To hate people going on about how beautiful my house is

[DyslexicScientist]

When its absolutely freezing inside, costs a fortune to heat and its still not particularly warm or comfortable! This is for about half the year. I've done lots that I can do but it is listed.

I dream of building a modern but boring house. I've packed my suitcase and am staying in my friends modern house this weekend and I'm really looking forward to it.

Anyone else suffering in an old house and having to deal with people just commenting on how nice it looks despite bing very impractical?

OP I feel your winter pain.We were lucky enough space wise to bring our family up in a lovely Edwardian semi.Lots of lovely features -mouldings ,deep skirting-boards.panelling and masses of storage space with a huge basement laundry room and attic rooms that the Dcs could use as a den/ TV room.All their friends loved it,and we got lots of compliments and people saying they would love to live in it.
And I did love living in it but our winter bills were huge ,we'd get the lounge warm but a trip to the kitchen to make a cuppa felt like entering an icy tomb,and the huge sash windows rattled in the bedrooms and the cost of replacing them was the deciding factor in our downsizing move.Granted our DCs have left home so it was time for a change.We've left all the period detail for a 70s property,which I never thought I'd like,and have replaced the windows and we are thrilled with it.It's so warm and cosy,and still has a spacious feel to it.And our DDs both live in new builds ,which although a bit short on storage are very energy efficient and draught free.Personally I would never want to live in a characterful period property again.

"I am thinking how pretty the floorboards are though!"

I take it you keep them 'pretty' with regular cleaning on your hands and knees with wire wool and Danish Oil then? Oooohh look at the grain on that Baltic pine, they don't grow trees like that any more. Grrrr.....!

My house is freezing, but I love it. Oh and damp too, but I live in Cornwall, right near the harbour, so it's to be expected.
It has large sash windows that seriously need some attention, floorboards, a big unheated basement and draughts that have the curtains swaying in the wind.
I am lucky though, because my rent is cheap and hasn't gone up in the 6years I have been here, and my landlord leaves me well alone. That I'm my opinion is worth it's weight in gold, as renting can be an utter fucker.

Oh, and sometimes you are lucky enough to rip up an 'original' carpet and find that some cheapskate has used old newspapers instead of underlay. It's fascinating to read all those adverts for Ford Cortinas and Radio Rentals.
I did that in our house, only to find aged copies of the local paper, featuring the carnival queen of 30 yrs before. I knew her, so I took this dirty, knackered bit of old newspaper to show her.

Sorry. As you were.

I absolutely hate going into over centrally heated houses. My dad has his heat on constantly, and walks around in shorts in the Winter. Bloody mad! I wouldn't say no to being warmer, but I'm happy where I am. Can't afford to put the heat on for than 2/3 hours a day, have just got used to it. Lots and lots of layers are the answer!

Haha underlay what's that?

I read this as your horse

We live in a 1750's stone hill farm cottage. In 13 years, we've had:
New double glazed windows
The tiles 're-set on the roof & New Victorian ones added
A re-wire
2 New boilers (oil)
Some loft insulation
The render painted 3 x
Some of the render replaced
The exposed stone pointed with lime mortar
New wooden doors
New central heating pipes and radiators
The solid fuel 1946 Rayburn refurbished
The Much Wenlock woodburner refurbished
The wall at the back door has been braced with cast iron discs
The arch above the back door has been re-built
The drains in the courtyard have all been re-built

I still have buckets on the dining and living room windows.
The back door is still a pond inside.
The front door is even worse.
I'm still fkg freezing
My son bought me a toastie blanket with sleeves in it for my birthday.........in March.

Livin' the dream!

My house isn't beautiful but the location and view is. It is on top of a hill, up a track in East Lancs. We have different weather than the main road 5mins down the hill . The wind can almost blow you off your feet sometimes.
It divides opinion to be honest, we had already bought the house when we parked up and saw the view, but we have had people ask why the actual fuck we would even consider living here.
Horses for courses.
Luckily we all hate being too warm and we are replacing windows etc this year, not listed (but still got to look like a barn. Even though it is now a house ).

