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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would the layout of this house put you off?

126 replies

TwinklyGiraffe · 17/02/2018 10:37

And if you were being really picky, what work needs done?

Does it having two bedrooms upstairs and two downstairs make it less attractive or desirable?

this house

Final question, do you like it?

OP posts:
Sugarpiehoneyeye · 17/02/2018 11:50

Looks like a pleasant area, very good value for money, subject to survey. A downstairs bedroom is always a bonus in my opinion.

CotswoldStrife · 17/02/2018 11:51

Well, it is a lot of house for the money and probably best to think about it as a bungalow with a two-storey extension!

From the paper details it wouldn't appeal to me tbh, I think the point people are making about the access to the back garden is that you can't just walk out there from a room.

Oil heating is quite normal in NI.

I think the OP has probably achieved her aim of getting her property at the top of the viewing rankings for the property portal now, though Grin Good luck with the sale (because I think it's your house).

PhelanThePain · 17/02/2018 11:52

Ballynahinch! Is it near Dixons corner restaurant grin

The corner cafe (restaurant)! Loved that place as a child.

House looks lovely OP!

Sugarpiehoneyeye · 17/02/2018 11:52

Sorry OP, yes, I do like it, I think you could make into a really nice home, over time.

brizzledrizzle · 17/02/2018 11:53

No, I don't like it overall, though there are things that I love. Sorry if it's yours. The bedrooms on different floors would be a show stopper for me.

I don't like the way the door is the focal point of the room with the large black sofa, though I'd love to have space for a large sofa like that.

I love the cooker but would replace the kitchen units, the hall and bathroom are lovely too.

Looking at the layout, I can't see any way to get more bedrooms upstairs, if it had a spectacular view I'd live with it but I wouldn't want to sleep downstairs and not be able to have windows open at night, nor would I want my child on a different floor to me.

For the money though, it's a bargain

Oldraver · 17/02/2018 11:53

I cant get it to load at the moment...I bet they will wonder why all the hits Grin

We have a house with two ground floor bedrooms. We moved in when DS1 was 12 and he chose the downstairs bedroom with en-suite. It worked well for us, though with younger children you may not be as happy.

We now have a DS2 and he is in one of the upstairs bedrooms and has been since he was 1...I wanted him near me, and DS1 was still downstairs. He's now moved out and thta is the spare room. The other bedroom downstairs was used as a study with spare bed but is now just a playroom junk room

Yes just got the plan up...very similar to my house just a bit bigger and with the 'snug' which is bigger than bed 4 so would swap if you needed all the bedrooms.

ThisYear · 17/02/2018 11:56

I grew up in a house exactly the same. We had no problems at all, two kids upstairs and parents and spare downstairs.

MiddleAgedMe · 17/02/2018 12:00

I can't get over how much house you get for the money! It's beautiful too and great views

Oldraver · 17/02/2018 12:02

Just read all the other replies...a bedroom over looking the garden has never been an issue for us and is quite a bonus...it's lovely to lie on the spare bed and read with a view of the garden and trees.

There are lots of bungalows where I live so this would be the norm...a bedroom overlooking the garden. Maybe this seems 'odd' to people used to bedrooms all upstairs.

I think the layout ok, and looks like a you could tweek it a bit to suit your lifestyle

Original poster
TwinklyGiraffe · 17/02/2018 12:03

Thanks for the the opinions. Sorry if I annoyed someone by putting in on AIBU😳 I like the brutal honesty here.

It’s not my house!

I like the location and the price. I’ve only ever lived in newbuilds before with very traditional layout. I do like to think of further resale but I’d be planning to live there for quite sometime. That’s why I asked about the layout.

I’ve had some excellent advice on mumsnet in the past so thought it’d be ok to ask about houses here!

I realise property is relatively cheap in NI for people looking from other parts of the UK!

OP posts:
Lovemusic33 · 17/02/2018 12:05

I’m too shocked at the price to comment on the layout, can’t get a one bed here for that price ( which is why I will never have my own house).

AppleAndBlackberry · 17/02/2018 12:06

I like it. My kids are 7 and 8 and it wouldn't put me off now although it would have when they were younger because I would have wanted to be on the same floor as both of them. I really love the parquet floor. Is it your house OP?

AppleAndBlackberry · 17/02/2018 12:10

Oops, cross posted, I see it's not your house! Being really picky I don't like the kitchen and I don't like the built in wardrobes but otherwise I think just changing some of the wall colours and adding a few rugs would make it perfect.

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 17/02/2018 12:17

Improvements to be made...
Screen off the oil tank in back garden.
Move washing whirligig so that it's not the dominant feature.
Sort out mish mash of different bits of concrete, gravel and brick in back garden. You need patio and not-patio. At present there are several bits of Dunno hard landscaping.

HelloFreedom · 17/02/2018 12:18

So not the point I know but for that price I'd jump at it. House like that would be double money round here.

It's a brilliant house IMO. Lots of space for a family. And crucially it has a bathroom upstairs and down stairs which I think lessens the 'oddness' of the down stairs bedrooms.

Kismett · 17/02/2018 12:18

I think it's lovely and would happily live there. I'd be happiest if I could make the dining/kitchen/living space open to each other. The rest would be small changes over time as we saw how we used the space and what we needed.

I understand why people have their misgivings, but to me it seems such a happy, cozy house.

HelloFreedom · 17/02/2018 12:21

Crucially for me it looks like it has very good light

TinklyLittleLaugh · 17/02/2018 12:21

We've slept on a different floor to our kids since we moved to this house when they were between 12 and 7. We are on the second, they are all on the first. When youngest came along he slept in our room until he was 2 then moved downstairs into his own room. We have never had any issues and with the door open we could hear everything.

And now the older ones are teens/young adults it's great to go up to our refuge, close the door and leave them to their late nights and coming in at all hours.

mrsrhodgilbert · 17/02/2018 12:29

We moved into our house with a similar layout when our 2 dd were about 9&12. They had upstairs and we had a downstairs bedroom. I was worried but it's been brilliant. The teenage years have been great. Dh and I can get up at the weekend and do everything without having to go upstairs and disturb them. We find it more private to have a bedroom on a different floor!! I would have been concerned if the girls were very young but as someone else has said lots of new town houses have bedrooms on different floors.

Rikalaily · 17/02/2018 12:40

I'd love it! I'm confused at the snug though, it's bigger than bedroom 4, why (probably something I've missed) not just make it a 5th bedroom?

MollyWantsACracker · 17/02/2018 12:54

I think it’s a lovely house.

bridgetreilly · 17/02/2018 13:05

How well the house works depends entirely on who is living in it. How many adults? How many children and how old? Do you need office space at home? Do you need any disabled access?

gillybeanz · 17/02/2018 13:08

I think it's lovely and you could have the lay out how you want to.
Just because it's a bedroom now doesn't mean you couldn't use it for a room of your own choice.

k2p2k2tog · 17/02/2018 13:09

Wouldn't put me off at all. All the rooms are good sizes and it allows flexibility to have older kids downstairs or upstairs. We have a three storey house and are a flight of stairs away from the kids every night. It's not an issue at all.

JustHappy3 · 17/02/2018 13:18

It has a really nice vibe to it from the photos. You should def go have a look at it.

So many new builds are 3 storeys now - with master bedroom on top floor.

Kirsty Allsopp style - i'd be wanting to take a sledge hammer to the wall between the kitchen and dining room and have much bigger family space. But not sure if that's as popular in NI as it is here.