If you constantly find yourself comparing your home with the ones on social media, it’s time to take a step back & learn how to love the home you have now.

The pandemic showed us how important it was to have the right environment at home, for work, play and rest. Many of us began noticing things about our homes that we hadn’t seen before – it was like we were looking at our spaces in a new light!

While this has been a positive change, it has also resulted in some undesirable results. As social media grew and influencers multiplied by leaps and bounds, we began to notice many things about our homes that we did not like. We compared our places to the ones we saw on Instagram and Pinterest, and did not like the results.

Well, where you’re living now may not be your dream home, and there are many reasons why you probably have to continue living here for a while. But that doesn’t mean that you have to resent your home every day you live here – you can still love and accept it for what it is!

After all, your home is where you eat, sleep, dream, pray, love, laugh, and cry, and it’s worth your while to learn how to love it. If you’ve been feeling disillusioned or frustrated about your home, we’ve got some tips here today on how to love the home you have – right now! Yes, you can love your home – warts, wardrobes, wallpaper, and all!

How to Love the Home you have Right Now

1. Be Grateful

It’s true – social media has infiltrated our lives so much that we lose sight of the things that really matter, and tend to focus on minutiae.

That’s why it’s good to do a digital detox – take a few (or many) steps back, and look at the big picture. You’ll find that you have a lot to be grateful for.

Choose to be grateful for the roof over your head and the protection from the outside world. Your home provides warmth and comfort and a variety of things that many people in the world do not have the privilege of. Your soft quilt, your favorite crockery, that sunny window – I’m sure you can find many things you already love if you really look for them!

2. Declutter

Ugh, not decluttering again! Why does this keep popping up?

Well, because it’s simply that important! We have enough research now that proves how a cluttered environment can directly affect your mental health.

A messy, disorganized home is hard to love, and it’s sad because this is something you can take action on immediately. Surface clutter is the biggest culprit here, as is improper use of available space.

Take a good look around your home, and try to clear as many things as possible from your surfaces. Keep only the essentials out, and organize them with a tray. Take small steps every day to declutter and organize your spaces and you’ll soon find that you’ve begun liking your home a lot more now!

3. Open up the Space

You can’t love someone who hurts you, and it’s the same with your home! If you find yourself constantly tripping or bumping into things, you’ve got a problem with the layout of your space.

Rearrange your furniture so that there is enough space to move around, giving the room the ‘flow’ it needs. If possible, replace large, chunky pieces of furniture with more airy styles, like sofas with legs or slimmer tables. You’ll love how open and light the space feels!

4. Get those Repairs Done

Maybe the lack of love you have for your home is simply because your mind is burdened with a long list of unfinished tasks. When you let things pile up, it becomes natural to blame the house for it, rather than your own procrastination!

This is something every homeowner struggles with, but it is really not that hard to fix! Today, walk around your home with a paper and pencil and jot down every single thing that needs some kind of repair or replacement. It could be something small, like changing a bulb, or a bigger job like painting a wall.

Once you have your list, sort the items into things you can DIY and things that you need to hire help. Then call up your handyman and make an appointment. For the DIY projects, set aside the weekend and make sure you have all the supplies required beforehand. Now get to work and knock off the items on that list!

5. Keep it Clean

Okay, it is very, very, very hard to love a dirty home – even if it has all your favorite things in it!

More often than not, cleaning tasks take up much more time in our heads than they do in real life. You’ve been procrastinating on cleaning those fans for weeks now, but when you actually get down to it, it doesn’t take more than 15-20 minutes!

If your home is in really bad shape, consider hiring a cleaning service, and then you can maintain it as you go. Else, get the family together on the weekend, assign everyone a few tasks and get your home spick and span.

Make cleaning less of a bother by getting the right tools and cleaning products. Do some research on how to clean specific areas or surfaces, and you’ll find that cleaning is a lot easier than you thought it was!

6. Bring in your Favorite Colors

Color has a powerful effect on our mood, and it can really affect the way you feel about your home. I know the minimalist trend is all about greys and beiges, but that does not work for everyone. If you’re like me, you need some color in your space!

If you don’t have too much natural light and all the furniture and furnishings are in dark colors, it’s natural to feel dull and moody. Change your upholstery or go for lighter fabrics for curtains and throws. If your space has too many light colors, what you probably need is a pop of bright colors.

