Simple ways to turn a house into a home

1. Décor is your friend (Beautiful home)

Empty walls and empty flowerbeds fill most people up with as much excitement as the thought of sitting down to do their e-filing with SARS. Meh. If you want to enrich your spaces, add a little volume and colour to them.

If your living room doesn't have a coffee table, add one, then add that tiger ornament your second cousin brought to the gift exchange at the last family reunion (or chuck it and add something more 'you'). Fill your walls with prints of Frida Kahlo, woven tapestries, or posters of Cher, back when she was still believing in life after love. The point is: fill your spaces with the décor that will make you say, "This is distinctively me, this feels like my home".

2. Upgrade the features (Functional home)

If the water leaks through the first layer of duct tape on your ceiling, you should probably stop denying that you've bought yourself a fixer-upper (also, that is a very bad solution to a leaking ceiling). Regardless, there is nothing more frustrating and alienating than the broken or imperfect parts of your home that you allow to stay that way.

Start with your kitchen and bathroom - these are high-traffic areas that will need a bit more TLC. Think about it this way - what will cost you more in the long run: buying a new showerhead that actually showers your whole body with water, or getting annoyed every morning when you have to do a little dance? It doesn't have to be an expensive escapade, fixing small irritants and doing timely maintenance can go a long way towards transforming your new house into a home.

3. Stop hoarding (Clean and neat home)

It is often said that a cluttered space is the sign of a cluttered mind. But one thing the saying doesn't reflect is that it is often the cluttered spaces that cause the cluttered minds and not the other way around. We're not saying you have to Marie Kondo your entire house, but lugging everything from your old space and forcing it into your new house is a recipe for clutter.

Clean and neat spaces have a scientifically proven positive effect on both the mind and the body. So, whether you find rest by climbing mountains, or binging the latest acclaimed Netflix show, make sure that as you live in your home, or come back to it at the end of the day, it fills you with relief rather than anxiety.