Nosey Neighbour

Money to burn? The build can be good but the interior does not fit your ideas. Change it all and stay or move again.

Those three may be the first customers!!

My lovely neighbour died recently. Council workmen (many!) were in the house for over a month. The new tenants have moved in and charmingly apologised for the smell of paint and sounds of hammering. I'm wondering whatever they found to do!
These things do turn one into a slightly nosy neighbour it seems!

I think we moved into a house once lived in by your neighbour Juggernaut! We've had to do so much to this house but all the neighbours seem very pleased that the house and garden have been "reclaimed"! Now we're enjoying sitting back and enjoying it. Hurry back Eglantine!

Oo yes, keep em peeled...I won't be able to sleep tonight until I know what is in the van! Getting a bit like you myself as nothing exciting happens around here, so a pair of new curtains on a window causes a stir! We came home with a new camper van today..... by tomorrow morning we will be the talk of the village! As long as nobody is harmed...its not a problem is it!

we bought this house offplan 27 years ago,before we'd moved in we had plans drawn up to add an extension to the back , a much larger garage to one side and convert the existing garage to an office with its own en suite .There wasn't a house for sale that had what we wanted so we changed this to suit.We also change kitchen ,bathrooms and decor very regularly .I love doing it up and changing styles .One Sunday evening we were talking about knocking a wall down btween the kitchen and dining room and about 7'30 that same night we took a sledgehammer to the wall .Now I'm thinking off blocking off the back door and relocating it to bi fold doors in the dining section of the room.Variety IS the spice of life.

Not over the garden wall Greyduster - just foraging in your skip for all the goodies!

I guess I shouldn't have made such a sweeping statement about people being afflicted ... But as someone who was brought up in poverty, it does boggle my mind when people spend money needlessly.

I have another close family member who moved recently. This was supposedly the 'dream forever-house-move'. Now they are sayin the location is wrong, they don't see the wildlife locally they were hoping to see (semi-rural spot), the floors are so uneven (period cottage) that appliances don't work and so on. The list of gripes is endless. What they moved from was so suited to their needs. The story of the old lady and the vinegar bottle comes to mind ...

I'd better keep quiet about all the stuff we have had done to ours in the six years we have lived here, then, or you'll all be round giving each other a bunk up so you can see over the garden wall!?

Hope Eglantine gets back soon.

Always seemed to me the more people did on a house the more frequently they moved! I suppose it's the ones that like change.

Funny OP!

It is a disease - the need to keep changing things that are already fine ... I have a family member who does this, buys something new - always good quality - then decides the colours is 'wrong' or 'I have changed my mind about the shape ...' and so on. This person had a very deprived childhood and lived in filthy circumstances. I think it has marked their life and made them unable to settle in some deep way.

I suppose the upside is that the family keep benefiting from the good-as-new throw outs!

One does wonder for the neighbour in question, why they didn't relocate if it was all so very wrong so I suspect they have the same kind of affliction.

SusieB50 S- A-? by any chance, I used to work next door to their local HQ. and our male office cleaner once said 'no offence but your place is quite shabby in comparison to all the fancy furniture next door'.

Eglantine21, thanks for brightening up all of our days - I'm waiting for the next episode with baited breath.

I too wonder how people afford the work on their houses! They must all earn much more than me? I inherited some money 10 years ago and it all went on roof repairs ugh? and redecorating the sittingroom halls and a new bathroom and replacement flooring for said rooms. Still to do are 4 bedrooms kitchen and dining room and utility room all badly need work as not touched for over 20 years ? unfortunately I have run out of money and can’t see my modest salary covering it. Any kind of renovation is so expensive!

My daughter can't resist 'doing up' her house(s). Her first owned home was a ground floor flat in a converted Victorian terrace and she re-decorated and put in a new kitchen and bathroom. She kept the flat on, but then moved into a rented house and, with the owners permission re-decorated. She then bought a house that was initially part of a farm complex and had been completely renovated to a really high standard, but she still put in a new kitchen and two new bathrooms, external decking and, of course, re-decorated throughout. Her current house is huge with enormous rooms - and when she moved in I couldn't imagine how she could improve it. Yes, she has completely redecorated it and has plans to put in a new kitchen/utility and external decking. (I'm planning on being the recipient of her 'old' kitchen, which is 40 years newer than mine!) In fairness I should say that she recently had the house valued and the estate agent asked for the name of her interior designer (she was very chuffed) and he said the quality of the design has pushed the price up into seven figures!

Juggernaut?is he called Frank Spencer?

I wonder if eglantine realises she is going to have to wangle an invite into her neighbour's house now, so we may know what the heck has been going on in there?

I worked with someone who was expecting her 2nd child first one was 2yr old and she bought all brand new furniture cot pram etc as couldn't contemplate using same furniture for both!

I'm a nosey neighbour too - I consider that it's a branch of Neighbourhood Watch!

The woman opposite us has in the last 5 years added a garden office, patioed the back garden, added a study, wet room, double bedroom with ensuite, had new windows, kitchen and bathroom. There are only 2 of them.

She seems to have no way of stopping herself 'doing' stuff. The front garden changes weekly with her current 'thing' being 9inch high ranch fencing round every flower bed (and there are lots)

We find it entertaining.

On the plus side - a group of us check that everyone opens their curtains every morning just so we know they are still hale and hearty!

I live in a Park Home (Mobile Home), my neighbour inherited a large sum of money. I dread to think what she has spent particularly on the garden (we own our home but Park Owner owns the land). It is part of our contract to maintain our gardens & I will admit her garden is lovely but at what cost? It won't add value to the home. Recently she has replaced all the flooring. Still it's her money , I'm not jealeous no not at all..honest

We live next door to a house belonging to a well known religious group who provides accomodation ( free) for their "leaders" . They change about every3-5 years . We are appalled that each time there is a changeover, the house is completely refurbished to the likings of the new "leaders" Not just decorating , which I understand but still think unnecessary, but new bathrooms fitted kitchens and flooring.
Needless to say I do not contribute to the appeals and envelopes that frequently appear through our door .

I suppose one answer to reducing waste is to not do up one's house before selling it, just tidy and make good where necessary. Never saw the point of putting in a new kitchen, bath etc when the new owners will likely rip it out.

One lady I know had her house extended, complete with new downstairs loo. When she learned the builders (a nice tidy and polite crew) had used it, she had it ripped out and replaced!

We have landscapers here ripping up paths and garden that was done five years ago.
There is an estate not too far from us where the houses sell for around the million mark, most are demolished and have new houses built on the site. Have to say it is cheaper to build new than try an renovate an old building.

Amazing how they can afford all the changes. I certainly cannot. Interesting though.

I went to a reunion lunch with my old department and one of the ex teachers there was talking about his daughter in law who, with his son, bought a new house and proceeded to pull it to pieces and refit everything. He was bemused as to where they found the money to do it as she was a primary teacher and his son in marketing, not banking!

The second part of the story was that, in order to keep the pair local and not have them disappear up north with the new grandchild he has GIVEN them £100,000 to buy a house around the corner. He said he ordered her very sternly to leave the skirtings where they were and do things up as and when.

But still. A hundred grand.

Let me summarise what's going on as gathered from Eglantine's posts so far. Three brawny lads, a jacuzzi, a plumber, a bit of banging...