Home Interior Design, History & Emotional Meaning of Home

Home Interior Design, History & Emotional
Meaning of Home
Author: Alexandra Caitlin Dowie, Faculty of Fine Arts
Abstract
Importantly, Designs to Inspire are reasonably priced compared to our
competitors. We work with current trends in the industry and research your
target market (from professional couples to empty nesters) when creating our
home presentation plan. We do not believe in changing a home into what it is
not, but we do enjoy enhancing the design and era of homes back to their full
potential. Where possible, we also work with your current furniture to minimise
any extra costs on your behalf.
Designs to Inspire stages vacant properties, semi-furnished and fully furnished
homes, ranging from classic through to modern designs to create a stunning
look for your home.
Definition of home:
Defining “home”
This is not an easy thing to write. By its very subjective and relative nature such
a definition cannot be captured in one short article. A book might do it. But I
would imagine it would equally be condemned by the majority of its readership
for being one-sided or at the very least for unbalanced impartial views.
By virtue of the most common words of advice, and in some cases virile
arguments, presented to me over the years the global definition of home is:
―Home is where the heart is‖
If you like that notion, or don’t like the raw reality of the world we really live
in, please read no further. Be happy with what you have and love it till you die.

Consider the rest of this article a one-sided, uncompromising, opinionated and
inconsequential mish mash of a lost man’s words.
If however you are mildly curious to my findings. Then I suggest you pluck
your own thoughts from my words and culminate such findings into your own
definition of home. For the reality is, home is where you make
it.(bondcleaninginperth, 2014)
Defining the definition of home
Of all the conversations I’ve had regarding my own journey, most come from
two ―classes‖ of modern-day society. One class are the people who have jobs or
live in a part of a ―moderate/high income society‖.
Figure 1
Mi casa, es su casa … so long as you meet all the requirements and actually
want to live here.
Those that might be reading this on their work computer, on a phone, iPad or
laptop on a daily commute, or at home after a long day looking for a bit of off
time escapism. There are also those who are looking for inspiration for reboots
in life or that final push that sets them off a similar track.

The other sector comes from those reading this at home during the day or
middle of the night, from a ―lower income part of society‖. Generally people
from this side of things may not be working full-time jobs and are searching for
visa information, jobs overseas, immigration laws and education overseas.
Either way, in terms of the ―home‖ subject matter these are the ―type‖ of people
who tend to email me.
There is an interesting pattern to the two ―classes‖ mentioned above. Both come
from all nationalities the world over. From the U.S.A to The Philippines I’ve
had middle to upper income people from both spectrums ask for the answer to
―Home‖. Mainly because they’ve had enough of living in their current life’s
ways in one shape or another.
I’ve had out of work people from the U.K. to Pakistan asking me how to get out
of their rut. Where is there a better place to live? And, I’ve had rich people from
France to Honduras ask me where the best place to start over is.
Wealth it would seem does not define home.
Moreover I’ve had all classes from all over the world offer the ―Home is where
the heart is‖ solution.
Romanticism is closer than wealth in defining the answer to home.
If there is one global thing we all share, no matter our race, income, religion or
beliefs; it is that we all want a place to call home.
The problem starts when we get it. Because we as humans, in general, always
want more in some form or another.
What do we need to call a place home?
Let’s start at the very basics here. Clean water. You don’t live anywhere for
very long without clean water. Never mind the comforts of electricity, living
without water is not possible. Food, shelter, security the list goes on in the basics of
home dwelling.
The majority of the world’s population do not have access to these basic things
we need to call a place a simple home.

