Moving into a new home with your family can be an exciting time. Unfortunately, it can also cause a little bit of panic. How do you turn a new house into a home? It’s especially important to get this figured out so your kids can settle in properly. If you’re looking for ways to turn your new house into a home in no time, here are a few tips to help you out.

Prioritize Kids’ Rooms

If you’ve managed to keep your kids occupied for a day or two after the move, it’s time to get started on their rooms. Bedrooms are some of the most important places in any home — they provide comfort and peace when the rest of your house might still be a little bit empty and strange to you and your family. So if you want to help your kids truly feel like this is their new home, get started on their bedrooms before you start on anything else. When your kids come home to fully furnished bedrooms for them to decorate however they choose, they’ll feel much more secure in their new surroundings than they would have otherwise. And if your kids want to unpack their own rooms, then make sure your movers know to prioritize assembling and moving larger furniture pieces that belong in there. If your kids share a room, then make sure you work with them to set clear boundaries of who will have their belongings on what side of the room. While 31% of people typically want a bigger home, that’s not always the case! But regardless, making sure all of your kids feel like their space is important can go a long way in helping your new house turn into a real home.

Wait to Hang Your Art

Almost 78% of homebuyers think their real estate agent is a good source of information, but not even your real estate agent can tell you how and when to decorate. Your first instinct might be to hang all of your art and wall decorations as soon as you possibly can. While this might make your new house seem more comfortable at first, you’ll probably end up changing things around a few times before you get it just right. Why put the unnecessary holes in the walls? When you move into your new house, make sure you unpack all of your wall hangings right away, but simply lean them against the walls instead of hanging them right away. If your wall art is meaningful to you, then it’s important that it gets placed in a spot that feels just right. You might even find that the process of brainstorming how to arrange your art can make you feel like your new space really is your home.

Use Your Kitchen on the First Night

While you don’t have to cook up a three-course meal during the first night in your new house, making some use of the kitchen is important. The kitchen is often the very heart of a home, and taking the time to make it usable on your first night can help everyone feel like they’re really home. Of course, this doesn’t mean pizza is completely off the table. But putting away all of your cutlery and dishware can help make your kitchen look and feel a lot homier. Not only that, but using your plates and cutlery during your first meal in the house can be a lot more meaningful than paper plates and plastic forks. And as an added bonus, using the kitchen on your first night can help uncover any problem areas that you might have missed. Even though 34% of buyers are looking to avoid renovations and problems with plumbing or electricity, you can’t always win them all. The sooner you run into a minor problem, the sooner you can get it fixed and slip back into your normal routine. It’s worth considering to run some preliminary water tests, too. Modern labs are capable of screening ingredients to 0.1% and lower, and the sooner you can feel safe in your new house, the sooner it will really start feeling like home.

Getting used to a new house can be tough, especially when you’re moving your whole family. These tips might not cover everything, but they can give you a good starting point to make your new house feel more like a home.