Dreams about houses / homes /apartments- what do they mean? (dream interpretation on houses and homes)
Dream Interpretation: house/home/residence in dreams – what do they mean?
Have you dreamt of houses or apartments, then these are often images on your personality / who you are. Especially if it is your own home in the dream – whether it actually looks like the home you live in, in reality, or not. If it is a different home in the dream, it may just be a picture of a new and different version of you – something you can become or are becoming. The different rooms (including 1st floor, attic, basement, etc.) will then be pictures on the sides of your personality. Your house might of course also simply mean your house. The following describes the importance of housing / homes (houses and apartments) in dreams.
A house – typical meaning in dreams.
A house / home has a protective function. When we are there we are mostly secure; we feel at home. In this picture, the house (where we live), is that which “surrounds” us, the home in which we feel at home, and thus the personality (and related behaviors) that characterizes us and in which we “feel at home in.” Some psychologists would call it our “self” – an image of who we are.
Rooms / spaces as images on the sides of our personality.
In addition to the above, the different rooms in the house – known and unknown – represent aspects of ourselves – known and unknown. I for example dreamt that I moved into a new apartment, where I found a door to a basement which I did not know was there. The basement was filled with brushes, colors, and all kinds of paint equipment alongside woven chairs, which actually belonged to the previous owner. I realized that I had some artistic / painting skills, which I did not use, but which I earlier had made great use of. In this context, the basement is as an image on my unconsciousness, as it lies beneath my consciousness (ground floor). I have subsequently used my drawing skills in the processing of my dreams. I have drawn important symbols in my dreams, and whilst working on this, I caught sight of what the specific dream symbol in a specific dream symbolized. Similarly, different rooms in the house, as mentioned earlier, are pictures on the sides of our personality.
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When trying to understand your dreams it is important to know that your dreams are… your dreams. As such, you are the best person to figure out the true meaning of your dreams.
However, it is important to learn how to generally approach your dreams. Dream dictionaries like this one are only a supplement, and if you want to fully utilize the potential of your dreams, you should start at a different place.
My online course “Unlock your DREAMlife” gives you a great foundation for understanding (and recalling) your dreams.
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If we in the dream are afraid to go into a certain room, this will typically be about our relationship with that part of our personality that space represents. If we for example know that this space is filled with musical instruments and we do not dare to go into it, it can be about a fear of living out our musical sides in reality. A fear can be triggered by an inhibiting mindset of “it’s low status / wrong to play music” (something you might have gotten with you from home).
Upper floors of the house / home can represent more intellectual and spiritual sides of us. The facade is similar to our façade – the way we want to be seen on the other, where the contents of the house can look quite different than the “polished” / clean facade. A central place in the home is the kitchen – this is where we are nurtured – in dreams this is the mental nourishment. Is the kitchen in a dream an uncomfortable place to be, it may be an image that we give ourselves mental/spiritual sustenance in an inappropriate way, through harmful thoughts, etc.
The childhood home in dreams.
If we dream about our childhood home, it’s usually something in us that is shaped by/points back to events in our childhood. In addition to the above, the kitchen/dining room in our childhood home is often a place where we have had very socializing moments with our parents and possibly siblings. There can be many patterns – especially how we communicate as part of a family. The dreams here can show how we have learned appropriate/inappropriate ways of being with our dear ones on. Have you dreamt of a house/home – perhaps your childhood home, then don’t hesitate to write in the comment box below.
Dream dictionaries are a very helpful tool when interpreting dreams. However, generally learning how to approach your dreams, will give you a better foundation for understanding them. My online course “Unlock your DREAMlife” teaches you how to much better utilize – recall and understand – your dreams.
Return to the index of dream themes and symbols:
Dream interpretation A-Z ↵
Also read: Why I no longer interpret dreams for free
NOTE: Dreams are 100% individual, and when you dream about houses and/or homes, it’s almost certainly about something else for you than it is for your friend, who also dreamt about houses and/or homes. Dream interpretation / dream analysis is sometimes a difficult art, and a particular interpretation of a dream is only correct if you feel “affected” by it. Therefore, it is not certain that the above mentioned interpretations are relevant to you.