Much like the middle paleolithic period some 200,000 years ago our ancestors
were probably faced with similar problems. Droughts, famine, disease, climate
or even war would have meant entire human colonies moving to new regions
just to survive. Though in some cases, quite possibly, someone may have had
the notion that there were better pickings or shelter further along a river or
coast.
So even from our origins we have always sought out the very basic necessities
in setting up a home. Or possibly places that have had more than enough
resources for us to live on and grow with the minimum of hardships.
Staying put
That is not to say the entire colony would have left. No, the old, young, sick and
indeed even some smart people would have stayed put. For where there are
fewer people there are more resources to be had. Some people are happy to
make do. Others have no choice. Others more elect to share the burden of
helping those less fortunate and so they stay behind.
Then, the next generation comes along, and the cycle starts again.
The basics of home never change
Today is no different when it comes to the basic needs of home. Think
of hurricane Katrina in the U.S.A. and the homes that were destroyed. The
people who rebuilt them, and the people who moved on. Think of typhoons that
hit The Philippines every year. Homes wiped out, and rebuilt every year. And
the people who move away to more stable territories both in-country, and
overseas.
When India was split in two there was a huge migration of people who looked
to move to a place they felt would be better to live culturally. Or, more sadly
were forced to leave. In Afghanistan yet more people were forced to migrate to
better places due to invasion and war. While in parts of Africa famine and
drought removed the basics of home so people frequently move to newer
grounds.
In Europe famine, pestilence and war have seen great sways of migrants over
the centuries. Today it’s an economic migratory process as people seek
employment and civil status elsewhere.

Mingle national migratory paths with that of individuals who have sought an
equal need to relocate. Death, abuse, finances, greed, mistakes,
love, victimization, prejudice, civil liberties the list goes on for solo migratory
needs for new homes.
However the basic needs that everyone still seeks remain no different than
200,000 years ago. We seek water, shelter, food and a means to gather all in one
place for security and in most cases comfort/prosperity. This is what we call
home, even if we do not truly own it.
Advanced ―home-a-nomics‖ So what happens when we find a place that meets
our basic needs, and even exceeds them? We prosper, procreate and acquire. We
reach levels of possession that provide us with further security, comfort and
finally status.
Therein lies one of the characteristic traits that define us as human beings today.
The more we have, the more we want. This holds true not just in our
possessions, but also our mentality, and status. Wars have been started for less.
Indeed wars have been declared just on the paranoia of losing all that we have
built and acquired around our homes.
The truth is that since the dawn of our civilizations we have invaded other
people’s homes not just to acquire, but also to secure and protect our own.
Fragmentation of society
Figure 2

If we leave our own society to find a better one we often become isolated.
Trying to find another society that accepts our values may be asking too much.
Without home there is fragmentation. Our society scatters once it has been
shattered by war, famine or other means of homelessness. But, we still take our
own values and definitions of culture with us.
Immigration has seen this as cross cultural integration. We heralded this a
further step on our evolutionary paths during the last century. Only the path has
become cracked under the strain of unknowing cultural weight. The merging of
cultures in Europe broke in 2011 as leaders there declared that it simply was not
working the way they envisioned (source.1 boston globe / source.2 bbc). Indeed even
the UNHCR is having similar problems within Nepal with cross
cultural marriages leading to high divorce rates (*source: my republica)
In the Americas a continent is seeing a social pendulum swing hard as the north
struggles under the freedom of a weighty bureaucratic system struggling with
economic inequality (source: the economist). While in the south economies distance
themselves even further and gently prosper under the similar traits that their
Eastern ―developing‖ counterparts embellish.
In Asia the cultural path is being paved more with financial might than moral
rights. And the profits are being reaped proving the latter has indeed less regard
at this point in history (source: the independent).
Social integration lost in the wind
Given the fragmentation of a home once it is broken up what hope does one
have when taking your beliefs into a new land? Social integration for me on a longterm
basis was an utter failure. You cannot be someone else other than yourself
no matter where you live. Either for yourself or for someone else.
To me the answer to this is simply that at this moment we as human beings are
not yet evolved, on a global scale, to truly accept everyone into our own worlds
for who they are, let alone give them equal rights.
Without home there is fragmentation
So we move back to knowing that we need a home not just for shelter, but for a
cultural foundation. In today’s world if we do not know our culture we do not
know ourselves. Or we become lost in trying to be someone we are not just to

