Our Favorite Traditions for Saying Goodbye to a Home

Looking for some sweet and sentimental ways to say goodbye to your home before moving? Here are some ideas to get you started!

When we moved from our first home to our second home, I let the chaos take over. It was a bit of an emotional move, and I was so caught up in just getting it done that I never really took the time to properly say goodbye. By the time we were done with getting all of our stuff out and getting the house clean, I was so focused on the new house that I didn’t give myself any room to get closure. In fact, I don’t think I fully got closure on leaving that house until earlier this summer. It went back on the market and we were able to go visit it and see how it had changed in the last 9 years.

When we left our second house, we did a much better job of saying goodbye. We went to visit the empty house as a family before we handed over the keys. And, we just soaked it up. Our family walked through and touched every wall. We cried. We laughed. I took a ton of photos. It’s one of my most cherished memories from that house, actually. It helped me so much to mentally let go and settle into our new home.

As we prepare to move into our next home in just a couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking about how we can be really intentional about saying goodbye this time, too. We’re so excited for our next house, but I don’t want to let the thrill of a new space stop us from taking the time to really honor and acknowledge this space that’s been our home for nearly 6 years. So, here are a few ideas I’ve come up with so far.

9 Simple Ways to Say Goodbye to Your Home

Walk Through Each Room & Share Memories

Before all of the boxes are fully packed and the chaos of moving day sets in, take some time as a family to walk through each room and share a memory or two. This is the time to reminisce about when the bathtub overflowed or when you had that epic Mario Kart battle in the family room. Let everyone share a favorite memory or two in each room, if they have one.

If you want to take it a step further, you could even take some final photos in each room and tape them in a notebook. As your family members share their favorite memories, take notes! You’ll end up with a mini scrapbook of all your favorite times in that home.

Leave Your Mark

Find a hidden corner in the home (nowhere that’s going to be really annoying for the new owners!) and leave a small message from your family. You can have everyone sign a hidden corner in a closet, or write a favorite memory on the inside of a cabinet.

If you don’t want to leave anything permanent behind (which is totally fair!), consider just taping a piece of paper with a favorite memory or a mini time capsule from your family. When the new owners stumble on it someday, it’s sure to make them smile.

Write a Letter to the New Owners

One of the things I’m most looking forward to doing when we leave this house is taking the time to write a letter to the new owners. We have poured so much love, time, effort, and memories into this home. I can’t just leave without sharing some of what makes this house so special!

In your note, you can share whatever you want! My plan is to talk a bit about some of our favorite things about the home, or the places nearby. I’ll tell them how to walk down to the secret waterfall. How a disco ball will cast the most magical midday light in the living room. And, how sometimes the powder room door handle accidentally locks people in the bathroom but it’s so pretty that it’s worth it.

In my note, my kids have also requested that I make sure the new homeowners know about our tradition for the home’s birthday. Every year we make a big deal of the day our house became a home (since we’re the first owners). My kids are hopeful that the next family who lives here will carry that tradition on.

Leaving a small note and even a bottle of champagne for the new owners is a really great way to give yourself some closure. It will also make the next people who live there feel really special!

overhead shot of a man, a baby, and a dog in an empty living room

Last photo in our second home // First photo in our third!

Take ALL THE PHOTOS

I can’t emphasize this enough – I don’t think you can possibly take too many photos of the entire moving process. Take photos of the boxes and the empty rooms. Snap photos of your kids in their bedrooms once everything has been cleared out. Take photos of the moving van and the last meals and final time you lock the door. You’ll never regret having a billion photos of your last few days in a beloved home. You’ll never look back and think, “man, I wish I had captured fewer of those memories”.

Romanticize Your Final Dinner

As we get closer to the final few days in a home it can be really easy to get caught up in the chaos and forget to make it feel special. Set aside a candle or two, and maybe even leave out a fancy tablecloth. That way, you can make the most of your final dinner in your home. You don’t have to make anything special (heck, you don’t even have to cook). But, you can still make it an event.

While you’re eating, share some favorite memories from your home. This is also a great time to dream a little about your next house. Think of how many special memories your family will create there, too!

corner of a dining room with paintings of homes on the wall

Create a Memento

One of the most special gifts Corey ever gave me was a watercolor painting of each of our first two homes. He gave it to me on our first Christmas in this house. I was still settling into this as a home and kind of missing our previous home. It was so incredibly thoughtful and those two paintings have hung in our dining room the entire time we’ve lived here.

I’ve already reached out to the artist who did them to ask for a painting of this house! I think it’s just the perfect way to memorialize a home your family loves so much. Other ideas for this could be to frame a key from the home, or even just frame a photo or two of your family in the home!

Say a Prayer (or Speak Well Wishes) for the Future Owners

This one isn’t for everyone, but it was one of the most powerful and emotional things that we did when we were leaving our second home. After we had done one final walkthrough of the empty house, we all stood in a circle in the living room and prayed over the home. We prayed for the new owners, that they would love it as much as we had. We prayed for our family as we headed off to new adventures. It was such a special memory, and I already look forward to doing it before we leave this home.

If your family isn’t religious, you could take a moment to speak aloud some general well-wishes. There’s something really emotional about intentionally imagining someone else living in your home. I found that this little ritual was such a good way to give me some closure over leaving.

Make Note of Your “Lasts”

As you get within the last few weeks of living in your home, you’re going to have a lot of lasts! The last time you bake a favorite treat, the last family movie night, the last walk around your neighborhood. Don’t let all of those last moments slip right past you!

One fun idea is to sit down and make a mini “Moving Bucket List”. You can write down all of the special things you do in you home and neighborhood that you want to make sure to do one final time. Ours would include things like visiting the pool, walking to the creek, eating our favorite breakfast tacos, and baking cookies together. These are all things we can when we move too, of course. But, something about doing them one last time in this house feels extra special. Bonus points if you remember to snap a photo or two of the lasts as you go through them!

Don’t forget the firsts in your new home, too – this was the first time we cooked dinner in our current home!

Slow Down and Take It All In

And finally (and perhaps most importantly), take a minute to just soak it up. Moving can come with so many emotions. Even if it’s a happy move that you’re making because you want to, it can be full of anxiety and stress and sadness too. Give yourself a little bit of space to feel all of the feelings. You could even set a timer for 5 minutes on the morning of the move. Set aside some time to just sit in your favorite spot and feel. Don’t let the chaos of the move steal your chance to say goodbye on your terms!

What are your favorite ways to capture memories and get closure when you’re leaving a home?