How do you think about where you live
House v Home
If you happen to show someone the building
Do you say – that is our house or that is our home?
There are lots of ideas out there on the WWW
Most seem to conclude that
A house is a physical structure with walls a roof and a door
A home can be anywhere you live, that place, that structure made pleasant and safe by the people who live there
So what about you?
What are your thoughts
Is it just
A House – something that you are living in
or
A Home – the place where you are living but also where you feel comfortable and safe.
Are you content and thankful just to have a roof over your head
or
do you feel you must have things around you that you are able to relate to
Things that prove this place is yours – give you a sense of identity
‘Home is where the Heart is’
We often talk about the ‘family home’
Does that mean that those who are single, widowed or divorced, those with no one to love or share their place with live in a home or is it just a house?
Do those owners of immaculate places have a house or a home ?
Does owning the place make any difference?
I know on the few occasions we have rented I found I couldn’t form an attachment to the ‘House’. That’s all it was – A House we were living in
Because of circumstances at those times, we were actually renting fully furnished so there wasn’t much we could do to make the place ‘ours’. Yes, we had some bits and pieces and knick knacks to dot here and there around the house but
We could never change the paint colour, decorate or alter in any other form, and in some cases not even put a nail in the wall to hang pictures.
So I never felt it was our ‘Home’
I’d love to know how others have felt if they’ve experienced living that way. Does being able to put your stamp on rented premises make it more homelike for you or have you accepted what has been offered as
‘this is it at the moment’.
******
And what has put me into this ponderous mood?
A friend’s grandchild is ‘moving out’ and was talking about this very same thing the other day. The youngster’s not going very far though……just to the bottom of the garden into the Granny Flat that belonged to the other grandma😊
And talking of homes let’s spare a thought for those in the path of Cyclone Alfred as it makes its way towards the Queensland- New South Wales coastline. Unusual (but not unheard of)to have one come this far south it’s forecast to cross land on Saturday morning
I’m hoping this (live) link is being updated:-.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/cyclone-alfred-live-updates-brisbane-south-east-queensland-braces-for-first-direct-impact-from-storm-in-50-years-northern-nsw-prepares-for-flooding-20250305-p5lh6c.html
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Still Waters 
I haven’t lived in rented accommodation since student days in London….’The Flattleship Potemkin’ out in Stratford with a leaky roof. That felt like a home as we were a settled bunch and we all knew where to place the buckets when it rained.
Leo had wandering feet, so we moved a lot – usually into whatever he was renovating at the time – but all those houses were homes almost immediately.
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Like in your student days it’s often the situation you’re in that decides how you feel about a place. Happy memories by the sounds of it.
Hope all is well with you and the love of your life
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Home is where I have all my treasures around me. I’ve had a few of those. The actual house, 4 walls, can be anywhere or anyhow. You make it into a hone
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We tried several times and agreed as long as life was treating us well we would accept a bad situation because we knew the only way to go was up
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Home is where I am comfortable… not always a house. I have had places I rented that were very much a home as well as a place I owned that never felt at all a home. These are such great questions… it really makes one think about how one might describe where they live!
Also, stay safe as that cyclone makes it way towards you!
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I think that’s the key to this situation Kate – being comfortable with where you are.
We’re about 1,500 kms from where the cyclone is predicted to reach landfall south of Brisbane (unless it changes course over the next 12 hrs)- it’s expected to move west but I’m sure there’ll be some after effects felt down here in Victoria.
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It is all of these things for me and probably the most important thing in my life now. While I do keep in my mind that we never had the cost of raising children, and we had a much easier time when buying our first house, we did it with hard work and many times, going without.
A Home – the place where you are living but also where you feel comfortable and safe.
Are you content and thankful just to have a roof over your head
or
do you feel you must have things around you that you are able to relate to
Things that prove this place is yours – give you a sense of identity
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I can understand your home being like a cocoon protecting your body mind and soul at the moment Andrew. Your safe place, a place where you can withdraw from the world now and again
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Home can be many things. To me, home is where I feel safe and sound. Home can also be a feeling – home is knitting needles in my hand. Home is a warm cup of tea on a cold afternoon. For me it’s less about the structure and ownership and more about how I feel. Interesting questions. I hope the Cyclone doesn’t disrupt too many lives. Stay safe.
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It’s getting real up there at the moment, cyclones don’t normally happen that far down the east coast. We are 1,500 kms south and can only sit and watch as it dilly dallies its way towards land and then inland. It’s certainly slow in its movements which is making it hard for all those involved – figures say about 4 million people live in the affected area!
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homes were numerous until I was about 6 years, stable for 10 years and after I left home aged 16 just seemed to be a change a year. I have lived in structures as diverse as caravans, boats, colonial cottages, tin shacks, brick bungalows, concrete apartments and Victorian terraced houses. Until my parents died, home was where they were (and they moved a lot too). While overseas, home was New Zealand. Strangely, now that it has been sold, the sale of my UK house has left me homeless. I guess it’s gome if you call it that – your base for now.
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