7 Reasons You're Dreaming Of Your Childhood Home, According To Experts

When it comes to interpreting your dreams, every detail matters—from who's in the dream to how you feel in it and, of course, where the dream is taking place. In the case of dreaming of your childhood home (or any previous home you've inhabited, for that matter), there are a few key things to keep in mind, according to experts. Here's what they had to say.

And while the scientific research behind whether dream interpretation is valid is lacking, anecdotally speaking, we've all had a dream that felt too uncanny to ignore. So, whether you think dreaming is purely memory consolidation or playing out future scenarios, we've all found ourselves wondering what our weird, funny, or stressful dreams can mean.

In any event, the places we live throughout our lives, and especially our primary childhood home, will have far-reaching effects on the subconscious, making them likely to appear in our dreams from time to time.

"For example, if you dream of a particular room in the house, was there something that happened there that you can recall?" she says, adding, "Dreams can unearth memories that may be asking for integration in the present."

Oftentimes when we dream of a previous place of residence, we may notice there's something different about it, but really, it is actually you who is different now. "Maybe certain rooms have changed, the furniture is different, there's something different or updated about it—and that is usually representative of our growth and change since being that person that lived in that house," Loewenberg tells mbg.

Along with signifying growth and/or integrating past memories, Ellis says dreams of your old home can serve as reminders of lost parts of yourself that are ripe for reclaiming. In this case, perhaps you find yourself in a room where you used to paint because you've subconsciously been missing creating. Or maybe you're in a spot in your home where something traumatic happened, as your subconscious urges you to reclaim that memory.

Interestingly, Ellis explains that houses in dreams can also sometimes be analogies for the body, pointing to an area that might need attention. "For example," she says, "windows as eyes, wiring as nervous system, plumbing as digestive system and so on." If you have been having a dream like this, it could be worth looking into, she adds.

"It's a reminder from the subconscious of what it was like when we were children so that we can better relate to our own children when it comes to disciplining them or understanding where they're coming from. It can certainly help the parent-child bond," she explains.

On a more fundamental, literal level, Loewenberg says childhood home dreams can also mean we're yearning for the past in one way or another, especially if life has been tough recently. "When we're dealing with really difficult adult issues—marital trouble, bills, debt, you know—it's kind of the way we yearn for when things were taken care of for us," she notes.

And last but not least, to dream about a childhood home can also simply mean childish behavior is present in your real life, according to Loewenberg. She notes that this is "pretty common," and whether it's you who is behaving childishly or someone you know, it can remind us of our youth, and subsequently, the house in which we lived then.

Loewenberg echoes this point, adding that especially if you came from an abusive or broken home, to dream of that house burning often signifies you are "in the process of destroying your attachment to the negativity from back then."

It's not uncommon to dream of your childhood home, and many of us likely will for similar reasons: We're reflecting on the past, overcoming childhood wounds, or just reminiscing on simpler times. In any case, when we take a closer look at these childhood home dreams (and any dream, really), we can figure out where those messages are coming from within our subconscious and how to work with them in our waking life.