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Moving to a new home is an exciting event. Whether you’re moving from your parent’s house for the first time or looking for a new home for your growing family, it’s a life-changing event. You’re starting a new chapter, with new adventures and experiences ahead of you. However, it can also be a sad time, especially if you are moving out of a home you lived in for many years. Saying goodbye, after all, that time isn’t easy. We keep saying to ourselves that it doesn’t matter, that people and memories are what counts, not walls and ceilings. And while it’s true to some extent, it’s not what our hearts tell us.
A loving home is a place where we build our lives, learn and grow. It’s more than just architecture and decor. You know every nook and cranny of it, and every item reminds you of a pleasant or sad event. Although leaving your old house behind can be heartbreaking, there are many ways to say goodbye to your home before moving.
Ways to say goodbye to your home before moving
With that in mind, we’ve prepared some great ways to say goodbye to your home before moving to your new place.
Take a lot of photos and make a gallery wall
Maybe you already have a lot of photos taken over the years, but if you don’t, now is the time to take them. Nothing evokes memories as well as photographs. They’ll help you capture all the details and treasured items and places you love and enable you to take your memories to your new home. Ensure you have all the pictures you want – your favorite reading nook in the living room, a lovely spot on the patio, or your kid’s room.
Of course, don’t leave these photos in digital form. Instead, print them and arrange the ones you cherish the most into a scrapbook or a photo album. Or, depending on how much space you have in your new home, you could create a gallery wall. Dedicating a part of your new house to memories of the old one will help you connect the two and blend your past with the future.
Say goodbye to every room in your old home
When the time comes for moving out, allow yourself to say farewell to each room. Although there’s a whole list of things to do when moving to a new house and you’re probably in a hurry, don’t rush it. Instead, spend some time in each room before leaving and remember all the important, happy, or sad memories that tie you to it. Go through each area, reminiscence, or tell an interesting story of an event that occurred in that particular room. If you’re moving with kids, the process of saying genuine farewell will help them deal with the change.
Leave something behind
Before you move out and start choosing design details for your new home, you might want to leave your stamp on your old one. Leaving a mark as a symbol of all the years you spend there will help you say goodbye. It’s hard to think you’ll never go back and that someone else will build their life in your old home.
That’s why leaving a small sign will help you cope with any negative feelings. Of course, you don’t want to devalue your home before selling it or cause damage the new owners will have to deal with. Instead, something simple will do. For example, carve your initials into the bark of your favorite tree or leave a footprint in new cement. Or, if you don’t want to leave any physical traces, you can make a time capsule and bury it in the backyard.
Take something with you
Equally therapeutic as leaving something behind is taking something with you. Taking something meaningful will help you bridge the gap between the old and the new, the past and the future. Not to mention it will make your new place feel like home in an instant. Again, if you’re leaving your old home furnished, make arrangements with the new owners.
After all, all you need is an item you hold dear, and that has a special significance for you. There are many precious keepsakes you can choose – a doorknob from the door of your favorite room or even a whole doorframe with your kids’ growth marks carved into it. Additionally, you can press leaves and flowers from your dearest trees and plants in the garden. Or take a favorite plant or sapling with you – a living remembrance that grew with you. Plant it in your new home, where it will continue to be a part of your new life.
Plan one last adventure to say goodbye to your home
Another way to say goodbye to your home is to plan a unique activity before you move out. If there is something you always wanted to do in your soon-to-be-old house, but life got in the way, and you’ve never found the time, do it before the relocation. This can range from a simple thing to lavish events – if you can, plan it in advance. A formal dinner in your beautiful dining room or a fun day full of activities with the kids in the backyard – spend a day enjoying everything your sweet old home has to offer and say a hearty goodbye to it.
Throw a farewell party
A house cooling party is an excellent idea! Even if you’re moving locally, only a few blocks away, throwing a party for your loved ones will make coping with emotions more manageable. You might think that you don’t have the time with packing, planning the relocation, and everything else. However, if you prepare everything on time, you might have enough time for a farewell party. Invite your family, friends, and neighbors and celebrate your final days in your old home. Share your stories of the house and enjoy all the memories you made in it.
Commission a painting of your old home
If you want a more creative memento of your old house, commissioning an artist to make a painting of it is a great idea. There are plenty of artists you can find in your local community or online that can make a beautiful painting of your old home. You can display it in your new house, and it will surely warm your heart whenever you look at it.
Write a letter to the new owners
Another excellent idea is to write a letter to the new owners of your old home. Putting your thoughts and feelings on paper will ease your mind and help you say goodbye. Not to mention it will please the new people who’ll enjoy your home and make them feel welcomed. Tell them your favorite things about the property, share some tips and tricks only you know, and maybe even funny stories. A heartfelt gift for the new owners, such as an empty photo album or doormat, is a great way to say farewell and feel good about your future.
Also, if you’re moving with kids, you know it’s not easy. They find it harder to deal with their emotions and adapt to changes. For that reason, writing a letter or a welcome note or drawing a picture of the house will help them let go and become enthusiastic about their new home.
Get ready to enjoy your new home!
And, finally, a change can be a good thing. Although it’s hard to let go of so many memories and beloved, familiar places, don’t forget to get ready for new adventures and memories. Say goodbye to your home and hello to your new one. Focus on the life that lies ahead of you and all the future challenges and pleasures. Make your new house feel like home and throw a welcoming party to celebrate a new chapter in your life.
