesn’t really matter what is looks like in the end, as long as it feels right to you. Nothing transforms a room as quickly as a pot of paint.

Veg patch

Growing your own vegetables is the best. It’s a satisfying process from start to finish. The joy of planting the seeds with your kids (big mothering high five). Sauntering outside a la Alan Titchmarsh to check how they are getting on. Then the joy of watching your kids pick the veggies they planted. I even love the inevitable weeks of eating the same vegetable cooked 25 different ways when you have an unexpected bumper crop.  The task of maintaining a veggie patch is grounding, calming and somewhat therapeutic. But to be honest even if your veggie patch is a bit of a dud,  creating one still feels makes a house feel like a home.  It shows investment in where you live even if its a rental. So it’s win: win, right?

Adopt a pet

First off I’m HUGELY against expats adopting a pet if you aren’t 100% convinced that you are taking itwith you. I hate to bang the drum, but it’s a drum that needs banging! Pets are for life.

We have a grumpy old cat that’s been with us from England, to Cape Town and now to Kenya. On Friday we went to the KSPCA ‘just to look’ and we came home with this little bundle of fluff. He was swiftly adopted by my son who wont be apart from him for a minute. ‘Star’ has brightened our day and is helping to teach our 5-year-old twins the importance of taking care of animals. Plus there are so many animals needing a home in Kenya that if you can offer a good and permanent home, then you really should think about it.

We also have chickens. In the same way as the veggie patch makes you feel all earthy and good, there is nothing like your own eggs. There is also nothing as wonderful as chickens in your garden. The chickens we go from Karen Fresh Produce are the friendliest animals in the world. Should you let them, they will happily sit in your lap. They lay an egg a day and bring a smile to my face every morning. We commissioned a chicken hut through Lynk, which also has a little herb garden at he front. We picked up the idea for the hut through Pinterest

Put up some pictures

We made a wall of photos of our sorely missed family. Some of the frames we already had and some we bought locally. You can get cheap frames in Nakumatt, or nicer ones in places like Mr. Price Home or even commission your own through Lynk.

Creating a photo wall is easy. In my opinion haphazard is best. Our wall used different colour and size frames and they are placed in a random order. Hard to mess up really.

You can get the same effect using shelves

Or create wall with a bit more order like this one: https://brittdowell.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/easy-diy-tutorial-gallery-wall-with-ikea-ribba-frames/

Buy flowers and light candles.

Looking for a quick or temporary fix, you can’t go wrong with flowers or candles.

Flowers are one of the cheapest things I’ve found to buy in Kenya when compared with the rest of the world. I love to have flowers every day, but they don’t always need to be bought. Even a vase of flowers picked by your kids will bring sunshine to your room. To me, flowers brighten everything.

At night, with this rainy weather I love my candles. We hit the shops when we were back in England and came back loaded with candles but they are for sale ever so cheaply in Kenya. There is a delicious range of smelly candles at Langata Link Shops.  In the past when I’ve found my candles don’t ‘throw’ enough scent, I’ve added oils to make the room more fragrant. Here’s how https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Scented-Candles

Invite some people round

A home is about the people inside. So invite your kid’s friends over for a play date. Invite your friends over for a dinner or a glass of wine on a Friday afternoon. Have fun. Make Memories. As they say:

“It doesn’t matter where in the world you live. As long as you are surrounded by friends

and family that you love and are loved by then you are at home.”

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