Making the move from their own home to a care home can be an unsettling period of time for your loved one. One way to make the transition a little smoother and help your friend or relative settle in that bit quicker is to make their room an oasis of comfort, calm and familiarity.
Here are our top-tips on how to create that home-from-home feeling.
Paint the Room
We’ll start with the biggest job on the list! One way to make your loved one feel instantly at home is to decorate their room in similar colours to what they had at home. It could be a calming shade of duck egg blue, a soothing light grey or a neutral and relaxing magnolia. Speak to our Home Manager and let us know what you are planning. We’ll do everything we can to accommodate your plans.
Favourite Furniture
If your loved one has a table or sideboard or bookshelf that has been in their family for a long time, bring it with you! Pieces of furniture can hold sentimental value and can bring a sense of normality to a new environment.
Add Some Life
Blank walls can feel sterile. A quick, easy and effective way to make your loved one feel at home is to bring plenty of photos, easily accessible in frames, to put on walls or display on tables. Photographs are also amazing for unlocking memories and helping prompt new residents to share stories about their lives with staff or other residents. This also works with paintings, they add personality to a room, making it distinct and individual, just like a person’s home.
Think About Layout
Your loved one will have been used to hosting in their own home, and this doesn’t need to change when they move to Borough Care. Create space in the room for a guest chair and add some useful items for entertaining such as a packet of biscuits. This will help promote independence and give you an alternative space to chat when you come to visit. You could also move the bed to an alternate position, ensuring it faces the same direction as it did at your loved one’s home so there is no confusion in the middle of the night.
Let There Be Light
Create a cosy atmosphere by bringing lamps and shades. This will soften the room and make it easy for a resident to read in bed.
Soft Furnishings
So easy yet so effective! A bright bedspread will instantly lift a room, and this can be changed each season to keep the décor feeling fresh. And a selection of scatter cushions will add softness and texture to a blank canvas.
Decorate the Door
Hanging a decoration such as a wreath on your loved one’s door is both practical and lovely to look at. It will help them orientate themselves in a new place, so they can instantly identify their personal space, as well as making a fun and stylish statement.
Floral Touch
Flowers instantly make a house feel like a home. A practical and long-lasting solution is to bring some dried or artificial flowers and a vase as a moving in gift. They require no maintenance from your loved one but instantly add a freshness and colour to a space. It will also be a lovely reminder of how much you care!
Hopefully our hints and tips have inspired you on how you can bring some comfort and cheer when it comes to personalising your loved one’s space. We’d love to see the spaces you create, so please tag us into any photos on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
