I just did a quick Google search of the phrase to see if it pops-up anywhere and the only thing I see is this post on AT. So, to answer your question, I'm thinking it's a just a line from the book. That being said, it's probably pretty apt. We've been in our house for almost 3 years now and have made a lot of progress in turning this house into our home by changing light fixtures, re-doing the kitchen, buying new furniture, collecting art, etc. We also have boxes that haven't been unpacked yet and a basement to work on, so at the rate we're going, it might be 7 years until we're completely settled in.

Until my current home, the longest I'd ever lived anywhere as an adult was four years. I never felt truly 'at home' anywhere. I've been living in my RV and traveling the continent for five years now and I finally feel like I have a home. I pretty much gutted the interior of the RV and rebuilt it to fit my lifestyle, turning it into a small cottage on wheels, and the space is perfectly tailored to my needs. When I wake up in the morning, I am always happy to be here. Whenever I go out for the day and return to my home, whether it's parked on a beach or at a Walmart, I get a little flutter when I get the first glimpse of it. I've still got a few projects, so I know that two years from now, this rig and I will be so entwined as to be inseparable. I never want to live in anything else ever again.

It's largely contingent on time, money and the condition of the dwelling. We bought an unusual fixer upper in 1999 and while the initial and very substantial remodel took only six months (with a construction loan converted to a mortgage), it definitely took at least five, maybe seven years to get to where enough is "done" to be deemed "comfortable" for us. What's still pending now is really only an upgrade.

There's a legitimate need for both those quotation marks since "comfortable" is a highly subjective term and, if anyone is like us, (insert Yoda voice) there is no "done" ; )

I hope it's true! It makes me feel better about my house having a long way to go even though I've lived there a year and a half! I've never lived anywhere longer than two years, even as a child, so I'm happy to finally be settled in one place. As much as I'm trying (and often succeeding) to enjoy the journey of making my house a home, sometimes I'm anxious for things to really come together!

I don't recognize the quote you referenced, but it reminded me of the one from Sense and Sensibility: “It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy;—it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.”

I think it's about the same for homes.

I think it's probably pretty true for people working on a budget. I lived in my Condo for six years and it wasn't until the last year where things were starting to come together. I started fresh out of college (no money) using an upside-down Rubbermaid container as a TV stand to starting to have real furniture and decor. It wasn't completely finished though when I bought a home and moved out. Now I'm starting the process all over again. I've been at my new place for almost two years and I easily see 5 more years at least worth of work.

I think it applies for most people. Just the other day my aunt (who is an architect and interior designer) told me not to fret about my house not being "done" after 2 years, because it took her 7! People these days buy fixer uppers, so unless you're rich or take out a huge loan it will take time to get things to the point where you're not constantly "fixing it up" or planning the next big project.

Hopefully after 7 years I'll have accomplished all the big, necessary things...

It has taken me 3-1/2 years after I purchaed my condo to get it to the point that I really liked the lay-out, furnishings, etc. Now I'm saving to re-do the kitchen..I don't want to finance it so it's going to be a while before that gets done. I did have enough to gut one of the bathrooms and remove the carpet to install laminate flooring when I purchased my home so I'm happy with that.

I'm sorry I don't have the answer to your question but it is so refreshing to read, especially since I'm in the process of trying to make my apt in NY into a "home". I've been at my place for about 3 years and still feel like I have so far to go. I do not plan to move anytime soon with the cost of living so this helps put things into perspective. Thank you :)

I think it makes sense that it takes time for the really organic changes/attachments to happen in a home... you could buy a perfectly ready home and furnishings and call it "done" immediately, but I think most people would see some evolution over the next years that truly make it their own.

If it's true, and I hope it is, PHEW!!!

I moved into my place 4 years ago. It's still a work in progress. I'm just now getting to the point where I can see a proper vision to what I want it to be (with some mistakes along the way and I'm sure more to come).

I'd say it's 6 months, at least in my experience! Although I've always lived in apartments, so maybe it's different for a house.

