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10 Ways To Make Your House Feel Like A Home

Whitney Baldwin

52,028 views

What makes a house actually feel like home? For me, it’s not about making everything match or chasing the latest trends. It’s about paying attention to the house itself, keeping the details that give it character, using color, collecting meaningful pieces, making things by hand, and allowing a home to evolve over time.

In this video, I’m sharing 10 things I do in every house I design to make it feel warmer, more personal, more lived-in, and more like the people who actually live there.

We’ll talk about preserving original details, choosing color with confidence, mixing old and new, decorating with things that have a story, embracing imperfections, designing for real life, and creating a home that grows with you.

If you love old houses, collected interiors, DIY projects, vintage pieces, thoughtful design, and homes that feel layered instead of overly perfect, I think you’ll enjoy this one.

Chapters
00:00 Intro
0:58 Don’t Make It Match
01:48 Listen to the House
03:03 Color Isn’t Scary
04:13 Choose Things With Stories
04:44 Make Something
06:00 Design for Real Life
07:23 Let It Evolve
08:18 Design for Feeling
08:53 Keep the Imperfections
09:31 Design for the Life You Want
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This channel is dedicated to helping you DIY a cozy space to call home. I share home renovation tips, interior design ideas, DIY home decor projects, thrift flip transformations, room makeovers and home product reviews. Remember design is a process and you can do anything!

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20 Comments

@anadajboc 2 days ago

The way I made my house feel like a home was with that first plant—it changed everything for me.

@cathleen537 9 days ago (edited)

In my mind, there is way too much emphasis (esp. on YouTube) on "decorating" a home.
#2- I have lived in many (almost all very old) houses as an adult. I have come to understand (I'm 70 now) how crucial it is to listen to a house. Let her show you what she needs. Keep listening as time goes on. It's a partnership. I begin listening and feeling what a house needs before I buy because we need to be compatible. Just as I want to be respectful of her, I have certain things I need to be able to create in the home I live in. I want to honor the house I call home, and at the same time I look for a home who will honor who I am and what I need to create, and how I want to be within her space.
I am happy to see the perspective you share here, rather than one more seasonal decorating video.

@JH-nn6jl 12 days ago

Have been watching interior design videos and advice for YEARS, I think this video gave me the most realistic advice. Thank you! ❤

@GNik6 8 days ago

Oh my! Ive found my people! 23 years ago I bought a wreck of a house (it's what I could afford) and have been living in and working on it since. Built in 1900, improved in 1916, remuddled in the 1960s, used as a party house in the 1990s. The kitchen had been trashed, we rebuilt it using mostly salvage. The bathrooms were unusable. I did the stripping, tiling and painting myself. None of the bedrooms are done yet. There are raw wood floors, cracked plaster, missing trim. I've been stripping the woodwork in one. There are carmine pink paint chips taped up in the front room, which has tablecloth curtains. There are 50 windows, I have been slowly ( so slowly) restoring them. Spent the day working on the sleeping porch windows. My list is neverending but my house is filled with art, books, ceramics, textiles, keepsakes and collections. All of them handmade or secondhand. Most of my furniture was inherited. There are a lot of large houseplants and flowers and produce from my garden. Because of course I have a garden, a great big one from the sidewalk to the alley, from one property line to the other - no lawn. And the steps of the side porch off the kitchen descend right into the middle of it. Everyone who comes into my house enjoys being here. As do I.

@Lulu-oi9ue 4 days ago

My home is collected. Slowly adding new items I’ve collected. It took until my late 30s to get things I enjoy instead of just buying cheap and practical. It started when a friend of mine who’s in her 80s gifted me her mother’s occasional chair and I realised I love vintage. I wanted a home that reflected me. It’s interesting that once I knew who I was that things that aligned with me came into my life and for cheap.

@JoyPhotography 1 day ago

You are a wonderful speaker, so natural and interesting. Love your tips.

