moving into my first home

housewarming rituals

Houses are shy creatures.

They may have bricks, windows, or balconies—but at first, they are mostly strangers.

Moving in is not just about unpacking boxes and decorating.

It’s about making introductions.

“Hello. I’m home now. Let’s grow something gentle together,” I said to my home the very first day I stepped into an empty unit. It was bare, smelled heavily of wall paint and concrete. But there was warmth—a pretty little house waiting for me.

Last weekend, I stitched little parts of my heart into my very first home. A home that is as cosy and dreamy as I wished for it to be.

Housewarming had many traditions.

I stayed up until 3.00 AM, ensuring everything was in place. A new house brings new joy and luck, I was told. So to wash away impurities asnd negative energy that came before me, I had to use a single stalk of a kaffir lime infused with clean water to wipe the floors and every surface my fingers could reach.

5 types of beans were to be presented on the dining table, along with red dates in a smaller bowl.

Then, just before bed, when everything in the house was spick and span, I had to climb a ladder, 3 steps high to hang a long red cloth across the archway of my door.

A housewarming ritual commands many rules.

The day I moved in, I stepped over a ladder, carrying a pineapple in one hand and a matchbox tied with red ribbon.

I made sure the kettle was boiling—the steam rising higher and higher before it dissipated into the soft, gentle wind that came from a small window by the yard.

For some reason, the house smelled of fresh oranges.

Tonight I will sleep softly on my bed, carried into gentle dreams.

This house is mine, and I only smiled thinking I’ve achieved something big.

With warm thoughts,
Melody.