As the saying goes ‘home is where the heart is’. You may not realise just what impact that sanctuary has on your happiness and wellbeing.

Our homes account for 15% of our overall happiness. Much more than our income or employment status.

The Good Home Report by Kingfisher undertook a study into the link between our homes and our happiness. The findings – gathered from over 13,000 people, found that if we were to divide up our overall happiness into percentages, our homes account for 15% of our total. Yes, that’s more important than our general health and fitness (14%), our salaries (6%) or our career choices (3%). The study found that people felt that no matter where they live, their homes drive five core emotional needs – pride, identity, comfort, safety and control

What is upbeat, is that 73% of people who are happy with their home are also happy in life and pride accounts for a large part of our home happiness. And why? Where we live is such a reflection of who we are as people. “Our home spaces are a collection of our lives and who we are, and where we’ve been.”

So how exactly do we foster pride in our own homes? Easy – share the love. The more we invite friends, family and neighbours into our homes, the more we too love and connect with our homes. In short, our pride in our home is likely to be at its highest when we feel able to share it with others. So who will you invite over today?