How to feel at home in your Supported Independent Living (SIL) accommodation

You’ve just gotten the keys to your new Supported Independent Living (SIL) accommodation. It’s an exciting, but overwhelming experience. How do you make this new house your home? Don’t stress, you’re in the right place!

Making your new house ‘a home’ can take a long time. Although you want to feel comfortable straight away, sometimes it takes time before you can fully settle in. In this article, we discuss ways you can make your SIL accommodation feel like home. From establishing a routine to finding ways to socialise and become familiar with your new housemates, we have you covered.

At Novita, we regularly support our clients to settle into their SIL homes with consideration of their needs and goals. Our friendly SIL staff ensure that clients settle into their homes and support them to reach their goals in their day-to-day lives. You can read more about our SIL services and support here.

Before we get started, there are a lot of benefits of living in SIL! Take it from our client Gerry (who you’ll be hearing a lot from in this article) that SIL is a great way to improve someone’s quality of life and overall independence.

• SIL offers personalised support – no matter your needs, your SIL accommodation and team are designed to fit you. Gerry loves to cook and has set his own menu to prepare with his team throughout the week. They his goals of becoming part of the community, so he goes on regular trips to meet new people and attend fun events like shows at the Adelaide Fringe.
• More independence – Living in SIL is an opportunity to live outside of traditional residential care and establish new relationships and routines. Gerry loves living in SIL because it gives him a choice in how he wants to live his life. Regularly, he tells his team what he wants to do and makes decisions on things impacting his day to day living.
• Making new friends – Gerry loves living in SIL because of the ability to make new friends. Initially, it was a nerve-wracking experience meeting his new housemates, but they eventually became great friends and often play games or attend events together.
• Offering a sense of routine – SIL offers a sense of routine in your day to day living. Whether it’s cleaning your room, making breakfast or attending appointments, living in SIL can improve independence and build important life skills.

Quick tip: For more benefits of living in SIL and to hear what clients enjoy about their accommodation visit our SIL page.

Below we’ve provided our top tips for making your SIL house a home and getting past the initial stress and anxiety of moving into a new place. By using these tips to settle into your new home, you will quickly enjoy and love the newfound independence, routine and social life that SIL can provide!

An empty room can be an overwhelming sight! We recommend bringing familiar items from your old house to decorate and add personal touches. Photos, posters, and other comfort items can make an unfamiliar space feel safer and comfortable. We also suggest bringing blankets, sheets and other familiar items from your old home to add more ‘you’ to the space.

Here are some quick suggestions you can use for decorating your room:

• Create a pinboard display – here you can make a collage of photos, inspirational quotes and postcards. A pinboard is a great way to display lots of photos in a fun and creative way.
• Purchasing a new item that is uniquely ‘you’ — This could be a plant, a new lamp or poster that you have purchased specifically for your new space. Adding this item to your space will help you feel like it is uniquely ‘yours’.
• Setting a quiet spot – Choose a corner of your room that is specifically for chilling out. Remember, your room shouldn’t be a hectic space, so ensure that there is a lot of positive vibes! This spot can be for reading, listening to music, or meditating. We recommend creating this space in a bright and warm spot (i.e., by the window).
• Think about how you would host – having people over is an exciting part of moving out and living in a new space. Think about how you would make your living area welcoming and fun for your friends and family. This can be a great way to make the space feel familiar and comfortable.

Quick tip: SIL client Gerry said that displaying photos and posters was a great way to make the space feel like his own. Gerry brought lots of photos of family and friends to feel less isolated when moving in. He stated that this was comforting and made him feel less alone when settling into his new accommodation. Gerry made sure his photos weren’t only displayed in his room, but around the house, including the kitchen and living area, so he would feel a sense of familiarity in each room.

Moving into new SIL accommodation can be difficult, so it’s important you make friends with your roommates to feel more supported and comfortable throughout the moving period. When you feel ready (or with the support from your team), we recommend taking the opportunity to socialise and engage with your housemates, if you have them. This could be in small ways like having a conversation at breakfast or asking about their hobbies and interests. You could also do this by taking part in communal activities like playing games, watching movies or cooking dinner together.

Here are some other suggestions you could follow to socialise:

Getting out in the community – You could ask your team to support you to find community groups in your new neighbourhood. This is a great way to familiarise yourself with the area, meet new people and participate in activities that you enjoy.

