Used to be my home

Coming to my parents house to Czech Republic is always strange. It used to be my home for eighteen years. It is not anymore. I live thousand kilometers away, in Denmark.

This is their house.

I grew up there. It is a big house. Traditional house. It is not special for anyone but me. I used to have a small garden in the back where I grew bonsai. I swam in the pool every summer. I had a treehouse in the orchard. It was a home for me.

What does make a home from a house?

Why do I feel home in a tiny flat in Denmark and not in my parents house?

Is it the ownership? But the flat is just rented…

It is hard to draw a line between house and home. Some might say that it is just semantics.

What does home mean to you? How do you create a home? Is it just a mindset? Does it happen over some unspecified period of time to feel at home? Is it the home the minute you move in?

I admit I do not know how it happens. And that is painful realization to someone who wants to design houses. I will never know how to design home, but I want a transition from house to home happen smoothly. But how can I do that when I do not know how it happens.

Next time I will be moving I need to observe my feelings carefully (note to myself).

Cheers