New house - new neighbours

[bullywee]

Just venting really. Moved into a new house literally a week before lockdown. We are in a semi and the neighbours to both sides are nice enough (through wall and next door but not through wall) but one of the neighbours is starting to annoy me a little...

It appears that the couple we bought from and one set of neighbours were unbelievably friendly and over the last couple of weeks since lockdown in my area has been loosened I have had a few tradesmen in making the changes to my house. This seems to have really put out the neighbour who was friendly with the previous owners.

Example 1 - got house painted. Neighbour tells me that Tom and Louise (not real names) had their house done only 24 months ago and house was lovely and didn't need decorating. The house was nicely decorated, yes, but not to our taste.

Example 2 - got electrician in to change sockets/light fittings from white to another colour to match our new decor. Also got some external lights, motion sensors etc. Neighbour proclaims "Oh, Tom and Louise didn't think the house needed external lights and why change sockets etc if they are working"

Example 3 - removed carpets and replaced with wooden flooring. Neighbour tells me "Oh, Tom and Louise had lovely carpets, why would you lift them?"

Example 4 - am in the middle of getting the front and back garden's landscaped. Neighbour says "why did you lift the artificial grass, Tom and Louise paid £25m-sq for it only 4 years ago".

There are more examples but you get my drift. It is just becoming so bloomin tedious now.

Nod and smile. Stop telling them what you do inside. Nosey sods.

“Ah really? Oh well”

Just politely remind them that it is your house now and your taste is different to 'Tom and Louise'

It would drive me nuts!

That would be so irritating 🙄

I would definitely say something but it would probably be very unhelpful to encouraging the friendliness between you, something like "they can't have been that happy, as they have now moved", or just simple "I do not care." 😂

But I have little patience with this sort of rubbish!

That would annoy me so much! They obviously don’t have a lot going on in their own lives. I would just smile through gritted teeth and say something banal like ‘I’m sure everyone likes to decorate their house when they move’.

We had something similar but much less intensive when we bought our house. Our neighbour had been best friends with the previous owner and she said ‘they had it so beautifully decorated, you’ll be glad you don’t have to do anything’. Was slightly awkward over the following couple of weeks as they witnessed us dragging out yards of glittery embossed wallpaper and diamanté light shades.

Meh. It is annoying but it’s not worth damaging relations over, just smile and say well I really want my house to feel like my home rather than Tom and Louises but thanks.

Don’t tell them what you are doing. Sometime people just talk to fill the space. Just say something like lm sure it was lovely when it was done.

Stop telling them what your doing!

It really is starting to annoy me. What is even more annoying is that Tom and Louise clearly weren't as house proud as the neighbours think and actually left the house filthy when we moved in with 3 sizable holes in the wall, a kitchen cupboard hanging off, and a decking which is frankly unsafe (not sure how we missed all of those when we viewed ).

Just wait until we get the blind in living room changed! We have a huge front window and whilst the blind is frankly gorgeous, the cigarette burn it means it is getting replaced. Oh and we are renovating the loft into an office...wonder what Tom and Louise will think

To be honest it is hard when they see vans with lanscaper/electrician/painter/joiner and decorator in the drive way and hear the machinery.

I think I will just need to be more firm and say I am doing my house up the way I want it!

I feel you OP, we have this in reverse. Incredibly nosey next door neighbours who are local gossips. Can't do a thing without them commenting about how previous neighbours did nothing, were lazy, had "cheap tradesman" to do x or y rather than a good company, didn't cut grass "right"etc. ...Whatever that even means!

I recently had a load of tyres delivered as I offered to paint them up for a local charity to then use as planters... Nosey neighbour couldnt wait to see me to ask what they were for, told him I was taking up crossfit and walked away hoping they'll eventually get bored of saying anything, well to us anyway.

It is for this reason that I’m really glad that the whole street knew that our house needed serious modernisation. We’ve had none of this kind of comment even though I know some of the neighbours are friendly with our predecessors (they lived here for 40 years).

But eurgh, a cigarette burn in the blind suggests all the carpets and soft furnishings need changing anyway, and likely new decor is needed.

Any house usually needs a lick of paint when you move in, no matter how nicely presented it was before, because once the furniture and pictures go out there are usually shadows and knocks

I couldn't be doing with this.
After a while I d end up shouting "WELL WE ARE NOT TOM AND LOUISE AND THIS IS OUR HOUSE NOW " but I cant abide nosiness anyway

Just offer them the things you no longer want

"Oh, that is a lovely blind in the living room, why are you getting rid of it?"

"When we moved in there was a cigarette burn in it, but more than happy to pass everything we change onto you. It'll save us a fortune if we don't need to dispose of them. When do you want the blinds?"

They can’t have had it that perfect or they wouldn’t have moved out of it!

I think I'd smile sympathetically at them, and say, 'you're really missing Tom and Louise, hey?'

Let it roll like water off a duck's back.

It really is only as irritating as you let it be and it'll stop eventually (when nothing of Tom and Louise's is left to comment on!)

Why don't you just say "Tom & Louise mustn't have liked the house much either since they sold it, probably explains why they left it in such a state too, anything we do will only make it better, trust me, I saw what the way they left it" Or you could say "Ah fuck Tom & Louise, they are a shower dirty bastards" That would surely shut them up

We had this with neighbours - we were the first people to move into the street for years and our decorating decisions did not go unnoticed. The house was covered in clearly expensive but terrible wallpapers, many of which were torn when they were obviously pulling items off the walls with great speed to move out.

I would just agree with them

'lovely carpets'

• 'oh yes they were very plush'

Artifical grass
nods 'very practical'

Or simply
'that's nice'
'it's good they were able to enjoy the house done to their taste'

Or divert
'ooh I wonder if they've managed to get the artificial turf down in their new place with all this rain'
'do you have any work planned yourself or have you got it just as you like it?'

Also thinking this is why Tom and Louise moved!

They must miss Tom and Louisa.

Some people really get invested in other people’s lives.

I wonder did Tom and Louisa move because of them!
I bet they haven’t kept in touch.

She sounds a bit jealous- don’t share any info or invite her in whatever you do.

Small and nod, “oh really” “must dash”

*smile and nod

wonder what Tom and Louise will think

Be careful with this - in some areas you need neighbours aggreeance for the building work to go ahead if it's a shared wall and requires a structural elemet

There always seems to be at least one set of people in a neighbourhood, who come out with a load of verbal and nosy clap trap.

When I moved into my very old small terraced cottage some years, I met the nitpicking neighbour next door, I introduced myself, she said nothing as she gazed at my three cats in the cat carriers, then she said, omg, the last neighbour would never have bought cats to live in that house, littering up the place. I also had a very large mirror leaning on the outside wall,and she said, is that your mirror,I don't know where you are going to put it, as the walls and rooms are too small for it.. ha ha, she has moved away now.