While colors are great to change the mood of a space, you have to be careful with them. Think about what your favorite color is and try to include little accents in that color throughout your decor. You can’t not love a home that is personalized for you!

7. Display your Collections

One possible reason you don’t love the home you have is that it doesn’t reflect your personality. This can make it feel ‘distant’ and a little impersonal.

So go ahead and display your favorite collections! Doesn’t matter if it’s not a traditional collector’s item – the quirkier the better! Whether it’s vintage model cars, porcelain baby animals, or cute salt and pepper shakers, display them on shelves and in vignettes. You’ll love all those special corners in your home a lot more now!

8. Add Greenery

Whatever the size of your home or whatever your decor style, it’s an established fact that some nice green plants can immediately perk up the space.

And before you ask – yes, even if you don’t have a green thumb, there are many plants that even you can grow in your home. Succulents are great, as are hardy plants like pothos or snake plants.

Think about how a group of colorful planters and a patch of greenery would look in a dull corner of your home. When you have a living plant in your home, it makes that space extra special – you need to experience it to find out!

9. Add a Scent you Love

Close your eyes for a minute and take a deep breath. What do you smell?

Is it trash that needs to be taken out? Is it unwashed clothes lying on the floor? Or a musty carpet full of dust?

If you answered yes to any of these, then it’s no wonder you’re having a hard time loving your home!

Like color, scents also have a strong impact on our psyche. It is one of those things that seem insignificant, but can actually make a big difference.

Create a system to handle smelly things like laundry and garbage. Then bring in some candles or a diffuser in your favorite fragrance and let it spread around your home – you will realize you actually love being in it!

10. Add Mood Lighting

Most of our homes are built with harsh lighting. There’s usually a bright tube light high up on the wall, and it casts a strong white light around the space.

Nothing really wrong with that light, and it’s great for working, but it really doesn’t create a ‘mood’. Lighting can completely change the way things appear in your home, which is why planning it strategically is important.

Have at least three points of light in a room. If you don’t have a false ceiling or can’t install overhead lights, add ambient lighting in the form of table lamps, floor lamps, sconces, or pendant lights. Use warm yellow bulbs. Your room will feel larger, more open, and definitely worth loving!

11. Focus on the Entryway

First impressions are important, and every time you walk in the front door, your home leaves a first impression on you! How welcoming your entryway is can affect the way you feel about your home, which is why it is an area that deserves some extra love.

Have a little entryway table or at the very least, a shelf. Let it hold a combination of functional and decorative elements. For instance, you can have a cute handmade ceramic bowl for your keys, along with a large plant or vase. A little photo frame with a quote or picture and you’ll love the way your home feels when you walk in every time!

12. Keep the Kitchen Minimal

The kitchen is the heart of your home, and if you don’t love your home as you should, maybe you should start looking at the kitchen first.

You cook multiple times a day, which means you spend a good part of your days in the kitchen. If it’s a messy, dark, and uninspiring space, it’ll naturally make an essential task feel overwhelming and unpleasant.

So set aside a day or a weekend just for your kitchen. Clear out the clutter, and get rid of duplicates. Replace broken, chipped, or stained items. Give everything a thorough clean. Find a home for everything and make them easy to access.

Finally, add a touch of pretty – a plant, flowers, cute crockery, or anything you like that’ll make your kitchen a place you love to be in.

13. Set the Table

If you’re like most people out there (including me), you probably have some ‘nice’ plates, glasses, and table linen that you’ve ‘saved’ up for special occasions.

Well, why isn’t today special? Or tomorrow? Let’s bring back the lost art of setting the table for every meal, and make every day a special occasion. You deserve to enjoy all those nice things NOW!

Keep your phone away and have a screen-free meal, even if it’s just by yourself. Set your table with pretty tablecloths or runners, and create a pretty centerpiece with things you already have – vases, planters, ceramics, etc. Add some plants or flowers and you have a place you’ll want to eat in!

14. Use Soft Furnishings

A bare couch is minimal, but it is, well, pretty basic. It can appear bare, or even cold and uninviting. Your space shouldn’t just feel welcoming to your guests, you should feel good there too!

Adding a few cushions or throws can dramatically improve a space, and is a good way to get in your favorite colors and textures. A soft, fluffy throw will make you fall in love with your sofa or living room, for example.

