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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to ask if I can report my neighbour's bright blue house?

591 replies

Katey83 · 29/06/2026 13:43

I live in a terraced house. My neighbours have painted the back of their house bright blue (think swimming pool blue / like the Mikanos blue). It is horrible and looms over my garden. It’s really going to spoil my enjoyment of my space to have to look at this every day. I spoke to the wife earlier this morning and said it was not to my taste and would they consider changing and she said ‘the beige of your house isn’t to my taste but it’s your house. This is my house.’ And shut the door in my face. WIBU to report them to the council? Can I even do so? Surely you can’t just paint any offensive colour and expect neighbours to live alongside it?

OP posts:
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33
Tablesandchairs23 · 29/06/2026 14:58

Omg you sound like a busybody. You were rude knocking on her house. Don't look at it.

Recklessismymiddlename · 29/06/2026 14:58

This cannot be real. Anyway thank you for the laughs.

EsselteFilingBox · 29/06/2026 14:58

I would plant white buddleia along the fence line, the flowers will look great with the blue backdrop and the shrubs will be at their highest through peak chilling in the garden season. This will give you a bit of a chance to feel you've taken some action to soften their colour choice. A radical change is always a shock - you might find you don't notice it so much in a few weeks.

MonstrousRegimentRocks · 29/06/2026 14:57

LondonLass2026 · 29/06/2026 14:56

Anyone seen that red and white polka dot house? I think it's in Pocklington. Looks awesome. I'm all for colour.

Please never visit Alnmouth - you'd clutch your pearls so hard they'd be all over the floor.

😂😂

MonstrousRegimentRocks · 29/06/2026 14:57

Periperi2025 · 29/06/2026 14:55

My house is light brown pebbledash, i want to paint it pink on the front, green on the back (mid terrace), but then I'm committed to a life time of painting pebbledash.

Oh the dilemma!!

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You are my hero 🩷

DJKATIE · 29/06/2026 14:57

This is surely a wind up. If nor then who do you think you are moaning about the colour of someone's house, blue is a lovely colour. Does the summer sky offend you? Does the sea offend you ? If you don't Like it don't look at it.

RaraRachael · 29/06/2026 14:57

YorksMa · 29/06/2026 13:50

I doubt you have any say in it unless you live in a conservation area.

I live in a conservation area and people paint their houses all sorts of colours.

Seemingly you need planning permission for a new door - though most people ignore this..

Paganpentacle · 29/06/2026 14:56

Preferable to beige.

LondonLass2026 · 29/06/2026 14:56

Anyone seen that red and white polka dot house? I think it's in Pocklington. Looks awesome. I'm all for colour.

Please never visit Alnmouth - you'd clutch your pearls so hard they'd be all over the floor.

Periperi2025 · 29/06/2026 14:55

Katey83 · 29/06/2026 14:30

I feel I’m getting quite a hard time of it. Ok. I understand I can’t change their house or complain. Surely it’s ok to feel a bit annoyed that my lovely garden will now not be such a sanctuary for me. The colour really is overbearing in our street where the other homes are mostly white/beige, brick or pebbledash?

My house is light brown pebbledash, i want to paint it pink on the front, green on the back (mid terrace), but then I'm committed to a life time of painting pebbledash.

Oh the dilemma!!

Stanislas · 29/06/2026 14:55

I thought this post was a joke at first. My father was painting our house. He asked me what colour for the garage,green or white and I said stripes. He did it. The neighbours were a bit startled but no one complained to the council and as it was about 60 years ago it must have been revolutionary.

Bjorkdidit · 29/06/2026 14:55

Katey83 · 29/06/2026 14:54

Loud. Drinks beer day and night. Shouts at the children when they are playing in the garden. Wears clothes with holes in even though they live in a £500k house. Odd.

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Maybe he has spent all his money on his £500k house and blue paint?

DixonD · 29/06/2026 14:55

Your neighbour’s response is on point 😂

She’s amazing 😂😂

ChequerToRed · 29/06/2026 14:55

Lol! Don’t ever move to Bristol. Lots of very vibrantly painted houses, some even have massive two story murals on their end walls/facades. There’s a pair of Victorian semis near me that are painted with a massive psychedelic geometric pattern, a house backing onto the park has a two story high realistic painting of a bumblebee, their neighbours have a Fibonacci fractal, and the local cattery is completely covered in cartoon cats.