I have had similar dreams about houses before, but this one was different. I dreamed that I was living in my home, but still had an entire houseful of my things at my old apartment that my children and I lived in while I was in college, about 20+ years ago. The apt was in disarray and had been broken into by drug users looking for things to steal. While in the apt I was confronted by one of these people coming in through a window. I am frightened initially, but agree to let the person have things I no longer want or need. There are also kittens, several of them, in the apt and I am worried about what do with all of them. I have pets of my own and one who had surgery on Monday and he is having some problems. I am under a lot of stress financially as well. I also dream at the same time that I missed an entire semester of a college class. I dream that one often.
I have a recurring dream, I have it at least once every 2 months.
Me and my partner are walking around a spacious house, which is ours. Not ours in real life, but the general feel of the house in the dream is, it’s ours. But then all of a sudden, I always remember we have a basement, and in that basement is a huge openplan gorgeous modern home. That is always empty. There are no windows. Its not a nightmare at all. When we are in our home, we are calm. Then excitement when I remember we have the basement, like we completely forgot it was even there. And we never use it. The dream ALWAYS ends when we get to the bottom of the stairs. After seeing it all. I just can’t grip what it could be about?!
I had a dream that i was in a house and what stood out most of the white door with a big black clef note at the upper right and corner of the door. It was what but when i walked into the room. I noticed there were 4 or 5 kid bicycles. Strange…
Hi, I keep having dreams that are not necessarily nightmares but are not happy either. Just weird. And they keep occurring at my deceased grandmother’s house. She’s not ever really around in them, maybe once or twice, and when she is, she doesn’t really stand out much. But the dreams either occur inside her house or outside and in the neighborhood. For example, last night I had a dream that a long time crush of mine was a postman. I went outside in the back yard to talk. I ended up getting in his vehicle, falling in love with him. As we were about to drive off my ex was coming down the alley. He ended up trying to follow us, which is what he would do in real life, and chased us around the neighborhood. The hunt got serious and my crush ended up dead in the end. All taken place around her house. Not all the dreams end up this way, but it’s weird that her house is a constant setting for them. Why?
I had a dream and was in a house in which we have rented and the floor was made of wood. But, some of the wood became weak and if I step on it i might fall, then my Wife came and inform her. But the Landlord came that he will refurbish the house. And he did and he used gold to renovate the house and it became very very nice. What does this mean?
I had a dream that my house was being renovated by my brothers. What does that mean?
I had a dream that my boyfriend was sitting on the toilet in my parents bathroom (in the house I grew up in years ago) and I was feeding him black berries.
My wife is having recurring dream where she and I are at a home. In that dream, she tells me that we will always have a big party where many people attends. However, at the end of the party, no one will leave our house. So, my wife spends most of the night kicking people out of our house from room to room. She also said that when she returns to the first room, people are back there. She tells me that she wakes up tired since she has been kicking people out all night long. Not too sure what this means. Thank you.
Hello
I’ve been dreaming about a place to live.
The first dream was that I was given this little house close to my old house (the house I live now). This little house had lot of light and I was exited to have my own place.
The second dream was about a mansion that I was given to live in but has to share with 2-3 other people the house had lot of rooms and it was very big. I chose one of the largest bedrooms with a very large bathroom.
Is there a meaning to these dreams
I have seen loosing my brother’s I-phone in a party while drinking. He doesn’t have an I-phone. Actually in dream one small boy asked me for the phone. I gave it to him. But he refused to give it back and ran for his home. Continuously I have been watching this dream for past couple of months. Please interpret the meaning of it.
Hi Saumyajit,
thank you for your comment – and not the least your very interesting dream! I get very many requests everyday (via this website and e-mail), and I simply cannot keep up with them. This is also why I have decided to no longer help out in this way (for free). Have you already downloaded my free guide? This guide can definitely help you some of the way in gettting to understand your dreams. You find it here: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/newsletter (you also sign up for my newsletter with valuable information about how to understand dreams, you can always unsubscribe). Best regards – Michael.
