You’ve navigated the subway from the airport, you and your taxi driver have located your new apartment and you’ve lugged your bags up the six flights of stairs to your new front door.

All that’s left to do now is begin to take in the space you’ll call home for the next year. You see white walls, bare floors and a foreign landscape outside that bay window.

If a new job takes you to a new city and you’re unsure of your strange surrounding on your first night there, here are a few ways to help make your new digs your own.

First of all, unpack – even just a little bit. You might not enjoy the task of unloading the suitcases you had organized so carefully days before. However you will most likely find that even small efforts, such as putting your socks in a drawer, your towel on a hook, or some bowls in the cupboard, will make you feel more like you belong.

But making your new place feel like home will take more than just unpacking.

Next, make your bed. You’ve likely woken up to the same bedspread for the past few years, if not half your life. Or perhaps you couldn’t pack it and must buy some new covers, which could make a great first errand.

Either way, the look of your own bedspread, more than anything else, will help in getting used to the fact that you own this space. It’s not the previous tenant’s anymore. That bed is yours!

Put up your posters or photographs. All that bare space on the walls might seem daunting at first, but posting a picture of your dog or your favourite band will give you something familiar to look at when you’re doing the dishes or drifting off to sleep.

Barbara Cole, an interior decorator at Feather Our Nest in Toronto, suggests decorating your new place with flowers or candles to give it a warm and cosy feel, so you can cuddle up in front of your favourite movie that night

Many people want their new homes to look like pictures in magazines, she says, but when you’re first moving in, especially in a new city, familiarity is key.

“You’ve got to be comfortable,” Cole says. “Things don’t have to match.” Your pink bath mat might go with the brown shower curtain, but it’s your bath mat. Once you’re more settled in, then you can start co-ordinating colours.

Cole notes the importance of sleeping on your own pillows, and recommends breaking out a family recipe to make on your first night for a taste of home.

Once the inside of your home looks more familiar, take a quick walk outside. Stroll up and down your street, figure out which way north is, or go on a hunt for the nearest Starbucks. Any bit of exploring will help make your next trip a little less daunting because you’ll already have a better idea of what’s around you.

Furthermore, you might meet a few new neighbours along the way – already, your new city is starting to feel like home.