I've read so many horror stories of people who decided to get work done on their house and ran into endless difficulties. Trying to find a builder who wasn't already snowed under with jobs. The price constantly rising. An ongoing shortage of skilled builders and building materials.
At the same the media are always showing us "dream homes" and urging us to refresh our "tired" home by....you've guessed it, getting the builders in! Be careful what you wish for, as they say.
There does seem to be a general fashion these days for "doing up" your home rather than being content with what you already have.
When I was a child, I don't remember anyone in our street re-doing their house. It would have been regarded as pointless extravagance. Our house was cramped but it never occurred to my parents to build an extension. They eventually moved to a larger house when I was 13, and never added an extension to that one either.
I'm not sure my parents even imagined a "dream home". If they did, I suspect it was simply one that was well looked-after. My father was forever repainting one room after another and keeping all the windows clean. That was good enough for him.
Dream homes are fun to read about but for us that's as far as it goes.
Leo was a serial renovator, starting in London and then moving to France....and it was great fun doing as much as possible ourselves, but I am heartily glad that we have a custom built house here, all on one floor with wide sliding doors for wheelchair use - and nothing to do, apart from finally succombing to solar panels this year.
ReplyDeleteFly: Good that your house is all on one floor. Bungalows are obviously more practical than double-storeys if someone develops mobility problems. We haven't fitted solar panels, the price is still outlandish.
DeleteIt is definitely a hassle, but we’ve always been thrilled with the end result. We didn’t build either of our homes, so it’s been nice to ‘make it our own’ after the numerous people who came before us.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: We've made the house our own by our choice of furniture and furnishings, plus the usual ornaments and tchotchkes.
DeleteMy dream home is tiny. We live in a one bedroom apartment now and all rooms except the bedroom are too big--it's just right. I love that we don't have to do any maintenance anymore--just place a text request for service. They even change our ceiling light bulbs.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: I guess if anything happened to Jenny I would end up in a one bed apartment. This house would be far too big for one person.
DeleteEven if i moved into a "perfect" home< I suspect I'd want to personalise it. Bland whiteness is not for me and that's pretty much all thats available in the "perfect" department.
ReplyDeleteI never understand why people talk about their "forever" house or their "forever" kitchen. My kitchen isn't temporary, it's there until it is completely shabby and needs replacement. Who knows if it will outlast me, that depends a lot on how long I stay here
Kylie: Considering our ages, this might well be our "forever" house. It certainly isn't bland whiteness. Some of our rooms are very brightly coloured. But maybe by bland whiteness you just meant a house that's ordinary-looking and unexciting.
DeleteThe current trend here is to make everything white. Pretty much anything on the market will either be a renovators dream or white
DeleteKylie: Yes, that was the trend here too for a while, then the fashion was for everything grey (especially the kitchen). Not sure what's trendy now. I'm told blue is a popular colour for living rooms.
DeleteForever homes are just that for some people, Nick. In our case, we did work on both our NJ and VA homes and while a lot of work as we did a lot of it ourselves, aside from construction, it's not something we want to do now. Living in a single floor apt has become quite comfortable even if some things, like careless actions of other residents, can be annoying. At this stage of our lives and ages, we think about owning again, but it would have to be a small condo and not a house.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice: As I said above, I think all houses should be bungalows rather than two-storey (or more). Houses simply don't allow for possible mobility problems as the occupants get older.
DeleteMy parents had a house when I was young but I've always lived in apartments as an adult.
ReplyDeleteMary: Jenny and I have lived in several apartments, but there was always some problem with neighbours. Now we're glad to be in a detached house.
DeleteTrouble is you sometimes can't just replace something. Our damaged bath couldn't be removed without destroying the floor and wall tiles and after doing that why not replace the chipped washbasin? You actually might as well do the whole bathroom- and it was indeed a nightmare!
ReplyDeleteJenny: Oh dear, that sounds like quite a saga! But you got it finished eventually....
DeleteIt's very difficult to pin down tradespeople in Devon. I've lived in this house for 10 years and the bedroom window has needed fixing since the day we moved in!
ReplyDeleteI've given up on the idea of a dream home - one that keeps me warm and dry is good enough.
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Ms Scarlet: Goodness, you have a serious problem with tradespeople. We can get anything repaired in a few days, our tradespeople are very efficient. And yes, a home that's warm and dry is all we really need.
DeleteI've always been keen on decorating but I don't understand people constantly doing up their homes, it's almost like a hobby for some!
ReplyDeletePolly: I know, there are people who do up one house after another for decades, and seem quite okay with all the disruption and upheaval. Count me out!
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