fit in. So instead we argue and bicker over whose culture is correct on many
levels.
Figure 3
In reality can you ever really fit into a different culture? Moreover, can they
accept you? For the short term yes. For the long term …
Is it my right to live in another culture and tell them that
drinking unfiltered water is bad? Or is it their right to tell me they’ve been
doing it for all their lives and I should adopt their ways? I will argue health and
medical reasons, they will argue the harsh economics and physical presence of
reality.
My home is fragmented. I will lose the argument even if the evolutionary path
of wisdom and experience is on my side. This is human nature. I will hold my
silence and create my own well to survive. And so a divide will occur and I will
always be the outsider. A fragment of another society living in a culture that is
on a larger scale most likely also being invaded by a more dominant cultural
force with a different set of rules.
Individual extinction is on the cards as a battle for home is fought on all
sides. We have indeed, come full circle.
For me my home for now is right here. The fragments of information I’ve
gathered are strung together for all to see. And yes, I am well aware that such a
web of personalized twine hangs perilously close to a global razor’s edge.

One small snippet for the those seeking not a home but themselves
How often do we feel lost within ourselves? Or have met others who claim to
not know themselves anymore. The simple statement of not belonging in a place
is a common finding that you might experience when travelling the world or
even before you leave. If not, then you will surely meet such a person sooner
rather than later.
The person going in search of themselves
Personally, I already know who I am. As such I am not seeking out who I am,
nor what makes me tick or why I am un/happy. I found this out years ago. But
not everyone is so fortunate nor have they followed a similar path.
In among a midlife crises, a marriage or relationship, even a professional
lifestyle one often sees the frustrations of ―finding oneself‖ intermingled with
leaving home and going out to find a better one.
I can tell you the un-romantic truth to this right now: You will inevitably return
to your original home at the end of such a journey.
In such cases, you were not looking for a ―home‖ but rather a meaning to your
own ―life’s questions‖. A travel experience will often provide you with such
answers. Hence you will often end up back where you started.
There’s a greater chance of happiness now as you’ve seen yourself, others and
intermingled experiences for better or worse. If you are still not happy at being
back then perhaps you are seeking such things as less responsibility in the guise
of freedom. In which case it’s still not a ―home‖ you are looking for, but rather
answers to who you are.
Find yourself before you try to find home
Is a permanent home abroad so different to what you have now?
Forget one month, six months or even two years. Imagine permanent relocation
to greener pastures. Move past cultural or even social integration. Forget work
visas or even residential visas, least of all permanent citizenship that few in
reality will ever acquire in all but a few ―western developed countries‖.
Never-mind owning property in your own name from any country other than the
one you were born in.

Forget about marrying someone from another land and the many years
of bureaucratic tape required to let you live in your chosen country together.
Never mind the paragraphs above that they too will now have to endure. And on
that note do remember: One person’s paradise can be another’s hell.
Lastly ignore the fact that if you have a tidy sum of money, or political
connections most of the above can be eliminated or at worst eased.
Focus instead on the reality of living abroad
Surviving the first two years over with, be prepared to look up from your phone
and see the same dull faces on a commute to work. Yes, the surroundings will
be different. But when living a monotonous life of survival then most things
look the same no matter the location.
Your dreams of home are someone else’s reality
So there you are surrounded by the dull lifeless faces of others on your
commute to work. Or alongside you in an office built for another hammering
out a days work, all with the same intention of going home to something better.
Figure 4
What’s paradise to one person is the reason to leave for another. Then again if
we are not happy with ourselves then that paradise can be just as bad as the
place we fought to leave

