Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

Do You, Or Anyone You Know Live In One Of Those Houses You See In Magazines?

89 replies

QuootiepieTheNewYearsAss · 30/12/2006 17:08

Just been flicking through a home magazine, and im at them really. Do normal people live in them? There was some woman who did up her house, I saw total cost £250,000 - thought that was the whole lot, buying house and all (tiny place). No, was the cost of decorating! Baths at £2,500, wallpaper maybe £100 odd a roll... I just can't think who could live a life like that! Apart from a celebrity. How normal is it, being that wealthy? And having homes like that? Obviously, I dream of having a big house, and decorated nicely etc. etc. but this seems pretty off the scale! And it's the same in most magazines... Am I really poor or something ? Don't even get me started on style magazines though... £1000 being a bargain for a whole outfit? That wouldn't even buy the handbag though!

Please tell me im not alone in this!

OP posts:
DarrellRivers · 30/12/2006 17:10

Yes, i frequently find i am shopping in the £1000 for one outfit bracket, and often spend 250,000 to decorate the house.
Ridiculous, more money than sense, you could buy a house for that

ludaloo · 30/12/2006 17:12

I don't Quootie...don't know anyone who does either (although my brother is close...he has a mega salary and he won a large sum on the lottery)

You couldn't have a house like that anyway, surely not with small children pottering around to mess it all up!

Original poster
QuootiepieTheNewYearsAss · 30/12/2006 17:12

I know! If I had that amount of money spare i'd donate it to SCBUs and the like, I really would...

OP posts:
NappiesGalooooooooooooria · 30/12/2006 17:15

you are not alone quootie. i think its called 'aspirational' to some and 'bloody mad consumerism designed to keep us working/spending/always dissatisfied' by others...

(i cant really talk tho, since dp earns a fortune and i benefit greatly from that!)

Crackle · 30/12/2006 17:18

I recently was invited to coffee at a school mum's house. As I was driving along a lane, looking for a the house, I realised that I was actually on a tree lined driveway leading up to a stately home or a hotel. I started to turn around at the stable block near the house thinking that I had gone the wrong way obviously. The Mum suddenly appeared and waved me on to park outside this flippin' enormous Georgian house.

I was lost for words. Each room had the floor space of my first home. Every room was fully done and furnished and there were flowers everywhere. The kitchen was beyond description. I felt absolutely overwhelmed with what to compliment. It was all understatedly beautiful, so utterly, utterly perfect.

So yes, real people do live like that. Just not me.

foxtrot · 30/12/2006 17:18

Makes the magazines nice to look at tho', doesn't it? Certainly wouldn't be interested in looking at pics of my house or similar...

Crackle · 30/12/2006 17:19

And I'm very glad that she had already been to my house, right in the middle of bungalow land and generally covered in surfing gear and glitter glue.

blueshoes · 30/12/2006 17:39

Quootie, I imagine the purpose of those home magazines is to make it seem normal for people to spend like that - to get you to do the same - and make their advertisers very happy.

NadoligFRAUen · 30/12/2006 17:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

oxocube · 30/12/2006 18:19

I'll be honest, I do know some families who have homes like that. One of them is a very good friend. They are nice people, but simply in a different world moneywise. And they all have really good taste, unlike me! I think my house is nice - if we spent 20k on furnishings etc, it could be fab, but we have 3 kids, a dog and a cat to mess it up (and we don't have 20k !!)

But these places do exist in real life, not just in mags

WanderingTroll · 30/12/2006 18:25

I lived in such a home once (I was staff)

They spent 5 grand on light fittings in the kitchen.

They spent very little on food and clothes for the children.

The light fittings were hideous.

I left.

suedonim · 30/12/2006 18:46

I have a good friend who lives in a house straight from a magazine. She doesn't spend quite that amount of money but her house looks as if no one lives in it, itr's so immaculate. What gets me is that none of their appliances such as the TV, table lamps, computer ever have any wires showing, while my house is an obstacle course of wires, cables and extensions! Also, when her dc were small they were only allowed to play with one toy at a time, which had to be put away before anything else was got out.

eggnog · 30/12/2006 18:49

the magazines are aspirational. very, very few people live like that. those that do are no more or less happy than anyone else. it takes a lot of upkeep and hassle, even if money is no issue at all. very large houses are often scary to sleep in as they often creak a lot in the night and have lots of doors to the outside and land aroudn them, so it is hard to sleep comfortably. it is the same with flash cars and boats. upkeep and hassle. it is also such a status symbol that it makes other people uncomfortable. give me a suburban house any day

pools are a pain in the arse if you have small children as they are so dangerous. expensive cars are a worry as they are a magnet for vandalism. boats constantly need fixing. live in staff are nothing but a problem- all people do is complain about them. (wouldnt have minded a nanny today though)

dh and i grew up around a lot of this stuff and wouldnt give you a monkeys arse for it.

