Would this annoy you? Neighbours copying everything you do.

[thinktoomuchtoooften]

We have nice decent neighbours and we get on ok. I am also very mindful that they can do whatever they want to their property without our permission, and a lot of improvements/ adaptions are led by fashions/trends. But everything we do, they do. It’s just a long list of mostly minor things. Same fences, same outdoor lights, same garden furniture, same drive block paving. We had our kitchen roof changed to sky lights.. they did the following year. Changed our patio doors to bifolds, so did they. We had a big pergola built… now so have they. It’s become a bit of a family joke tbh. Would it irritate you?

We had our front garden converted to block paving for parking and new surrounding fence. The other side of the semi already had it done. I matched theirs. Not because I loved it but because houses look much better when they match.
They did comment that I’d copied them.
I wouldn’t have chosen grey blocks with black pattern and black fence but would have looked awful to have brown blocks and brown fence right next to theirs. 🤷‍♀️
Plus they know the renovation already works. Skylights etc. Bifolds. they’re all pretty standard updates.

It is annoying.

We had it with a previous neighbour and not much you can do about it.
I find it strange that people can’t create their own ideas and have to copy.

You should be flattered their taking inspiration from you, and I'm sure both houses look good from outside as both match. Saying that I can understand your frustration but each to their own....can you imagine them telling ppl that you copied them, now that will be the icing on the cake 🤣

Really surprised at the comments. I would find this extremely weird and annoying - getting the same of everything including down to garden furniture is bizarre. What are the chances that you and your neighbours have the exact same taste? Zero chance. They have no taste of their own and are copying you. It would irritate me and freak me out.

Print out the Australian emigration forms and leave them where they can see them.
With luck, problem sorted.😀

I was worried at one point our neighbours might think we were copying them! After a car accident wrote our family car off, my husband looked at various different ones and changed to an S Max from a C Max (family of 5, 3 boys who were all getting bigger) - our neighbours had an S Max too. Then we changed our outdoor light when the old one stopped working. Went to Homebase I think as it was closing down and bought the only style they had available - turned out to be identical to the one the neighbour had! I appreciate there’s a lot more to yours, but both of ours were genuinely coincidences. I am useless with car models so it wasn’t until I saw them both on the driveway that I realised they were the same car, and I never looked at what their outside light was. So maybe with your neighbour, some of the changes were just a case of “this is what’s available”? Then some could have been they saw yours and thought it looked really nice so went for the same. Maybe with the driveway they thought it would look better all round if it was identical, or maybe they didn’t know anyone to do the work so used who you used as they saw they’d done a good job!

I do wonder if it only irritates you because you assume some people might think you copied them? Otherwise I really, really can’t see why it would bother you. Just see it as a compliment that they think you have excellent taste!

So what did they say when you asked them why they got the same done as they had originally dissed yours? I’m presuming you asked them if you are close enough for them to be actively telling you they don’t like something you’ve had done to your house. If you didn’t ask them, why not? That would have been the perfect opportunity.

Imitation is the finest form of flattery 🤷‍♀️

Then stop following generic trends and get an inflatable Mr Blobby for your garden 😂

If everyone were creative, Pinterest probably wouldn’t exist. How many times do you hear people being advised to check it out for ideas/inspiration? Not everyone is good at knowing what will or won’t work - so neighbours looked at your house and thought “oh wow, I love what they’ve done to their driveway/bin storage/decking area, I think I’ll do the same”.

This is complete nonsense. There a huge amount of choice. Take garden furniture: it can be wood, bamboo, metal in various colours, glass. Different patterns in the metal and different style of chairs. They could have gone for square, round, rectangular table, or an L-shaped lounging area.

It’s disingenuous to say there is little choice. Have you ever been to a garden centre?

I’m not surprised you’re irritated, op, even though this is supposed to be flattering. Your neighbours clearly have no imagination or sense of their own style.

Could you mention it to them?

This.

Why on earth would it annoy you?

‘Matching’ semis do look nice but copying everything with identical stuff is a bit weird but ultimately harmless.

But things like bifolding doors, shutters, block driveway etc are incredibly generic. The vast majority of my street has that & everyone has some form of wooden garden furniture.

Shutters is another example.. they dissed ours and then went on to have them too.

How did they diss them? DH has never been a fan but practically we need them, the curtains have to stay shut otherwise when it’s warmer to watch TV, same reason we had them installed in our previous property.

Our next door neighbour couldn’t sell their house. We freshened ours up and put it on the market. Next door could now see the inside of our house and changed everything to the same as ours. Same kitchen, bathrooms, decor. Can’t do much about it. Next door the other side copied our blinds. Neighbours often copy eachother when they see something looks nice. You often see houses in a row with the same leaded windows or driveway.

My sil does this, we live far enough apart that it doesn’t make a huge difference, but it is everything from lights to pergola to patio, to rugs. She also copies my clothes, so if I turn up wearing x and we are going out she gets changed into something that’s as close to it as possible,

but I’ve noticed she also copies other people, their cars and holidays, she’s went on the same holiday as us numerous times, it appears she sees something she likes someone else has or wears or does and then she does it.

i put it down to she simply lacks the ability to come up with ideas herself, i don’t find it annoying, i find it uncomfortable, i feel an element of discomfort when we visit snd i see the next identical thing, but i dislike intently when she tries to dress like me but as she’s small and obese and im tall and a health weight, its limited to things like i wear a green jumper and black jeans and she puts on a green jumper and black jeans. If I wear something like a midi skirt, she will exclaim oh I can’t wear stuff like that as I’m short, whilst eyeing me up and down, I just nod and change the subject.

as we are in our fifties I do find it really uncomfortable, I saw her recently do it to some friends, where one got a new car and she went on and on about getting one to her husband, and then another talked about their holiday and she’s now decided to book it,

I know it’s a sign of flattery, it means she thinks whatever it is is good, but it is uncomfortable when it’s constant.

Well. I wouldn’t like it as I think it’s weird. In my road there’s 2 houses the exact same because of this. One neighbour copies everything the other does even down to having the same plants etc. anyone that visits me always asks if they are twins as it’s that noticeable. My neighbour hates it bless her and is actually moving when she can.

Are the things they are copying super rare and niche? Or are they the basic bitch pumpkin spice latte type home improvements that you see everywhere. You can hardly blame them for embracing the same trends and fashions as you have.

Oh no. I'm doing exactly the same with my neighbour but it is because her house looks really great!!! We get on really well and she has even given me the contact details for the people who have done the work. I think you should be flattered that you have good taste.

Where did you buy your garden furniture, and lighting from?

My garden table & chairs & sofa set is from John Lewis. As it’s from a high street shop someone on my street is likely to have the same furniture or a version of. If it was bespoke or imported from another country then less so.

My garden lighting is from Sainsbury’s and the local garden centre. Again virtually every garden has some form of festoon bulbs!

Are their choices exactly the same? If you are just prompting them to get a new whatever and it’s similar that’s not strange but getting exactly the same is a bit weird. We got a new front door and now everyone is but that is just because all the doors are the same age and are starting to fall apart. It does mean the estate is moving from everyone having the same door to different colours and styles but I think that looks nice.

However if my mum copies something in the house it drives me wild.

This

In terms of works to the front of the house this would be my dream. The house matching is going to make them look so much better and more harmonius on the street.

We had our kitchen roof changed to sky lights.. they did the following year. Changed our patio doors to bifolds, so did they. We had a big pergola built… now so have they.

Oh dear - next you will be telling us that they have iphones just like you