A television offering escapism. A couple of hours of cable therapy will numb
the pain. Living a life through others offers a titular hope that helps us pass into
a nights sleep with hopes of a better tomorrow.
The notion of somewhere better cannot help but pass through our minds. We are
essentially looking for better pastures once again.
While next door there is a person who fought to escape a war, a drought or the
collapse of a political system. They marvel at the running water from a tap.
They sit upright in-front of a television they just purchased for the first time.
Tomorrow they start a new three month contract for a meaningless job. Yet will
marvel with pride at a weekly pay check that will allow the first visit to a dentist
for their child.
They are living the life you have from their dreams of yesterday.
It will continue until the novelty wears off and they too look for a form
of escapism on a commute to work and when looking at those similar faces or
moreover; see yours staring back.
A home is not the answer to many people’s definition of what it ―should‖ be.
We can have ten homes scattered across the globe and jump between each one
at random intervals and still, eventually, grow lacklustre with a longing for
something more.
In this case, ―home‖ is not what we seek. What we seek is a better life to live in
our homes. By leaving such homes without understanding this we become
fragmented and lost. If that is the case then all the home searching in the world
won’t bring you peace.
The four rules of home
Understand the basics of survival.
Understand that no four walls nor roof will ever suffice unless you know what
you want in life.
Understand that once you have a family, it’s not just your home, but theirs too.
Live in it together, for each other.

Understand that once you have what you want … you’ll eventually want more.
Be prepared.
The final definition of home in 2012. My conclusions in these writings are my
own. Reread the opening paragraphs otherwise it is a fruitless endeavor to
conclude on my thoughts. Throughout these 7 years I know that the thought of
home evokes many impassioned emotions on many levels from many people. I
wonder why this subject becomes just so impassioned.
There are probably several television series on moving abroad. They are not
built for reality, but for ratings. Escapism is a good rating ploy.
As a matter of comfort we generally like, need, and want to define home as:
Home is where your heart is most happy. Home is a place where you are loved
unconditionally. Home is where you feel safe and protected. Home is where I
am right now.
The physical reality is this:
―Home is located in the place you are best at adapting in‖
It may never be a permanent abode but knowing what you want in life are the
true title deeds of home, take such knowledge and make the most of it based on
this foundation. (Dave, 2012)
Over time, the Great Australian Dream has meant different things to different
people.
But for the better part of a century, any reference to Australian aspirations —
great or otherwise — meant buying a house.
A recent ANU poll found more than three quarters of Australians viewed home
ownership as part of "the Australian way of life".
Yet, for housing experts, this fixation on owning a home of your own is
curiously specific at best, and harmful at worst.
"Do you need to own?" urban designer Peter John Cantrill asks, with the
emphasis on "need".
For Mr Cantrill, the operative question is: can you be secure where you live?

Countries such as Germany and Sweden have far lower rates of home
ownership, he argues, offset by controlled rents or tenancy insurance.
Now, with many Australians facing mortgage stress or rental stress, the great
Australian dream has become a nightmare. But is this a crisis of our own
making?
Figure 5
For some 60,000 years, Australian land was occupied by Indigenous people. Many
were displaced by white settlement.
New South Wales' first Governor, Arthur Phillip, somewhat naively assumed
the British government would own all the land in his newfound colony.
"But what happens very quickly is that people take land without permission,"
Graeme Davison, professor of urban studies at Monash University, says.
It wasn't all anarchy: freed convicts were granted land in the hope they wouldn't
return to England, and retiring officers were gifted land, as were free settlers.
And by the time Governor Ralph Darling arrived in 1825, a more orderly
system was implemented.
"From about that point on you begin to get a more systematic freehold land
system," Professor Davison says.

"By the 1830s, owning your own piece of property was an attainable objective."
One house, one vote
In English cities, land tenure laws and vast church-owned estates precluded
many from ever owning their own plot. This was not the case in Sydney and
Melbourne.
Melbourne in particular experienced quite rapid subdivision in the 1850s which,
combined with the gold rush, lead to the establishment of shanty-towns.
"You get quite high rates of home ownership in relatively poor parts of
Melbourne from quite an early age," Professor Davison says.
Prior to South Australia's introduction of universal manhood suffrage in 1856,
landowning was a way to attain a vote in the political process. It was a line that
continued, even after colonies ceased to apply to property qualifications for
suffrage.
"Right into the end of the 19th century, you find people promoting home
ownership saying, 'It will make you a citizen in a fuller sense than if you didn't
own your own house.'"
Figures collected early in Professor Davison's career suggest 44 per cent of
Melburnians owned their own home in 1881, with similar rates in Sydney and
Adelaide.
These are not figures matched anywhere else in the developed world at the time.
"Most other cities don't get anywhere near it," he says.
Grow your own
From the turn of the 20th century, Australian houses did something quite
unusual: they fed the families who lived in them.
"The house wasn't just a place to live [in Australia], but it was a place to grow
your food," Mr Cantrill says.
Other countries, he says, would place their farmland outside of town centres.
Citizens would walk to the farmsteads, and vice versa.

