To be feeling like the whole house is an office because of endless meetings?

[Shatteredglasses]

I am slowly but surely losing my mind with never having the house to myself, honestly. DH started working from home permanently last year. It was presented to me as a good thing (I’ll be done with work much earlier, be able to help more with the kids) but it’s just turned the house into an office. Half term is coming up and it feels very suffocating. I can’t do basic things like hoover or have music playing or friends over. It’s starting to get me down a bit tbh.

Do he not have an office space? We work from home and anyone not working in the house lives as normal

yes and I hear they are recruiting heavily at McBrutal Honesty's fried chicken outlet

Not really.

If he is working from home, then the home environment needs to suit his needs, and if it doesn't, he goes elsewhere or back to the office.

If he is in a separate space, with the door closed, he must be very loud for you all to hear him. So he needs to address that.

If hoovering etc would disturb him, he gets good headphones (will block out the background noise) and again, closes the door.

If the problem persists despite all that, he needs to find a different location as he doesn't have a suitable WFH space.

Do you have a job OP? If not you could always get one and spend more time out of the house so it doesn’t annoy you.
I WFH at the dining table - no room for a dedicated office - and my other half would never complain if he was at home because I’m earning money for us.

Two options
Soundproof the room he works in
Build a small garden room with electrics that can be his office

Third option - OP gets a FT job out of the home.

You don't know she hasn't?

Why should she?
OP’s DH didn’t wfh originally. He’s changed the terms.

He’s working in a separate room with the door closed and not complaining about normal household noise, I don’t really see what the problem is? Do you work?

She seems to have a lot of time to have friends round - maybe she does. Hopefully she’ll clarify

at McBrutal Honesty's Fried Chicken Sydney outlet?

then she has only has to come home every 6 months

PrObLeM SoLvEd

It’s half term

in the short term, @Shatteredglasses do you think your DH would spend a couple of days over the half term at a co-working space instead of at home? Or, does his work still have an office that he could go to as a one off?

I work at home at lot and hoovering and other house noise doesn't bother me. Get good quality noise cancelling headphones and it should be much easier.

There are benefits (financial and practical) for him working at home. I am not a huge fan of homeworking as I feel kinda disconnected at home but I can see the advantages.

Could you get one of those garden offices I see people with? My neighbour has one and a friend. They are pretty good from what I see.

On mumsnet @Malasana, it’s highly likely the op is looking after young children…

You’d think she’d have mentioned that if it was the issue but instead she’s highlighting it wanting the
house to herself, playing music, vacuumIng and having friends round

I can’t understand the issue. I thought you were going to say he had set up camp in a corner of the lounge and was telling everyone to STFU.

He isn’t complaining about anything and is locked away in an office.

Hoover when he doesn’t have a meeting or do it (or he does it) during lunch or after work.

Of course you can play music and have friends over.

For me, it was the dreading of half term coming up in the op which implied it, and perhaps she thought it was obvious.

i think it would be quite an unusual situation if a woman was at home all the time, doing nothing, husband was the only one working earning for both of them, and she was complaining she couldn’t have her friends over all the time because he could hear them.

I have one thanks. But it’s shorter hours and it’s term time only.

And sorry missed a few posts. Cooking dinner.

I work 3 days a week but it’s shorter hours than his. The other two days I’ve got our 2 year old so I’m not just sitting on my bum. I used to have quite a nice thing with a circle of other mums where we took it in turns to go to one another’s houses on a Thursday afternoon. But can’t really do that now and I miss it a lot!

Well if there are vacancies….. 🤣

Acoustic sound panels - they aren’t very expensive (compared to the level of annoyance!) and get him decent quality noise cancelling headphones. Put a draft excluder around the bottom of his door too.

DH works adjacent to the kitchen but doesn’t even hear screaming babies. We rarely hear him either.

Mine works from 3/4 days a week and we just get on with it and ignore him, you just had to get used to it.

But why can’t you still do the Thursday afternoons and take your turn?

Your posts don’t make sense.

He needs noise cancelling headphones. Then you need to just forget he is there. If he is too loud tell him he needs to lower his voice.

I barely hear or acknowledge dh/ds if they come into my “office “ for something, they can go in and out and go about their business and I don’t notice when I have headphones on. Dh has done diy/had a rug doctor on all day for the living room carpet next door and it didn’t disturb me and noone on my calls could hear either (also in a newish build).

The first purpose of a home op, is a home.

so the noise that you and your two year old make to live a nice life are normal noises.

if your husband wants to work at home, he needs to do whatever he needs to do so that you and your two year old aren’t negatively impacted. Earphones. Sound proofing. Whatever it takes.