@kimesch9698 1 day ago

Lovely pup!❤

@flamingofan5411 4 days ago

Yes!
If you truly love what you own, it will all work together.
A home that looks collected is way more comfortable than one that looks decorated. Items with a story .
I am not afraid of color, I just love the color white!
Some of my art is mine, others by my sons.
Design for real life! Room for the dog! 💕
It is definitely NEVER finished! lol!
How it feels! For me, living in Florida, I want it to feel super chill, like barefoot chill.
Imperfections are interesting. Perfection is boring.
Design how you want to live!
A chair on the front porch that is way too big for the space, but it is where me and my pup enjoy relaxing. A large ish tv ( I probably wouldn’t own one ) because I want to spend time with my husband and sons who just love sports!

@whipporwillssong2256 10 days ago

I have been working on my grandmother's house for almost 14 years with practically a zero budget. Needless to say, it has been many mixed moments of joy and frustration. Thank you for this video. I needed to be reminded on why we took this on and the progress we have made.

@Ellefromfloraandflour 9 days ago

I absolutely love this message. A house really is just four walls and a roof…The home is what we create inside of it. We don’t live in a mansion. We have a small, cozy home, but I can honestly say that it makes me smile every single day. I can walk upstairs and peek into my girls’ bedrooms and smile, then come down our little fall “orange”lighted staircase into my tiny foyer, walk through my grandma core dining room and into our cozy living room beside the kitchen, and every little space makes my heart happy. None of it is perfect, and it certainly wasn’t created by a designer. It was created by us, little by little, with things we love and memories we’ve made. I think you could live in the biggest mansion in the world and still not have that feeling. I don’t just live in a house…I live in a home. And my home makes me smile. ❤️

@Patricia.R. 5 days ago

I think I learned these lessons about 35 years ago… watching Beetlejuice! 🤣
I love your sweet reminder that it’s your home! Let it speak to you.

I have always decorated with thrifted items, to meet the need or just for whimsy! The age of the home certainly plays a part. My home is 70 this year, and due for some changes. TLC. I’m going to revisit your talking points, because I need encouragement to get her done. I’ve lost my mojo. Making a home doesn’t have to be SCARY!
Thanks for this video!

@marileehenry6378 15 hours ago

Purrs and furrs makes my house a home. Messy, yes. Me, also yes ! 😻

@tiffanymelissa975 9 days ago

Wow, this explains why my home always feels like it's in limbo

@jyotikalapa7848 3 days ago

the best video ever

@GardenLadyDeb 12 days ago

Excellent advise, every room in my house is a reflection of me. Have inherited some beautiful antiques from my husband’s family which blend well . Stumbled across your channel when you started renovating the screened in porch 😊

@phylliswilliams7177 12 days ago

I really enjoy your channel.

@5960Wilmer 9 days ago

I just found this video. We live in a 1965 Safeway mobile home with an addition. It is far from perfect. We just recently painted our kitchen cabinets and added different hardware to them. It isn't a designers idea of what it should look like but as I add the liitle things that make it a home it is memories and what means the most to my family, not about looking perfect. A home should relfect who we are, not what looks good and aligns with the trend. Thank you for this.

@1963-g2u 12 days ago

Do you have any plans when you have done as much as you can in this home? Great advice😊

@mireillehuart 7 days ago

cette maison est ma dernière vu mon age elle a été bien consue a l’origine facile a suivre le fil mais la cuisine est petite et je n arrive pas a m adapter trop de choses bien sur mais j aime tellement cuisiner que je n arrive pas a m alléger a par c’a un superbe jardin que j aie aménagé a l anglaise superbe orientation pour la maison et jardin mais la cuisine.............

@JunkJournalTherapy 9 days ago

I love the light and dark academia interior design style, but I change my mind way too often to lock my home into a dark wall paint color. I stick with neutrals like White Mocha for that very reason. It's easier to change the style and color of curtains, rugs, pillows and other accents then have to repaint every 6 months.