Figure 6
But that's not what happened in Australia. "We had the agriculture and the
house together, and this established … the so-called quarter-acre block," Mr
Cantrill says.
For Mr Cantrill, the effect his had on Australian cities cannot be overstated.
"This gives shape to cities which are extremely low density and occupy vast
land," he says. These kind of cities were also formed by the availability of
motor vehicles, cheap oil, and an expanding economy.
The dominance of the quarter-acre block led to the low density sprawl seen
today: with double garages and media rooms taking the place of these early
vegetable plots.
Postwar booms
During the Cold War, Australian governments looked to housing as a means of
keeping communism at bay. "Citizens committed to mortgages," ran one
wartime advertisement, "tend not to be revolutionaries."

Figure 7
The Menzies government tinkered with the housing mix. "There was quite a
move away from public housing," Lionel Frost, an associate professor of
economics at Monash Business School, says. Menzies' government created
incentives for renters to purchase their houses, if they rented from the Public
Housing Authority. "It was a very much hands-off approach by the
Commonwealth government at the time," Associate Professor Frost says. After
World War II, waves of migrants came to Australia from England, Ireland and
Europe. Greeks and Italians, in particular were keen to own their own homes.
"They have a very strong preference for having their own home, because it
provided an opportunity not available in Britain or Europe," Associate Professor
Frost says.
By the mid 1970s Australian home ownership had reached something of a
saturation point: 70 to 75 per cent.

Finance gets involved
The 80s was a time for structural changes around Australian homeowning. The
finance industry was deregulated. Dual income households were the norm,
making mortgages easier to attain. Rising interest rates were followed by
dramatically tumbling interest rates.
"Changes in the availability and the cost of finance had really big implications
for the housing market in particular," Nicole Gurran, a professor of planning at
the University of Sydney, says.
Figure 8
Prior to deregulation, the housing system was geared around owner-occupiers,
and property investors loaning from the bank would incur a considerable rate
penalty on their loans.
But the equalising of interest rates moved the goal posts of home ownership.
Homes were increasingly purchased for their exchange value — used as
leverage, as a vehicle for wealth accumulation.
"We certainly have seen an increase in people investing in housing, including
their own housing, with a view to accumulating wealth," Professor Gurran says.
"This certainly increased in the 1990s and the 2000s."
By the early 1990s, Professor Gurran says, property prices rose faster than
inflation, while interest rates decreased. With the proportion of public housing

at a low, a strong private rental market was needed to do "the heavy lifting".
"We start to see things like negative gearing," she notes.
That made investment in the private rental market seem attractive for landlords
— thus expanding the rental market, and their portfolios. (Ros Bluett for Rear
Vision, 2017)
Dorothy was spot-on: There’s no place like it. As we journey through
life―dodging the occasional wicked witch―it’s comforting to know that a cozy
bed, loving arms, and perhaps even a Munchkin or two await, just across the
threshold.
Figure 9
A warm bed that you can’t get out of in the morning, a tiny pink toothbrush in
the bathroom, and the sound of my husband’s key in the door at the end of the
day.
Dena Nilsen
Charlotte, North Carolina
My husband and I moved our family 10 times over a period of 22 years. Before
we became nomads, we thought of home as where we had grown up. (Iowa for
him, Delaware for me.) Now that we’re adults, home is wherever we gather