When I lived in my last apartment in Chicago (for one year) I knew I was moving the following year, and therefore never fully unpacked, never hung art on the walls, etc. Looking back I kind of wish I would have. It was a great apartment but those couple of unpacked boxes just served as annoying reminders that I probably shouldn't get too attached.

Now I've been living on the East Coast for 6 months and really feel at home. My boyfriend and I found a wonderful apartment here that we'll probably stay in for at least 3 years. We have yet to hang up paintings, but this is definitely the most settled I've ever felt since college. It feels like such a relief to walk in the door in the evening because we've made it pretty cozy and comfortable. We recently invested in our first sofa (Ikea Kivik- we're on a budget!) which feels like such a luxury, and continue to invest in good cooking supplies like All Clad pots and pans, etc... And I'm always working really hard to keep it clean and organized. I think that really helps.

I have to say I agree with mginwa. When I moved into my current space, it felt a little weird. Then, I got sick and spent a day on the sofa covered in blankets, tissues and my kitty cat. I felt like my home (and kitty) took care of me that day and I have loved it ever since!

I've been living in my apartment with my husband for 5 yrs in May. Our apartment still has not come completely together; part of that I blame on an evolving taste, but mostly I think it has to do with budget, and going from engaged/married/parents. When we first moved in together, he had furniture from a 180sqft studio on the beach, and all of my stuff from college had been in storage for almost 4 years while I lived with my parents, and it was pretty sparse around here for a while, due to the fact that all of our money went to our wedding. Then we got pregnant, and our second room has was converted to an office/nursery then just a nursery and now is being converted to a "big girl" room. You've gotta keep up with their growth! Now we're planning another upgrade in our bedroom (wardrobes? yes please). After that, I could see me wanting to rearrange the living room, and sell more furniture, and then maybe we'll be done... so I think 7 years would make sense for us! That is also when we expect to move out and buy a house, of course!

If this is true than I have never in my life lived in a "home", since the longest I have ever lived in a place was under four years. That is a horrible thought. I do not believe that everything has to be the way you want it for it to feel like home. I believe that it is possible to make a comfortable, personalized living space very quickly and that any adjustments from there just make it better.

I was just looking around my house yesterday thinking there is still so much to do before I feel like we've settled in. We've been here for 3 1/2 years, so I hope and dread that we'll finally be home in 7 years.

I think it's a personal thing as both what constitutes a home and what is considered comfort are both highly subjective.

It has taken me 7-years to make my home, mine. In saying that, I mean, I have 'touched' everything in my house; painted every wall, piece of trim, ceiling, etc.; replaced every light fixture; replaced all carpet with hardwoods; replaced appliances and sink faucets; etc., etc. I only hired professional help for things I could not do, but the bulk of "lay" things I did. Now, when people walk into my home, it is solely a reflection of me (barring the architecture) and not the previous owner.

I am so relieved to read all the comments and see I am not alone. For a variety of reasons, we lived for 10 years in the house my husband bought as a single guy. I hated every single day of that decade and could barely muster enough enthusiasm to semi-decorate. Then we got pregnant and moving out became a necessity. We found a fantastic mid-century modern house quite by accident, and moved in four weeks before my due date. My mom helped us do a quick set up of the living and dining rooms, and the baby decided to show up a week early, turning the house into a black hole of interior design. Our girl is now six months old and I am just now starting to figure out where to put the paintings and the books and the tchotchkes. But, that's just emptying out the boxes. The real work will be figuring out how to make my antiques work with the 50's architecture, finding key pieces for this amazing and considerably larger home, and saving enough money to get rid of the 80's kitchen! Seven years might not be enough...

It only takes me a few months to feel like a new place is home; once everything's unpacked and I've hung stuff on the walls, I'm good. But I've also moved a LOT - I'm 41 and I've lived in 20+ different apartments/condos/houses, with 5 years being the longest in any one. I may beat that record with my current place since we've been there 4 years and I'm hoping to stay until my 14 y.o. daughter finishes high school.

I have never heard that but it was true for us. At year seven we had just finished a mojor renovation and I knew by then what the best layout was and what furniture to get rid of.

