Do you actually love your house?

[getoutofmyhead]

I'm asking because I'm at a crossroads and I'd love to hear real experiences.
Specifically interested in anyone who has moved from a period home or city centre flat into something more practical and suburban. Did you adjust? Did you fall in love with it eventually? Or is there a part of you that never quite settled?
And the flip side, did anyone stay somewhere impractical because they loved it aesthetically and regret not making the sensible move sooner?
I have a feeling most people on here are either completely at peace with their home, making it work for them.
Just curious what the reality of living in a house you chose with your head rather than your heart actually feels like five years in.

I live in a 1930s house, which is maybe a compromise between my being drawn to older houses and the practicalities. I’m very happy with the house itself, and find the idea of living in a new build really bleak. The area is not my dream location though!

Moved to big new build, middle of nowhere a few years to be near good schools. LOVE my house, it's practical, big square rooms, manageable garden, surrounded by families. Having said that, when the kids leave i won't hesitate move somewhere more convenient. Location definitely is everything long term.

Yes I love my home. It’s a 4 bed new build not new to us but we’ve made it into what we want - built an office has a garage conservatory and recently overhauled the garden and added a summerhouse that serves as a gym/ teenager hangout.

Its by no means a picture perfect house but it fits our needs and it’s homely warm and inviting and I love being home.
A lot of people are snobby about new builds but this is so fit for our purpose and has a charm about it. We might move for more land for my husbands hobbies but I do love this house.

Does anyone ‘love’ their house? (Except the rich, of course.) In the U.K., most of us live in overpriced rabbit hutches with loads of other overpriced rabbit hutches jammed on top of us.

Yep. Walked through the front door, immediately knew it was right and told the estate agent I was buying it.

It still needs a lot of modernisation, but I love it.

I love my amazing period property with its fabulous views in a remote rural location, but now we are in our 70s, it's not practical to stay much longer. We are looking for a large period property in town, but my heart isn't really in it.

In Scotland and the North of England people don't have to live in overpriced rabbit hutches.

I don’t love it, because the sort of house I would love wouldn’t have been in our price range. But it’s nice enough and I do like it.

I do, I’ve never been that fussy about houses though, as long as it’s large enough and in a nice area it’ll do. It’s nothing fancy only a 3 bed suburban semi but we have it decorated nicely and it’s our little haven; even better we are about to pay off the mortgage so it will definitely always be ours

OP do not move because of “social life standards” / societal expectations which don’t gel with you. In many, many countries families are born and raised in flats, even families from very wealthy backgrounds. It’s a very British thing to aspire to have a house. A lot of countries like Germany, people don’t even buy because they aren’t comfortable with mortgage debt. There’s no one way to do things.

Do what feels right for you. Your kids will benefit from you being happy, not from uprooting yourself to live somewhere you think you should. I know high earners raising families in flats and their kids have loads of activities on their doorstep because they live centrally, and the parents love being central too. I also know people who moved to the suburbs. Different strokes for different folks.

How central to your childhood was having a garden? How much did that impact your life, when you look back? Or was it more impacted by the happiness of your parents? I spent long periods alone in a 5 acre garden in order to escape from an unhappy household. I know which I would have valued more

We moved into the type of modern/new build home we've always hated because of proximity to good schools. Much smaller yard, the whole lot.
Actually, we've grown to love it. It always looks neat and clean. We haven't had to do anything to it! And the easy to maintain garden! Recently we drove by our old home and instead of charming is just looked old and tired.

Love/hate for this house. It was love at first sight when I came to view it. I spent so long that the estate agent had to remind me she had another viewing!

5 years on the amount of work and upkeep is scary and some days I hate it. But the location, the space and the view mean that we won’t move until we absolutely have to!

I do love my house because it feels like home, but it's just an average house on an estate overlooked by neighbours and it's small.

I like the location because it's on the edge of the countryside but there are lots of things I would change.

My dream is a house further in to the countryside with character and a big garden. I'd love an open fire and a big homely kitchen.

