Do you love your home, even if it’s not conventionally ‘on trend’, and you’re not wealthy?

[NormasArse]

I’m just sitting here with my dogs, thinking how fortunate I am to have my little house.

I doubt anyone would come in and think they wished they lived here, but I really love it!

It’s really cosy, and full of all the things I like (lots of 70s stuff from charity shops 😁). Nobody else has a house like mine, and I love that.

What do you love about your home?

I love mine. It’s not perfect: the kitchen is too small for a start, and every MN thread I read about home decor criticises something I have in my home, so I KNOW I am not on trend, ever, or have any clue about home decorating - but the house belongs to me and DH, it’s where we raised our child, and I love coming home to it each day.

I love my flat.

I bought it 3 years ago, after getting divorced & then spending years lodging & renting as I saved up. MN tends to be snobby about new builds, but my new build flat has big, bright rooms, great insulation & soundproofing, a balcony & is on a friendly estate that feels out of the way but is a few minutes’ walk from everything I need.

It’s mainly furnished from the local charity shops, with photos & pictures of & by family & friends on the walls, beautiful handmade curtains from the local draper (my one big extravagance when I moved in), my crocheted blankets on the bed & sofa, & my cat’s toys on the living room rug.

When I run out of book space I buy a new bookcase from one of the charity shops, & the original cat tree by the living room window is now more of a cat forest. I catproofed the balcony and we sit out there together, although she’s also been known to fall asleep lying in the big pot of catnip.

I don’t honestly think I’d want to move even if I did win the lottery. Pay off the mortgage, yes!

My house is dated, the paint is chipped in places and in desperate need of freshening up and modernizing. However, it's clean, tidy and cosy and I feel lucky to even have a roof over my head and somewhere to live.

I am currently curled up on the sofa with my cat and dog, watching Candy Cane Lane on TV. I love my home ❤️

Yes. It's safe, private, quiet, warm and comfortable and is decorated and furnished to my taste. I'm lucky to have it and even luckier to have it all to myself.

Yes a rented flat but I adore it so so cosy. Hope I can stay a long time.

Me too. Strikes me @DarkEyedSailorthat in despite your struggles you are winning at life, especially compared to the many wealthy but unhappy posters on Mumsnet.

Other posters on this thread confirming my theory that money doesn't make you happy. Small cosy and hard fought for homes rule. I look around mine pleased that I paid for everything myself, through my own work. I may be alone and it's a terrace in an undesirable area but I still feel I am successful.

Absolutely love that this is the only home my children have known.

Love that it is ours from top to bottom as we have renovated it twice over, extended it and everything from the floorboards to the chimney are our work.

It cost us very little due to its crumbling condition (25 years ago) and is worth 5 times what we paid, it has indeed been a sound financial investment.
Less than 2 years left on the mortgage now so nearly there.

My house is beautiful, it’s a 3 bedroom semi, but big enough for all 4 of us to live in comfort.
We work extremely hard, invest into our home.

I never ever forget how utterly privileged we are, we have everything we have ever wanted but it hasn’t come without cost.

Thankyou for your lovely question OP, it’s been smashing to reflect on something that makes me smile.

Love our little 3 bed terraced house.

It’s not in the most desirable area but it was all we could afford when we bought three years ago and we’ve never had any issues with neighbours or out and about. It was also an absolute wreck and we have fully renovated throughout, taking it completely back to brick downstairs, and have just done all the finishing touches like hanging photos and mirrors and it’s perfect for us. Last thing we need to do is the garden, which is quite big, and that’s going to be our summer project.

I love our little home, we’ll probably extend when the children grow up but for now it’s so cosy. I never wanted a big house, I love that we feel so close together. It’s a beautiful Victorian cottage, no open plan, just cosy and compact. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

My house is small and not in the best area but I purchased it myself (before I met my husband) and I always think to myself how grateful I am to have it and it be mine and ours.

We’re about to welcome our first child and yes we could do with a bit more space ideally
but again I remind myself how lucky we are to own a home even if it’s not Instagram worthy or huge.

It’s ours, we’re safe, we’re sheltered and it’s filled with peoples and things that I love.

Yes, I love my house. It has a slightly weird layout, which the estate agent thought had put people off buying it. It's almost entirely done in neutrals, decor-wise and is a bit minimalist, which I love. I find strong/dark colours and clutter oppressive and very non-relaxing! It has quite a few velux windows, which make it very light. One of the best things about it is the view of the Lake District fells in the distance though. We aren't wealthy though, and I don't think it's a very stylish house by most people's standards.

It has only been this year as I’ve thought about moving closer to town that I realise that actually this does feel like home more than anywhere else. I’d be doing a council exchange and none of the houses I’ve considered have everything I have here. I don’t think I’ll be moving just yet, not until the children move out at least.

I’m in SH but I do have a lifetime tenancy. It’s a Victorian conversion with a lot of original features and I absolutely love it. I’m a maximalist (the complete opposite of a minimalist!) and being a Victorian house, it works well.

I’d say the vast majority of MN would find it too “cluttered” but I like being surrounded by all my nice things. I’m really not a fan of a lot of modern styles. I’ve put a lot of time/money/effort into it. But none of it is to “impress” anyone else. I’m aware most people would find it too much. But I think a home should be about what you love, not what’s on trend or for other people to admire.

