Falling out of love with home.
Being cooped up together, every single day and with no outside distractions drives many a happy couple to go their separate ways, but what about your relationship with the place you call your home?
Lockdown has confined us all to extra time indoors and too much of the same thing can lead to boredom, fatigue and overly critical behaviour. Your partner’s peculiar ways come under the microscope of over-exposure, so let’s take a light-hearted at look at reasonable grounds for a property-conscious uncoupling.
LOSS OF ATTRACTION
You’re more mature, your interests have changed, and your home no longer reflects your taste. Maybe it’s time to trade in your Victorian terrace for a younger loft, or perhaps you’ve developed a penchant for older types and fancy an elegant Georgian number to replace your modernist cube.
NEGLECTFUL BEHAVIOUR
If you’ve not been giving your home the attention it deserves, it could be finally hitting back: things keep going wrong and the cracks are beginning to show. When it’s time to choose between a facelift and a farewell, think carefully before your savings go to waste on expensive cosmetic enhancements.
IRRITANTS & ANNOYANCES
Maybe you’re tired of the area, and want more from your local neighbourhood. Have you finally had enough of the people upstairs, or the tube rumbling underneath? Perhaps your street has gotten busier over the years, with peace and quiet replaced by traffic and grime. It doesn’t make you a bad person if you’ve finally had enough.
THE SPARK HAS GONE
Take a look around. Are you still wild about the place in which live, or do you barely notice its features or charms? Unless you can find a way to reignite your passion, you’re in for a life of resentment and distress. Time to acknowledge the elephant in the room: you’re leaving.
LIVING SEPARATE LIVES
If you prefer being out than in and the feeling of home has gone, then you need to take some action. Sometimes people drift apart: life moves on, circumstances change, dreams evolve. Even though it’s a wrench, a split could be best for both of you.
GOLD DIGGING
Has your home become a money pit? If your house is bleeding you dry, perhaps you should exit the relationship before your savings run out. Put it down to experience, learn from it, and find yourself something more suitable.
CHANGING NEEDS
Are you tired of climbing the stairs to the bathroom, or having no stairs at all? Maybe it’s too far from the kitchen to the living room and you fancy experimenting elsewhere with an open arrangement? Are you sick of a complicated lawn and borders and fancy a low maintenance terrace instead? Nothing lasts forever, and it’s fine.
SIZE SUDDENLY MATTERS
Has lockdown inspired you to ditch the commute, meaning you need a study or studio? Or have you started a business from home and need a room for stock? Perhaps life in isolation has left you wanting to host more guests? Or maybe you suddenly need a nursery as a result of the extra free time…
No matter how long you’ve been together with your home, don’t feel guilty for wanting to leave. There’s no need to stay in a relationship that doesn’t make you happy, and if your home is no longer the one you love, you’re free move on to pastures new.
After all, it’s not like it’s a marriage!