with our family and friends. Houses get bought and sold; a home stays with you
always. Anywhere my kids are.
Millie Ayala
Northport, New York
The sensation of peace on a cozy, rainy Sunday; the feeling of relief when you
pull into the driveway after a long trip; a quiet kiss on the head of a baby asleep
in my lap; and the warmth of my husband’s arms. Home has been many places
for me over the years, but its comforts are defined by simple, blissful moments
like these.
Sarah Bernard
Somersworth, New Hampshire (Donna Sullivan Redding, 2015)
The Emotional Meaning of Home
Our homes are more than financial assets. They have deep emotional meaning.
For those of us fortunate enough to have grown up in houses owned by our
parents, they were the backdrop for our childhood memories — the places we
played and argued and hung our artwork and marked the door jam with pencil
lines as we grew taller. For better or worse, the houses of our childhoods
represented to many of us a good measure of the success our parents had
attained, an outward expression of how hard work had paid off in comfort and
safety and the respect of the community. The lawn got cut. The paint got
freshened up. Maybe a pool got added out back. When things went well, our
houses grew with us.(Jemimah Clegg, 2017)
With the home foreclosure rate in America skyrocketing, our economic
conditions translate into a true public health concern. Losing one’s home can
feel like losing one’s self. Those being foreclosed upon can feel they have let
down their families, that they have been ―exposed‖ as failures in the eyes of the
community and that the road back to stability is too full of twists and turns to
even begin to think about navigating it.
This perfect storm of lowered self-esteem and perceived loss of face is indeed
the growing place for divorce, panicdisorder, major depression and stress-related
medical conditions like hypertension. That’s why a national program that would
offer a kind of ―outplacement‖ psychological counseling to those who are losing
or who have lost their homes is needed. Our community hospitals, academic

medical centers, family physicians and community mental health centers should
be prepared in a special way for the special burden that home foreclosure
represents.
During my sixteen years practicing psychiatry, I’ve worked with many people
facing financial reversals, including home foreclosure. Some were anxious or
felt hopeless. Some had developed symptoms of major depression. Here’s a bit
of what I learned and shared that I hope can be of help to those who have lost
their homes or are at risk of losing them:
Trying to white knuckle your feelings and fears can leave you feeling alone
with them. Voicing them puts them in context — as things happening in your
life, not life itself. Talk more about your feelings and fears, not less.
Every difficult chapter of one’s life story offers the chance to rise above it by
showing grit or grace in the face of uncertainty. Our loved ones and the
community measure us by assessing our characters, not by calculating our
finances. The way you react in adversity is what defines you, not adversity
itself.
Our financial circumstances are never entirely under our control. The economic
realities of the day truly impact what is possible for many of us. Millions of
Americans are losing their homes. If you would not judge them as weak or
unwise, try not to judge yourself.
Seek more information about the economy, not less. You’ve learned the impact
that financial markets can have, in personal terms. Become an even better
student of them.
When people look back at their lives, almost all can identify periods of great
turmoil, personally or professionally or financially. If this is one of yours, you
are in pain now, but the overall arc of your life story can still be in the direction
of success and happiness. Abraham Lincoln, for example, suffered severe
financial reversals and several political losses before his great successes.
No patient has ever described the real assets provided by his or her parents by
the kind of house or apartment the family lived in. To a person, the accounting
has always been emotional: Did he or she feel well-loved? Was he or she
listened to? Were his or her dreams encouraged? If you want to put something
that lasts ―in the bank‖ for your kids, tell them that whether you live in a big
house, a little house or an apartment (or even in temporary housing) that you

