4 walls = Home?

I'm just starting to get settled into my new home and in all honesty, it doesn't quite feel like home.  Everything is so new and staged.  I haven't found that perfect medium of making things feel comfortable and inviting but clean and uncluttered.  It's funny because none of my guests feel that my home is uninvited but they do say that it looks like a showroom (but not in a bad way).

I am often green with apartment/ home envy when scour the House Tours or House Calls on Apartment Therapy or the Sneak Peaks from Design*Sponge. 

This House Tour from Apartment Therapy is a perfect example of a house that is a home.  Marie and Nick's Festive East Bay Ranch is full of life and memories.  It's a perfect reminder to me that making your apartment your home will take time and knick knacks are far more precious if there is a story behind them.  Here some of my favourite pictures:

 

Check out the rest of the house tour here.

House envy!