I have a large Family but almost every night I dream of being in a different house filled with people of whom I do not know I am never talking to these people just surrounded by them
Hi Celena,
and thank you for your comment. As I get many comments every day, I simply cannot keep up with answering all of them. That is also the reason why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
I had this dream last night that my mother and 2 of my siblings were giving this new house. The thing is the house they had gave to us was in the mountains, and quite up a drive in the mountains. All I can think about was when my mom and I went to work it was going to be a heck of a drive to get off of the mountain. And if I went out with my friends I wouldn’t be able to because it would be too dangerous to go back the mountain because of the animals and darkness. My brother goes to get the mail and had left one door open, and I went to go close the door and I walked outside to see our New yard and I looked at the snow. I decided to put my feet in the snow and I slipped but I hold on. Then I get back in the house and close the door.
Hi Cristina,
and thank you for your comment. As I get many comments every day, I simply cannot keep up with answering all of them. That is also the reason why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
Hi I have a Reoccurring dream about the house I am living in at the time been two but a few in those house that I keep finding secret unknown rooms when I find them I am excited about what Is in them I have recently moved and last night had a dream that I had a extra room that had an en suite in the dream I knew about this room that I do not actually have but I was tidy it and found a door with led to a huge closet make up room which then led to a fully working spa which then led to a secret garden which had a huge amusement park and was full of people working ect and in his dream I was with family working out how I was going to run and Keep this amusement park. I have also had dreams in the past going back to when I was a child a pub we used to go to or my childhood home but in these dreams I have found room but in these rooms iS dark scary stuff but I want to see what’s in the rooms but I never manage to get them open.
Sorry for long post have had these for years and really gets me thinking thanks Nikki
Hi Nikki,
and thank you for your comment. As I get many comments every day, I simply cannot keep up with answering all of them. That is also the reason why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
I’m having a reoccurring dream about being at my grandparents house (they have both passed on) and the house is empty & appears to have been vacant due to when I open the doors to certain areas there are cobwebs thick.
Hi Jennifer,
And thank you for your comment, Apologies for my late reply, but I receive many comments every day, and I simply cannot keep up with them. That is also why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
My daughter is having recurring nightmares of the home we cannot live in anymore and will be destroyed because if mold. We have been through a 6 year battle with our insurance anyway we have had to leave our belongings behind. In her dream someone of out family members passes away. Maybe you could help to explain things to me. Marisa has also had some medical issues lately that are difficult and has withstood some bullying at school. We are worried. She has graduated and will be starting college soon nearby.
Hi Mary,
And thank you for your comment, Apologies for my late reply, but I receive many comments every day, and I simply cannot keep up with them. That is also why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
There is a house I dream about. It is always the same, and has waltzed in an out of my dreams for years. It is a large, old house. Brown brick, red roof. Low,black wrought iron fence surrounding an odd, triangular yard. Three visible stories from the front, but the back door, going into the kitchen, is on a level below the street.
The house is empty, but familiar. I walk in and it feels like home. The house is full of heavy, golden-toned wood with a flaking but rich finish. The floors are worn. The ceilings are high. The first level is four rooms in a circle, with the staircase facing the back of the house, rather than the front door. The second level is in better shape, with red carpet, and always, eventually, a chandelier. There are many bedrooms here. And then to the attic, where it is one long room. The two entrances, on far sides, are from platforms. Then the attic goes on an uncannily long way. This is normally where I realize I am dreaming, because this attic doesn’t fit the footprint of the house. As I cross the attic, things appear. But while the house is familiar as an old book, the things in the attic are not mine.
In every dream I go in, and I already know where all the rooms are and what needs to be done to renovate them. In every dream, there is either the feeling that the house has previously been subdivided into apartments (and in these dreams I am frequently returning after being a renter in the first floor left-side apartment), or a looming fear that it will be if I don’t own it. Either way the house is for sale. Every dream ends somehow with purchasing the house, and having many people, some familiar, some not, filling the rooms, especially on the second floor. And always a dog running around the odd, triangular backyard…normally my old Great Dane.
All the details, with the exception of the apartments, stay the same.
Hi Mary,
and thank you for your very interesting dream! Unfortunately I no longer offer interpretation for free, as I get many requests every day. Instead I offer the following: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
I dream of moving into a house that is fully furnished . When I leave a room and try to go back the door is gone I can only go forward .
Hi Joyce,
and thank you for your very interesting dream! Unfortunately I no longer offer interpretation for free, as I get many requests every day. Instead I offer the following: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
This is sad GOD Didn’t change people for anything.