I love our flat. It is solid, spacious, well build, clean and tidy. It is over 90 years old so can be a bit qurky and tempremental at times. It is in a quiet area of London and we have grret neighbours.

As someone who grew up in a drafty, rickety farmhouse with no central heating and erratic hot water, I really appreciate my combi boiler and Hive heating controls!

I love our house, it's not perfect but I'm so happy here. We moved to be nearer our daughter and grandchildren and chose a house which would be good for the next phase of our lives (i.e. getting older). So no longer in a country cottage with a large garden, but a more modest modern house with a small garden.

I love my country garden which I've massively enhanced to turn it into a lovely walled garden. Our village is so friendly and I've been blown away by the kindness of our neighbours in the run-up to Christmas.

Our two best improvements - new aluminium sliders and a Gazco Loft 'fake woodburner style' stove - so cosy and practical. My luxuries, a dressing room and my grandson's bedroom. Best thing ever, it's detached!!!!!! Having suffered semi-s over the years, lovely to not have anyone the other side of 'the wall'!!!!

I do love my home because it’s my home, my sanctuary, my haven. It’s small but big enough. It’s full of character, old and quirky. Just like me! It’s not ‘on trend’ because taste never is and trends are for the anxious. I own it outright and no one can take it from me. My new ‘friend’ 😉 visited for the first time and said my god your house is beautiful, it is full of you and so warm and inviting and it’s beautiful. Can’t think of a better compliment really. So yes I love my home and my things in it.

Ours is teeny-tiny, and has all the things loads of Mumsnetters claim they couldn’t bear - mid-terraced, no parking, lots of “clutter” - but we love it. It’s cosy and full of history and memories. We have a great local community and love the area it’s in.

We really do need more space, so plan to go on the market in the spring, but this one will always be special. It’s the home I raised my babies in.

I had to leave my quirky “forever” home and garden, post divorce, when I could no longer afford to maintain it. The garden in particular gave me huge joy. I ended up in a very modern box on my own with the dogs. I bloody love it. It’s not a money pit for repairs, i now have it how I want in terms of decoration.

location wise it’s better than the old house, the garden is perfectly nice, realistically more manageable than the old one, tiny in comparison.

its warm and cosy with fabulous views …. I feel very lucky.

We moved into our house in August, we spent 7 months prior to that doing a full renovation. We still have stuff to do but I love it so much, it's peaceful, the garden is full of birds and after living next to a nightmare neighbour for four years it's massively improved my mental health.

What a lovely thread.

I love my little 2-bed terrace. Needs decorating throughout and can't afford that at the moment, but I just love how cosy it is and the layout is perfect for us. A true sanctuary for me and my DS.

It's on a fairly new estate and people look down on it a bit as the houses and flats are very close together. But I love living in close proximity to others and seeing folks go by outside my window.

The house is peaceful and quiet with excellent sound insulation. We have a little garden which is easy to maintain.

I just love it here. Merry Christmas to you all.

Yes, it’s very old so the layout is a bit higgledy piggledy but I love it.
it’s not a matching show home but I realised earlier that I love the way it looks. It tells the story of a 30+ year marriage - things like the bedside tables we saved for the first Christmas we were together. They are tatty and scarred but I love them.
It’s warm, colourful and comfortable to live in.

Definitely love my house. We had to downsize when Ill health forced me to retire early, but we got a bigger garden and really great neighbours. The house itself was a turkey, filthy with non working plumbing heating and kitchen. And infested with rats . I cried and cried but 12 years on it’s warm and colourful and filled with stuff I love.

I love our little house, it's a home not a show piece. Lived in, a bit scruffy & dated probably by most people's standards but it's mostly clean considering the dog is access all areas 😊 It's cosy & I feel relaxed in it and that is all I need.

I live in an area that I never particularly wanted to be in, in a house that I had to be tricked into viewing! But it has turned into our forever home.
It was a large Victorian semi derelict shop, which we spent all our money on 30 odd years ago, just to make it liveable, but not pretty. Walking on planks above the dug out floors, antiquated boiler, no kitchen; the lot.
Then years later, my retirement lump sum, to do some more niceties, like the kitchen and the panelled hall and stairs, plus more.
I know panelling is hated on Mumsnet but it hides loads of cunningly contrived hidden cupboards and really works for me.
I have a fake fireplace door in what was the shop room (complete with lit up fireplace), walls of books and dark cosy colours. Our kitchen is… well, probably Mexican/Spanish is the nearest thing to it. It is colourful and very unclinical.
Practically everything is auction/eBay/thrifted/gifted, from ancient red leather chesterfields to our blacksmith made iron bed. Much more us.
The village is smashing; last night we had our annual carols on the green, with Santa bringing toys for the children in a motorised sleigh, we have a community village shop and a really great lively pub.
I have also unexpectedly made lifelong pagan friends here, in this rural back water!

What a lovely thread ( apologies to @Dontgochasingrainbows and best wishes to you ) .

My house is a very small terraced cottage but I have lovely neighbours , I would love more space but can't afford it - so Swedish death cleaning resonates with me 😊)

But I have "done up" 4 houses including this one and I don't have the energy to do another. For all its compromises ( & they are legion ) this is the house I won't sell unless absolutely necessary - it feels like home . This is the downsized house. I now look at houses better than mine in a rather wistful way but I am not envious in a real sense.

A very peaceful Christmas to all

x