Have people over – Inviting your support network of family and friends over is a great way to socialise with people who make you feel comfortable and safe. We recommend inviting your support network over on a regular basis to establish a sense of community and comfort. You could initially start with small visits which don’t require too much effort and planning (i.e., coffee or walking in the garden), then build up to hosting dinners or movie nights with support from your team. A great way to make the space feel like yours is by giving visitors a tour and emphasise about what you enjoy about living there.

Creating a regular routine can provide a sense of comfort, choice, independence and control in your day-to-day living. Building routine comes gradually, so don’t be too disappointed in yourself if it takes a while to set in. A great way to establish a realistic routine would be to communicate with your support team and see how you can come up with a plan together and get help (when you need it!)

Here are some tips that you can follow to build a routine:

• Use your pinboard to write down a routine you can see when you wake up – As we mentioned, having a pinboard display for photos and inspirational quotes is a great way to make your space feel familiar and safe. Alongside these photos, you could also display a fun piece of paper which lists a realistic routine you can easily follow. Consider using calendars, planners, or visual schedules to help keep track of your day. This routine could include: a consistent wake up time, mealtimes, appointments, hygiene and chores around the house. You can gradually add more to your routine as you feel more comfortable (e.g., going to the gym, meeting friends or attending community events.)
• Being patient with yourself – establishing a routine can take a lot of time and patience. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you can’t follow each step perfectly, that doesn’t mean you have failed at anything! Things take time to become part of our everyday lives, and it’s a process to add something new into our daily lives. Each step you take is an important one.
• Involve your support team – As we stated above, involving your support team is a great way to get extra encouragement when you are building a routine. We recommend discussing your intended routine with your team so they can support you to stay consistent and achieve your goals.
• Do what works for you – Don’t create unrealistic expectations for your lifestyle. If you are not an early riser, don’t force yourself to wake up at the crack of dawn! Make realistic steps that you can comfortably include in your day-to-day living.

Familarising yourself with your new community is another great way to feel at home in your new space. When he moved into his SIL accommodation fifteen years ago, Gerry took the time to explore and engage with the neighbourhood on a regular basis.

‘Even though I grew up where my SIL house is located, it was still great to familiarise myself with the neighbourhood again and experience it as an adult,’ Gerry says.

‘I like living here because it’s become familiar, and I enjoy getting out into the community to meet new people and find fun places to visit.’

Here are some tips you can use to get out into the community:

• Do some research before you move in – before you move into your new SIL accommodation, we recommend doing some research about the area to see what kind of vibe it has. See if there are any cafes, restaurants or shops you may enjoy going to. You can also look at parks or other facilities (gyms, doctors, grocery stores) to start putting a routine together. A good way to do research is typing your address into Google Maps and writing ‘things to do near me’. Maps will then list cafes, shops, areas of interest and activities that you can check out.
• Following the locals – During your first few weeks at your new accommodation, take some time to visit these local spots. This is a good opportunity to ask your new roommate or a support worker to join you so that it is not too overwhelming.
• Find out about the community – With support from your team, or through personal research, find out more about the community you’re living in. See whether there is a community centre that offers activities and meet ups for new residents. Lots of local council websites will have information that you can use during this planning period.

Making your SIL house a home can take a lot of time, patience and preparation. We understand this and we hope that you can use this guide to work through each step to feel settled and comfortable in your new accommodation. From building a routine to getting out into the community, settling in doesn’t have to be scary! It can be a fun and rewarding experience which will ultimately support you to reach goals towards independence and daily living. Take it from Gerry who loves the freedom and fun SIL has provided for him.

‘Living in this house is great fun,’ Gerry says.

‘I enjoy having a say in how I want to live from cooking to going out. Looking after the garden and using the barbeque makes me feel right at home. I like playing card games with my friends and support workers and it’s great that I live where I grew up.’

We understand that you and your loved ones will have many questions and concerns, and we are here to talk these through with you.

Our amazing team of support workers are able to assist you with daily living according to your individual needs, interests, and goals. This includes providing support with:

• Personal care and hygiene
• Planning your day
• Developing your hobbies and interests
• Engaging with your community
• Enabling you to catch up with friends and family
• Shopping, meal preparation and cooking
• Cleaning and gardening
• Attending appointments
• Health support
• safely taking medication and so much more.