NannyL · 30/12/2006 18:50

yes i have worked in some of those homes

and i have to say almost of all the people who i know that live in them are very nice and many have become good friends!
I have worked in LOTS of very nice houses.... even had our own private beach in one, oh and could 50mph on the drive way

Judy1234 · 30/12/2006 19:02

ours is a bit in that category but it cost so much to buy it we haven't had any money to spend much on the inside except some furniture. To get it redecorated 2 years ago in side, just repainting the walls and ceilings etc cost £18k. We've kept the curtains and carpets as they were because of cost and they're okay. You have to be very careful not to get ripped off because someone will see the house, just about any workman and then double their prices so you have to be quite astute about it.

If you look at the people near me where I suppose every house will be worth about £1m + are just a huge mixture of different people from the older people who lived here for 40 years, even one man born in his house 70+ years ago to the newer buyers. It is interesting to look at who has bought and why. We even just had a paedophile jailed from one of the houses. So I doubt the people in them really have anything in common, just normal people with usual problems like anyone else. It doesn't make you happier. Obviously life is a bit easier if you have more space because you can keep out of each other's way in the house which is sometimes an advantage. Occasionally we've been paid for filming here which is fun but sadly very rare. And I do like the house a lot, one of the best things I bought.

eggnog · 30/12/2006 19:04

dh has a private beach in his house in the US. it is very nice, but the inheritance of the house has caused so many problems that various members of the family are no longer speaking. we dont go there anymore. obviously there are many families that make it work better for them, but i repeat, it is a lot of hassle and does not make for the best time.

i can guarantee that it is just as happy to take normal family holidays, in normal hotels, in normal places, than to own a mansion in a flashy place and holiday there.

saadia · 30/12/2006 19:04

I have a friend - mum at ds's school - and her house is amazing. They had all the furniture and fittings imported from India. She said it worked out cheaper. They had the house extended at the back as well. After buying it they rented it out for a year to raise funds for the renovation.

FioFio · 30/12/2006 19:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Pruni · 30/12/2006 19:10

Message withdrawn

eggnog · 30/12/2006 19:10

i think a lot of the flash house thing is about status and showing off. which is fair enough but after the initial excitement has worn off you are just left with a house. not like having a new baby IYSWIM.

i am in a dilemma now about whether or not to buy a bigger house, and all i can think of is 'more ants' as we had an any problem with the bloody things in this house.

i think the magazine thing is what is known as 'property porn'. fun, but screws with your head. there is always someone with more, bigger house, bigger boat, bigger tv, whatever. all this stuff ends up owning you and becomes nothing but a headache.

Judy1234 · 30/12/2006 19:16

The secret is to be content with what you have. I am here. I like having my own room/office - that was one of the nicest things. I work at home and my ex husband did quite a bit too so we could have two separate working rooms downstairs of our own plus dining room and living room etc. It definitely had advantages just in terms of space and storage space. I'm certainly glad we put the money into the place we live and spend so much time in rather than clothes, holidays and cars.

eggnog · 30/12/2006 19:23

the biggies in my book are not about the size of your house. it is about having spare money so you dont have to worry about the next bill. that is a luxury. louis vuitton does not sell luxury goods, it sell status- which is about the state of your mind. luxury is not having to worry about retirement, school fees(if you are that way inclined) clothing your kids, food etc.....

the rest is just window dressing.

themoon66 · 30/12/2006 19:35

We just moved to a bigger house in the summer. The main reason being investment. DH has never got his pension sorted out, so in years to come, this house will be his pension. We will down-size massively at retirement time.

Judy1234 · 30/12/2006 19:44

It's a question of your own view on risk too. When we paid off the mortgage on our last house I was about 35 and I thought wow I love this work and I earn quite a lot, I'll be doing this for 30 more years if I get my way and what should we be doing, what do we want and I thought I want more children and a big house and we went for it and I don't regret it at all. I'd rather have the house than the savings although in the divorce he got all my savings, all my shares plus the remortgage monies. Still glad I could keep the children in their home.

KezzaG · 30/12/2006 19:46

Yes, I live in a home that looks like it is in magazines......Take a Break