AIBU to ask if I can report my neighbour's bright blue house?

[Katey83]

I live in a terraced house. My neighbours have painted the back of their house bright blue (think swimming pool blue / like the Mikanos blue). It is horrible and looms over my garden. It’s really going to spoil my enjoyment of my space to have to look at this every day. I spoke to the wife earlier this morning and said it was not to my taste and would they consider changing and she said ‘the beige of your house isn’t to my taste but it’s your house. This is my house.’ And shut the door in my face. WIBU to report them to the council? Can I even do so? Surely you can’t just paint any offensive colour and expect neighbours to live alongside it?

It's giving Jack and Vera 🤣

Half a blue house. The real question is would it be horizontal swathe of blue, or a vertical one? Or maybe a mosaic?

I’m overthinking this.

Baaalllaaamorrrrrryyyyyy.

OP, plenty of houses are painted in all sorts of colours. There are some great ones in Bristol for example. And by 'compromise' did you really mean 'my own way'

I love painted murals on houses, they are a point of interest and not just colourful.

Yes it’s that exact shade! Perhaps they went and were inspired. I admit that looks magical. It doesn’t quite feel the same in south London.

“I spoke to the wife earlier this morning and said it was not to my taste and would they consider changing and she said ‘the beige of your house isn’t to my taste but it’s your house. This is my house.’ And shut the door in my face.”

Absolutely bravo to your neighbour 👌 I want to be friends with that woman - she sounds great 👏

This is a wind up right

Ooh, I know! You paint the back of your house blue, they paint theirs beige! Then you can each look at your favourite colour! Job done!

Here's a good compromise - they keep their blue house and you pretend its beige.
Seriously, you can't go asking them to change the colour of their house, your dislike of the colour is not their problem at all. You'll get used to it soon enough, I'm sure.

I do love colourful houses though, mine is red, other houses in my street are green, blue, yellow and more reds. Love it.

Is it not quite rude to tell people you don't like what they've done with they're own house? We've one like you over the road. Issues with very normal things. No-one like her and now everyone is also less accomodating when she isn't being unreasonable, because she's annoyed everyone so much!

What 'compromise'? That they would repaint their home after getting your approval over the colour? Cover it up with a giant curtain every time you want to sit in your garden?

If they suggested a 'compromise' over your bland beige that entailed you repainting it much brighter colour to meet them half way, I'm fairly sure you'd think they were nuts, so why would you imagine you could ask them to do the equivalent?

Don't look if it bothers you, or grow a hedge. I like bright colours and bright blue sounds lovely. Some of the nicest places have brightly painted houses. YABU and your neighbour is entirely right.

You're making yourself sound slightly mad OP ... well not even slightly, barking mad more like.

Are you bored? How have you got the time to get het up about this sort of thing!

I would imagine that she found your request rude.

I love that blue colour and, like your neighbour, I really hate beige.

The neighbour did really well in her response. Did you really think telling her it wasn't to your taste, i.e. she has terribke taste, would make her repaint her whole house?

Preferable to the ubiquitous grey with white accessories that was popular and now not being painted over.

Not as rude as people who knock on other people's doors to inform them their house is offensive.

Unless it's a listed property or in a conservation area there is nothing you can do.

But asking her to repaint her house as it's not to your taste is rude too.

You sound more peculiar with every post.

OP you probably want to stay away from Juzcar in southern Spain too. The whole village was painted blue when it was used as a film set for the Smurfs movie, but when they realised it was a huge tourist draw, they kept it like that and huge numbers of tourists visit to this day, from all over the world.

Juzcar - the blue Village | Andalucia.com

How lovely, and what a change from that hideous battleship grey that's everywhere.
Grey windows doors, rendering, kitchens bathrooms... awful.
Bring on the bright blue 💙!

I remember this too - I think it was Twickenham but not a particularly posh part of it.

Looked up the blue and changed my mind I like it, beige and magnolia ? hate both colours. But having said that when Imy mum moved into her bungalow she asked 'if I could redecorate her lounge .sooner rather than later because magnolia and beige is for old people' - she was 82, good old mum😄

Can't you just turn your deckchair so you can't see the wall?