MonstrousRegimentRocks · 29/06/2026 14:54

Ethelspagetti · 29/06/2026 14:52

Around 20 years ago I lived near a house painted black! The neighbours reported it to the council and newspapers but nothing could be done about it. The neighbours struggled to sell up for years, until the black house people needed to move and realised no one would buy it! They ended up painting it white and moving much to their neighbours delight!

Yes, black is different. A nice bright colour is lovely though.

Frequency · 29/06/2026 14:54

I also like the stripey house, and I remember the pink one too. Pink is not my favourite colour, but I didn't hate it.

Some people have way too much time on their hands, and their neighbours are way too nice. My immediate neighbour is as mad as a box of frogs on crack. I'd be over the moon if someone else moved in and the most upsetting thing they did was to paint their house a colour I don't like.

Original poster
Katey83 · 29/06/2026 14:54

GinaandGin · 29/06/2026 14:52

How is he a lout

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Loud. Drinks beer day and night. Shouts at the children when they are playing in the garden. Wears clothes with holes in even though they live in a £500k house. Odd.

OP posts:
Toveylove · 29/06/2026 14:53

Ethelspagetti · 29/06/2026 14:52

Around 20 years ago I lived near a house painted black! The neighbours reported it to the council and newspapers but nothing could be done about it. The neighbours struggled to sell up for years, until the black house people needed to move and realised no one would buy it! They ended up painting it white and moving much to their neighbours delight!

What is wrong with these people! So inconsiderate, and think they are so cool. Yuck.

DoubleShotEspresso · 29/06/2026 14:53

**It doesn’t quite feel the same in south London.••

@Katey83 are we talking F&B Elephant Breath South London?
Or "we could really do with a sturdy gate across the front door" South London?

I mean either option would benefit with an injection of colour I guess.

Does the sky bother you?

Toveylove · 29/06/2026 14:52

MajorProcrastination · 29/06/2026 14:45

This is peak mumsnet. You're getting a smashing in the comments because while it's OK to be annoyed about anything, it's bonkers that you've let the back of someone else's house get to you this much. Also, that you'd have the audacity, the gumption, the gall to suggest that they go to the expense and effort to repaint it a shade that you approve of. It's their home!

My mate painted her garden walls a bright blue and it's a gorgeous space to relax in. Someone else here's already referenced the stunning garden in Marrakesh with the iconic blue walls. This is the colour I'm imagining: YesColours | Blog: How to: Majorelle Garden design with Electric Blue masonry paint

I'm honestly baffled that you'd let someone else's back wall impact this much on your own experience of your garden retreat. Plant some taller plants or trees, turn your chair around so you're facing the other direction.

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Ha ha. Wayne & Waynetta Win the Lottery.

Ethelspagetti · 29/06/2026 14:52

Around 20 years ago I lived near a house painted black! The neighbours reported it to the council and newspapers but nothing could be done about it. The neighbours struggled to sell up for years, until the black house people needed to move and realised no one would buy it! They ended up painting it white and moving much to their neighbours delight!

GinaandGin · 29/06/2026 14:52

Katey83 · 29/06/2026 14:17

The husband painted it and I expected him to be the one I’d have the discussion with. It didn’t occur to me his wife would have agreed with the choice as she seems reasonable and tasteful when I see them out and about. He is a bit of a lout. I really can’t do anything right by mumsnet standards!

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How is he a lout

MonstrousRegimentRocks · 29/06/2026 14:52

Butchyrestingface · 29/06/2026 14:51

I quite like this.

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Me too!

Butchyrestingface · 29/06/2026 14:51

DontStopMe · 29/06/2026 14:47

There was a stripey house in Kensington where the owners were taken to court by the council, but I don't see anything wrong with a blue one.

https://www.bidwells.co.uk/projects/stripey-house-kensington/

I quite like this.

GinaandGin · 29/06/2026 14:50

PurpleThistle7 · 29/06/2026 14:15

OMG do you think the OP asked to speak to the man of the house??

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I now imagining the cast of the 70s tv show "robyns nest "