Anyone live upside down? Love it? Hate it?

[UpsideDownLiving]

Hello. Long time poster but NC for this.

Does anyone have experience of upside down living and living with big open spaces and lots of glazing? How do you feel about it?

We are extending our house and the architect has pulled together an upside down arrangement - living and kitchen upstairs. This is to make the most of the countryside views. Big glazing front and back.

I thought I’d like it but the more I imagine it the more I get put off by;

• not having easy access to the garden
• having to traipse shopping upstairs
• living in a goldfish tank - no one over looking at the back - just fiends - road at front that isn’t busy but some dog walkers (one or two a day) and cars and tractors every 10/15 mins or so.
• not feeling cosy - big echoing space.
• cleaning said glazing
• heating a big space

Do I ask for a different scheme? Anyone live like this and how does it feel?

Pixiesfan

PruLeith was picking up on my mistake in the original OP. I totally missed the joke. As have you now! 😂 ‘Where is my mind?’

SkyFullofStars1975

Sorry if I’m being dense but why a big sized hallway?

Helpuschoose · Yesterday 23:26

Can't comment on the upside down aspect but on the glazing - we have the back of our house totally glazed and paid more to have glass that has a thermal break. It stops it getting too hot in summer or cold in winter and it's brilliant. I would absolutely make sure you insist on that - it's worth the extra cost.

Good tip. Thank you. What about keeping it all clean? We live close the coast and in storms the windows get salty.

Mourningbecomeselectra · Yesterday 23:33

Going to be that person and ask, as your DH loves the idea so much, how much carrying shopping/recycling/laundry/etc up and down stairs will he be doing?

Most if the time, yes. Now. Lots of threads in AIBU and great MN advice, but finally things are fair. I work longer hours and earn more so we are probably a 70/30 spilt now. Now.

I rented a house like this for a few months (in a mews house in London).

I liked the big open space upstairs. I hated the fact that to get to the garden you had to go through a bedroom, the garden may as well not have been there it got used so little. The house next door had a staircase down to the garden, but they never used the garden either, it felt very cut off.

Carrying shopping up didn't bother me, as had previously lived in a flat on the first floor so was used to that. Hated the bedroom that gave straight onto the front too, no privacy at all, had to have the curtains drawn all the time.

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper

To be fair I know gravity exists but probably couldn’t tell you how!

Well, thank you all so so much for taking time. Really really helpful. This is my summary…

Upside down living

To like;

Views
Heat rises so living area easier to heat
Fire draws nicely
get fitter going up and downstairs so much

To not like;

Shopping or getting things from garage means going up and downstairs
Up and down stairs to answer the door, put washing on, go out, etc
Bins and recycling up and down
Less easy access to the garden - harder to eat out - use garden less - seems to be a consensus that the garden gets used less.
Noise in bedrooms when people get up and clatter about upstairs
If get a dog or cat have to go up and down to let them in or out
Getting fridge/other heavy items etc upstairs
Spills on the stairs from carrying stuff up and down.
wear our knees quicker going up and downstairs so much

Possible solutions;

Balcony or terrace (we couldn’t have a big one and it still involves carrying everything up and down)
Small lounge upstairs to enjoy the view but kitchen diner downstairs to enjoy the garden.
soundproofing between floors

Lots of glazing big space

To Like

The light
The views

To not like

Cleaning all that glass
Hot and or cold
Things fade faster
feeling on view - can’t relax
Can’t see screens
Feels colder

Solutions

Thermal gap glass

Im going to see about lounge upstairs but kitchen downstairs. The architect is really lovely so I’m sure he will be fine with it. I’ve never worked with one before. Never done anything this big before - just renovating. Very helpful to have MN with me.

Further Notes;
Watch out for fiends
Learn how gravity works
Check spelling in OP before posting.

Not strictly upside down, but our living room and only garden access is in the basement. It does mean we don't use the garden as much and also it does get annoying going upstairs to the kitchen or to answer the door etc.

We had a three storey house with garden room on ground floor, open plan living space middle and bedrooms upstairs. It was ok. You get used to shopping and bins and being organised about going to the garden. In the end wanted to have a kitchen that opened into garden. Still don't have that! It is a massive investment, so you need to feel bought into the plans. Talking to the architect and your partner is vital so you feel like you've had a stake in the design of your home.

We’ve recently moved to an ‘upside down’ house and love it. We’ve got amazing views and have a roof terrace overlooking the back garden that we can access from the living room which helps with the indoor/outdoor connection thing. I love being able to step from our bedroom straight into the garden on a sunny morning. It also means we have a lovely double height vaulted ceiling in the living room. Our layout is open plan living/dining room and separate kitchen upstairs, and bedrooms, bathrooms and utility downstairs.

The only thing that’s annoyed me so far is that people have to walk through a bedroom to get to the garden, and when we’re socialising outside it’s a right faff to be constantly going up to the kitchen to get stuff. Our plan for this is to turn one of the big bedrooms overlooking that garden into a guest bedroom with a small kitchenette (including fridge) hidden in a wardrobe that we can use it as a bar area.

For me the benefits definitely outweigh the negatives.

I live in an upside down 3 story house.

As people say, shopping can be a bit of a pain in the backside. I divide my shopping up into fridge/freezer or not. Non spoilable items can get left at the bottom floor until I have time to move them up.

Plus points are houses dominate the area. You will never get anyone looking in your lounge/kitchen or bedrooms unless they are on a ladder.

Most heavy stuff can be gotten up the stairs. But I would beware of large sofas and american fridge freezers. In sofa you either want something you can break down or construct in situ (nabru).

As far as cleaning acres of glass is concerned, I’m sure there is self cleaning glass, although I imagine it’s expensive. I think there are systems that tint the glass in hot weather too, to reduce heat and fading. I’d ask the architect.

This pretty much describes my house exactly, and I love it!
The house is set into a hill and has great views to the front and back from living/kitchen/diner, and a big balcony. Our main bedrooms are upstairs too, so we're not always going up and down stairs. Also, the front door is at mezzanine level, so there are only 6 stairs to go up once inside.
No trouble from fiends, either

I used to live in a house that had a huge kitchen-diner downstairs, with a mezzanine living room above half of it (hope that makes sense). So the diner end was double height and had 18ft+ high windows, with French windows to the garden, and the windows also provided light and views for the living room. Then a downstairs utility and loo, and one downstairs bedroom, also with French windows to the garden, and another bedroom and a bathroom upstairs. I loved it to bits, and only moved when we desperately needed another bedroom.

In laws have one and we stay regularly. It doesn't work for the following reasons;

Layout is terrible and getting into the garden involves going through a bedroom.

Eating outside involves taking everything downstairs and through a bedroom. It's an assault course.

Bringing in shopping involves carrying food etc upstairs.

While I know people live in bungalows and ground floor flats, I would prefer my open bedroom window at night, to be upstairs.

The soundproofing on the floors is bad, so you're trying to sleep downstairs with people thudding about in the kitchen /living room above you.

I can deal with it for a short stay, but I wouldn't buy a house with that arrangement. There's a reason why most houses arent built this way.

It would work if the house was built into a hill so the garden was also on the first floor.

i think it might take longer for the property to resell