I can’t believe how you charging people for a gift that GOD gave to you free of charge. This is wickedness in the sight of GOD.
All throughout the Bible you don’t see not one person charging people to interpret their dreams not Joseph or Daniel no one.
Wat you should do it give people the option to donate to you.
Dear Nesha,
thank you for your comment, which I cannot resonate with though. I believe we need to discover the gifts and talents that God has given us, and then be okay with making a living on them. Your idea on donation is good, I am afraid it won’t be enough for me and my family though. I am sure God is very delighted to see that I have discovered my gift, AND that I am able to make a living from it.
Best regards – Michael
I had this dream two nights ago. I came back home after walking my three little puppies in the woods. The puppies were healthy and playful. I took one puppy with me and came inside the house while I left two puppies in the garden. I was holding the puppy in my arm and went to the dining room that looked exactly the same as the dining room in the house where I grew up. The room was dark. I look for food for the puppies. I saw a dining table that has a lot of stuffs on top of it and also noticed that there was no dining chair. I opened the refrigerator but could not find any puppy food. I called my mom and she came to help. She went into kitchen and told me that she found the food. I saw a cardboard box on the corner of the dining room and saw a black cat hiding in it. The black cat jumped up when I approached and tried to attack the puppy that I was holding in my arm. I pushed the cat away and the puppy was safe.
Hi Stella, what a very interesting dream! Unfortunately I am no longer able to help out on interpretation for free, as I get way too many requests. I am in the process of setting up a payment system so I can help you out. Best regards – Michael
Hello.
I am a wife of a loving husband and mother of 3. Weve lived in our family home for 10 years and dont plan on moving ever. I have the ability to lucid dream. I trained myself to be able to when i was a teenager.
So to the point: over the past few years i have been having many different dreams with different people and different content but every dream has somthing in common. Im in the market for a house for my children and i. My husband is no where around and in my dream there is always an urgency to find a home that would suit my children and i. The strange itching feeling these dreams give me is very nagging and im jut wondering if you may have any type of insight of what it may mean?
Hi Trista,
And thank you for your comment, Apologies for my late reply, but I receive many comments every day, and I simply cannot keep up with them. That is also why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
I had this dream last night where I was in a house and there was someone close to me trying to fix it up to sell it. The interested buyers came in and said they couldn’t buy it because the sheetrock was nailed into the wall instead of screwed. The house then began falling apart, and this all started in the living room. The house was dark, no light and uncomfortable. The emotions of the people around me were all negative. What could this mean?
Hi Sky, what an interesting dream! Unfortunately I am no longer able to help out on interpretation for free, as I get way too many requests. I am in the process of setting up a payment system so I can help you out. Best regards – Michael
I have this reoccurring dream where I’m looking for a home. My childhood home. It”s like I’m always returning there. The dream began with me leaving my grandmother”s house. There’s always some conflict or something. The dream changes all the time, with me on my way to the house, or standing in the yard, in different rooms. Other times, there’s construction on the house or the house is in really bad shape. No foundation, missing doors etc. Once the house disappeared, and in it’s location was a new foundation.
The last dream occurred last night, the house look old and needed repairs, I keep thinking that I will have to tore everything down and start from fresh.
I don’t know what this means and I want to stop having this dream.,
Hi Patsy,
thank you for your very interesting dream! Since I do not know you or your specific life situation, it is hard for me to know exactly what this is all about. But dreams of trying to find your home, even your childhood home, could illustrate a search in your life right now of figuring out who you are. What do you really “contain” – and which direction are you going to go in your life? The last dream you had COULD then mean that the way you look at yourself and your life situation no longer makes sense – you need to approach yourself and your life in a totally different way. In other words – as you say yourself – you need to tear down the house and build a new one. (did you read the blog post? our house in dreams often is a symbol of our identity, who we are, and how we view ourselves). Mayby you need to move into a new house, but better I guess is it to construct the house from the beginning yourself. Maybe first time in your life you ask yourself – who am I really, and what do I want to do with my life? The biggest regret on the death bed of us humans is a feeling that we didn’t have the courage to life our OWN life, a life in accordance with who we truly are, as opposed to a life in accordance with what others expect of us. Kind rgds – Michael