This also extends to other parts of your home, like the sheets on your bed and the towels in your bathroom. When things feel nice to touch and use, you’ll automatically fall in love with the space!

15. Show off your DIY

Remember when you were a child and created a drawing of your family? You were so proud of it that you insisted that it be put up on the fridge. It made you want to go to the kitchen just to look at it – several times a day!

Well, as we grow older, we get more judgmental about ourselves, and our skills. For many of us, the thought of showing our art to the world can bring on cringe, but we are far better than we think!

No one expects you to be a Picasso or a Kahlo, but you can still create something that looks good – at any rate it will most certainly be unique! DIY is not about perfection, but about being willing to explore and get creative.

Not interested in painting a large canvas or embroidering a tapestry? No problem; maybe you can upcycle something that has worn down, with some paint or polish. Maybe you can create a collage with abstract art pieces and make something completely new.

When you have something in your home that you have worked on and which represents your creativity, it’s obvious that you’ll feel more attached to your space than you ever did before.

16. Cover the Ugly Bits

No matter how hard we try, every home is bound to have those ‘ugly bits’. It could be a bunch of wires, the electric circuit board, worn-off paint, or a stain. Every time you see it, you feel bothered by it, and it stops you from truly loving your home.

Don’t worry – you’re not alone! Those ugly bits can easily be hidden or camouflaged, and you just have to be creative with solutions. Damaged paint or a circuit board can be covered with a large canvas painting. There are many organizers that’ll keep those cables under control.

If all else fails, you can simply put a large plant and hide whatever is bothering you!

17. Have a Maintenance Plan

So you’ve cleaned your home and made the repairs and everything is looking great. Now, how do you make sure that this feeling lasts, and that you don’t end up hating your home in the future?

The solution here lies in the systems you create to maintain your home. Have separate routines for decluttering and cleaning each room, including daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly tasks. Check your calendar every week and make a note of the things to be done – this way, you’ll always be on top of things and will never feel overwhelmed by your home again.

18. Choose one area to Splurge

You can have a lovely home on a budget, or you can have a grand, luxurious space with expensive things. It is truly up to you, how much you want to spend on each aspect of your home.

However, there may be some things that really matter to you, and for which you’d like to go premium. If that’s the case, choose one, or at the most two, areas of your home that you’d really like to splurge on.

Maybe there is a candle with a gorgeous, luxurious fragrance that you like. Or you’re a flower person and like having fresh flowers in your home every day. Maybe keeping your home dust free all the time is your number one priority, and you would like to invest in a powerful vacuum cleaner.

Whatever it is, decide on one or two things and go all out. You will love using those items all the time, and it will make you feel all luxurious and high-end – and very loving towards your home!

19. Create a Personal Spot

You use your home for various purposes, and there are different parts of your home designated for each. However, every person needs that one ‘me-corner’ in their home, a spot where they can put down their hair, put up their feet, and feel completely at home!

Of course, we all wish we could have an entire room for this purpose, but let’s be practical here! Look around and find the spot that you tend to gravitate towards usually. If that’s what you like, you can turn that into your personal spot.

Design the place so that it is comfortable for you. Make the seating comfortable, add your favorite quotes or pictures, as well as whatever it is that you like spending time with – books, puzzles, earphones, or paints. Make it a place that is 100% you!

20. Make Happy Memories

No matter what material items you fill your house with, what eventually makes it a home is the people inside it. It is the laughter, stories, fun and love shared between them that actually give your home a personality and make you fall in love with it.

If you think that your home is lacking that kind of character, we can change things. Invite your friends over for the game night, or have a family dinner every weekend with extended family members. When the walls echo with laughter and the floors hear a happy pitter-patter of feet, that’s when you know it’s a home worth loving!

At the end of the day, it’s all in your mind. Your home is what you make of it, and you need to start by enjoying little moments by yourself while being at home. Take the time to really savor the coffee in your favorite mug as you sit on your soft couch, feeling the wind coming in through the window. Savor your bathtime with your favorite scented body products and soft towels.

When your family is around, put away the screens and spend quality time with each other, enjoying snacks in your cute bowls and relaxing on fluffy cushions while you do. As you think about how to love the home you have, you’ll find that loving your home is just like any other relationship – you put in the work and you’ll enjoy being together!