will always be a family and that you will think about them every day and kiss
them goodnight wherever they go to sleep.
There is great power in shifting from seeing oneself as a victim to seeing
oneself as a survivor. Thinking like a survivor helps you marshal the resources
needed to sure up your family now and your finances over time.
Conditions like major depression and panic disorder and symptoms like
insomnia are among the most treatable in psychiatry. If you are suffering in
these ways, tell your family doctor or a mental health care
provider. Psychotherapyand medication (when indicated) work in over 90 percent
of cases.
It’s important to take stock of your ―assets.‖ Are you healthy? Are your children
healthy? Are they attending school without serious difficulty? Again, while
home ownership is a wonderful part of life, it pales in comparison to other gifts
of stability your family may be enjoying right now.
You can train your vision to look past today’s crisis to a better future. Start
planning how you are going to own a home again—today. This can mean
something as simple as opening a new savings account with a tiny deposit. The
concrete intention to begin rebuilding your financial position can help you feel
like you have psychological momentum on your side, or will again soon.
If you know someone who is facing home foreclosure (or whose home has been
foreclosed upon), please print out this blog and share it with him or her. I hope
the words I’ve written will be helpful, but I am certain that your show of
concern will be. Ultimately, the news is all about people. And, ultimately, it
turns out to be about help and hope and seeing that a better future is always
possible in America. (Keith Ablow, n.d.)
How to keep your home safe and secure
our home should provide all its occupants with a strong feeling of comfort and
safety. But how do you achieve a secure home without fortifying it? ADT
Security Services Director Christian Dorau explains that you don’t need to kit
out your home with fierce or fancy security gadgets. By employing a

commonsense approach, following a few standard rules, and getting a basic
security system, you can adequately ward off thieves and guard your property.
Functioning locks
Ensure the windows and doors all have working locks. Dorau suggests that
keeping windows and doors locked, even when you are home, is a positive habit
to keep. He also advises that home occupants remember to secure the shed or
garage with adequate locks. Thieves steal tools, not just television sets, and
could use items in the shed or garage to help break into your property.
Assess weaknesses
Figure 10
―Think like a thief and take a walk around your property to assess it for weak
spots,‖ says Dorau. Ask yourself:
Would a thief think your neighbourhood was an affluent area, worthwhile to
scope out and rob?
Will a thief know you are away on holidays because your bins are not out on bin
day, your mailbox is overflowing, and your car is parked in the same spot for
weeks?
Do you have gifts or expensive items, like an iPad, near a window, enticing a
thief to break in and grab?
Once you know your weak spots, make a plan and find ways to strengthen them.
Lighting

Motion detector lighting located around the exterior of your home can deter
thieves and boost your feeling of security.
But, Dorau says you don’t have to have a home that looks like a well-lit
fortress, and adds that lighting can be very elegant.
He recommends installing strong floodlights at the back and sides of the
building you are securing, and discrete lighting at the front of the property.
Landscaping
Ensure the property’s surrounding landscape does not include natural ladders
for thieves to climb on and get into higher parts of the house. Keep trees a
distance from the walls of your property and trim hedges to ensure no thief can
hide in them.
Garbage
Figure 11
Your garbage is an indicator of the items of value you have in the house.
―Burglars scoping out a neighbourhood will see that you just made a high-end
electronics purchase if you leave the box your giant television came in near the
bins,‖ he says. Break up the packaging and place it in the recycling bin instead.
Social media
Thieves use Facebook too. Ensure you don’t publicise the contents, location and
availability of your property on social media sites. Omit the details of your

departure for a holiday from Twitter and avoid posting photos of new purchases
online.
Security systems
Install a monitored security system that combines alarms, cameras and motion
sensors to monitor specific zones or the whole property. Alarms can be
activated even when the home is occupied. Once a sensor device picks up
motion, the system can send you an automated text message and video clip, kept
in the cloud, revealing details of the motion perceived.
Figure 12
The first aim of a home security system, Dorau explains, is to deter thieves from
your home and minimise loss.
―Most importantly, they are about avoiding confrontation with a burglar. These
systems protect the home and its inhabitants by sensing and letting you know
who is in the house and where.‖
―Home security and safety is not about being paranoid. It’s about being
responsible. So be proactive: having a feeling of security can enhance your
lifestyle.‖ (YASMIN NOONE, 2015)

References:
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bondcleaninginperth. (2014). How to Clean Floating Floors? - Bond Cleaning
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