Civil strife between the central military government and dissident groups in Burma has caused the displacement of Karen refugees since the late 1950s. Fleeing the practices of armed groups that include the confiscation of farmland, forced labour and gendered violence, Karen refugees seek refuge along the Thai–Burma border where they are not recognised as ‘legal persons’ and therefore forced to remain in camps established from the late 1980s. This long‐standing conflict has resulted in one of the most protracted refugee situations in the world. Since 2006, the Canadian government has been re‐settling Karen refugees from this border region. Situated within this context, in this paper I explore Karen refugees' creation of ‘home’ through an examination of their material cultures. I argue that while the notion of home becomes destabilised at different junctures of displacement, phases of mobility and immobility nurture the creation of home. Through their material engagements with dwellings at the Thai–Burma border and in Canada, Karen refugees' everyday practices reinforce the specialised role of place within flows of movement. The bordering projects at the Thai–Burma boundary are reinforced and troubled by both the presence of these shelters, which serve as physical reminders of the ongoing conflict, and the mobility and immobility of bodies.