My husband wants to move but I don't think we can afford what we'd like. I think having a low mortgage and disposable income makes me happier than a beautiful house.

I wouldn't be happy sitting in a lovely house if it meant I couldn't afford to travel and do nice things.

I moved from a Victorian terrace that had leaky chimneys and haemmorhaged £££. Beautiful house but I worried endlessly about money.
I now live in a fairly unattractive Wimpey house with parking, a small but nice garden, garage, and a functioning roof. Whenever it rains I feel snug and safe. I absolutely love it.

Useful thread as we are currently debating selling our charming, unique Victorian stone built house in a central but very quiet area of a city, for what will probably be a 30s bungalow or 70s/80s build.

I love our current home but it does have downsides (the roof maintenance has been something else) and if we move we should be able to be mortgage free. Have been viewing properties and the one thing that puts me off is the lack of trees in suburban areas near us. So for me, it's not necessarily the property itself but access to greenery and views of trees.

That sounds very much like me. No money to do it up but the location is almost perfect. A few minutes walk to train station and town centre. A few minutes walk to beach. Quiet neighbours. The only noise is an occasional lawnmower or tree surgeon cutting branches, or noisy magpies and crows (basically mostly sounds of or connected to nature). House hidden from street which is perfect for me as I love living ‘hidden away’.

Yes i love my house, didn't on the first viewing, almost decided against it so did a second viewing. Moved from a rural 1940’s semi with large gardens to a detached in a village with a smaller garden.
We moved because we wanted a detached property and to be closer to my daughters school, we won’t be moving again, its large and spacious, gets lots of light, is on a very quiet street in the village, i can walk to the woods/hair dresser/pub/sports club/doctors/shop and bakery and while the garden is smaller than we had before it’s more private and we’re doing a lot of work to fill it with flowers and bushes.
Just need to make the front garden nicer next.

Currently in a 2 bed 2 bath apartment in Brussels. We really love it - big rooms, lots of light and a terrace with views (5th floor) I love sitting out there when the sun is shining. However, we're renting and owners have sold it, so we decided to buy back in UK now dd has flown the nest. New house has been completely renovated (apart from the garden) so we've been busy furnishing it ahead of moving permanently. It's small but with a south facing courtyard garden. 10 mins from nice pub and 15 mins walk to town centre. Bus stop and shops nearby. No mortgage. Cant wait to move really.

We live in a very small 3 bed cottage. It’s 350 years old and we rent off a country estate. I absolutely love it. I smile when I walk down the lane and see the lights twinkling.

I’m the same. My house is lovely and convenient but if it became more convenient to move I’d do it with no regrets, as I’ve done before.

We moved a few years ago. Sensible decision, closer to schools, no regrets really. But I do still think about the old kitchen sometimes... it had this afternoon light that just made everything feel calm.
The new place is fine. It works. But "works" and "love" aren't quite the same thing, are they?

We love our house, just not the location which isn't where we'd like to retire. If I could move it 200 miles up the M5, I would! It's taken 25 years to get it the way we want it, and it's perfect. Generous rooms, light, comfortable, lots of storage, new boiler.

I moved last year; completed the sale 364 days ago. Bought this little Victorian terraced in August. I love it....not everything about it; not the colour of the walls, not the bathroom layout or fittings, not the state of the chimney...but I love the feel of it......I'm changing the garden from topiary and invasive park plants to roses and herbs and bee seducing. Happy as a lark.

I have grown to love mine. When I met DH, he let me know his plan to purchase the house from his mother. I'm not one to rock the boat; it is a perfectly boring 60's box, but with a great view in a good neighbourhood.

We lived in the basement suite until 5 years into marriage, then bought it from his mum and she moved into a small apartment. We then opened the suite to the rest of the house, so had a 5 bedroom, 2 bath in which to raise our family. We slowly changed the decor to suit us, as well as the garden.

I do get house envy when visiting others with charming houses, but I'm happy where I am for now. Eldest son has mentioned he may want to buy it from us when we are ready to sell and downsize...