Ha Ha Lizzylou, we have a cloud all our own!

Underlay?

Its where the carpet beetles sleep when they are not eating the carpet - apparently.

We do all that Uriah said , including closing off rooms - we have a 'winter' and 'summer' living room and bedroom and move the furniture December and April. Our house started as a 2 up 2 down and now can't be photographed in one shot, including virtually a whole house bolted on at a right angle with no proper heating, just bizzare copper pipes around the ceiling!
It's a great house, I know, but bloody hell it's hard work.

We have put ours up for sale today.
The only problem is that the ones that meet our criteria are the same.
The agent showed us the photos and everyone made us suggest it was the house for us.
The poor man looked scared to death.
I hate cold and damp, too many bloody empty rooms, endless maintenance etc etc etc.
The one dh has his heart set on is lovely and ticks all our boxes, but is similar.
We need thick walls, separate rooms, not all through. Definitely not on an estate and cul de sac would suffocate us.
So this house is just in a different town.
Maybe there is a chance if somebody can persuade me that 1930's houses are better than 20's.

If one dog inadequate, kitty, always pile another on. ( waves at wizard)

And my godparents did until very recently what every one used to do if they could afford it. Winter and summer furnishings. Chintz for the summer, heavier and triple lined materials for the winter. Curtains, upholstery, bedding.

Mind you, I've always thought there were advantages to proper four poster beds with warm curtains.

'Four years ago I actually saw my 4 bedroom flat as it really was. It was huge and old and quite ugly. My kids are living there and I spend 6 months a year there and it is a Money Pit - I hate it. We have spent thousands of pounds on a leak in the staircase.

We had an old gas fire with a back boiler to get that changed to a Combi boiler was 8,000 pounds, to get any floor or wall smooth enough either takes a lot of time or a lot of money.'

But you were happy to collect rents whilst you tenants lived in an old shitheap .

I think you have to be comfortable. So just get a more efficient heating system. I hate cold houses. Even small houses can be cold if people are mean with heating.

We've just sold our gorgeous, feature-packed Victorian mansion (of sorts). Draughty, inefficient and none of the corners are true right angles! Cannot wait for a bland, bright box.

A now-deceased distant relative of ours had a fantastically beautiful thatched cottage in a picturesque village. Ancient old building, probably late 1500's, with walls three feet thick, stone floors, inglenook fireplaces, the lot.

We only ever stayed there once years ago (in midsummer) and we were really cold at night and the whole place felt damp. Gawd knows what it would be like in the winter. Brrrrr

OP, come and buy my spacious drafty non listed 1930s house. Big garden with room for a pony to build up out and over :)

But I can't afford it, and yes people get on my nerves telling me how gorgeous it is. hmph

Friend lived in beautiful six bedroomed Georgian rectory (DH was the rector) Had a butler's pantry and maid's room (The hall was bigger than any of our rooms) They lived in the large kitchen with Rayburn and the study with coal fire .She used to put her DCs to bed with hats and gloves on in winter .They put the central heating on and used the huge and beautiful drawing room at Christmas (only) .
They have retired to a small modern 2 bedroomed bungalow .She loves it
We couldn't afford one of the many beautiful Edwardian and Victorian houses in our town when we bought our well built and insulated 1950s house .So glad now !

I live in a beautiful flat OP, early 1900s building with loads of character BUT if you seen my previous post on here, I'm doing a runner with 2 weeks notice because there is so many issues that are a combination of the age of the property/landlord failing to maintain it.

If you walk in my front door my house looks lovely, until you breath in and smell the dampness, step on a rotten floorboard or peer closer at the period features to see they are crumbling. It really is no fun and costs an absolute bomb to keep at a barely acceptable temperature.

Moving into a 1960s ex-council flat with low ceilings and no damp, I CANNOT WAIT! :D

This is actually the stupidest thread I have ever read on mumsnet...

Care to elaborate ewbank?

Personally I can think of many situations (job loss, bereavement, contested inheritance, negative equity ) where people can't afford to heat their own homes properly and are unable to sell.

Buying a house is also often a case of "buy in haste, repent at leisure".