I've been here for nine years but this year was a good year for our home too. We bought two chandeliers, one for the entrance, one for the dining room and some Persian rugs. Also I switched to all white dinnerware which makes our open shelving look great.

I think it's true.
I moved into my 480 sqf. Copenhagen apartment 3,5 years ago and it's only now, I actually decied on what furniture to keep, which functions I needed the place to have and what renovation projects, I really need and how they are going to be. In between I tried loads of different ways to use the apartment, moving furniture around - Selling and buying new ones, moving pictures around, painting walls etc.

I obviously don't know the context of that quote, but my guess is it has less to do with how long it takes to do renovations/decor than how long it takes to be permanently settled somewhere psychologically, emotionally, etc. Of course for some people, especially the self-selected group who would look at Apartment Therapy, decorating the physical space is closely tied to that. But I'd have to think there's more to "home" than that. It takes time to accumulate memories somewhere.

PS: AT's editorial decision to change "make a home" in the quote to make a GOOD home" in the title changes the question, doesn't it? Specifically, it slants it more towards a question of home improvement and away from the question of what makes a home.

oh, i hope so! that gives me 2 and a half more years to get my house "together"! :-)

I think this is true for me. Not that I know exactly how long it takes for me to make a place a home (much less a good home), but whenever I look at AT house tours where people have only been in their homes for 6 months, 2 years, even 3 years, and the place looks so "done", I am a little baffled. I have been in my home nearly 6 years and it is just now starting to feel close to what I want it to be. The "to-do" list is still long and big projects are looming (hello, ugly bathroom!) but certain things have become clearer the longer I live here - colors, furniture placement, and how the spaces are used to best advantage, for example. I have always thought that I was a slow decision maker and had finally made peace with that, but I see that that may be more of the norm than the "DECORATE-THIS-HOUSE-IN-THREE-DAYS!!!" method that seems increasingly common (probably due to HGTV's influence).

I disagree somewhat. I think I felt like my condo was a good home very quickly. We just started redoing the kitchen and the bathroom's next, so we're moving towards a "great" home. I think we'll be where we want to be in 3 years. It's 900 sq ft so not a big place, but it already feels like a great home.

I had never heard this, but I really do believe it! I lived abroad for 5 years and changed apartments constantly, and I've only been in my current apartment for a year. Really the only house I've ever lived in for more than 7 years is the one I grew up in! So I hope to finally make one home for a full 7 to see if this pans out. I can definitely say that after 2-3 years you're only just starting to find your decorating, restful, home groove.

I've been in my place a little over a year and I feel like it looks like I've been there only months. I've only painted the kitchen/dining room, it's missing tons of art and rugs, and there's lots of fixtures and hardware that ought to be changed. So far to go. But considering we owned almost no furniture when we first moved it, I guess we really have made some significant progress, but it's hard to see when it feels like a half-moved in bachelors apartment. Money is the ultimate slower-downer for me, and I'm not great at being so patient.

I suspect it has a little something to do with seven year itch. Most married couples who break up start doing so around seven years. If you can make it through that first seven years, you have a home (as opposed to a house).

We moved into our new home after 7 years together in the previous house. This new place definitely took a while to start feeling like home. Our new home, though occupied til we moved in, had seen several years of neglect and needed a lot of deep cleaning/freshening. It is a work in progress that will take many years to be really truly "at home". I imagine the time it takes to be at home time is lessened when you move into a brand new build. Here, there are too many things that have to be replaced/fixed/addressed still. I agree with other posters that it is OK if you have to work with your budget and make changes slowly, as you can afford them. It's not exactly easy to get a home equity loan these days to just rip out your kitchen and baths. I have actually felt pressure from family and friends and our new neighbors that everything should be up to snuff immediately- most or all items updated/replaced, all new furnishings purchased, all new landscaping. We have been here just over a year and we are tackling things one project/expense at a time.

I like this post. I have found it difficult to see home tours on A.T. that appear to be beautifully curated after the resident has lived there just 5 months!

There is a very personal aspect for one to consider themselves to be living in a place they consider a home and more time to create what they consider to be a "good" home.

Thank you for the change in perspective and for all the illuminating comments!