If you can’t afford new windows, hang fabric in your bedroom. Maybe blackout drapes or a thick vintage wall hanging. You’d also be surprised how hall rugs can dampen noise between rooms.

For storage, consider bolting bookshelves to the studs inside your closet if you can’t afford a custom closet system.

My husband hates our house for the fuse three years we lived here. We just didn’t have the money to make it nice.

Agree with all the previous ideas for sound dampening. I didn’t see anyone mention textiles— room size carpets especially. Helped our noise issues immensely and makes the house much cozier. Sounds weird, but it dampens the sound

Same with window coverings. Stick with soft coverings like cellular shades mentioned previously, fabric shades like Roman shades, curtains/drapes.

Wishing you good luck in your new home.

Oh, OP, I know exactly how you feel! We've been in our house two years and were hoping that by now we'd have been able to start making changes (in my case, my two highest priorities are new windows and new floors to replace ancient carpets). Alas, we had to deal with six months of unemployment which has delayed us a bit.

What has helped the window issue is new window coverings. We bought cellular shades for a couple rooms before we stopped spending money and then for the rest bought heavier (cheap) curtains as a stop gap measure. Both options have helped.

For floors, we're just suffering but also not at all stressing about spills, etc., which is kind of nice.

Another noise thing we need to fix is our noisy air return, but we're holding off until we replace the HVAC unit in 5-10 years before we tackle that. we've found a few ways to dampen the sound a little, but it is certainly annoying in the summer.

I had to check the date of your post OP to make sure it wasn’t my own. I could have written it.

We bought when there wasn’t much available and we were up against a deadline. And DH and I always disagree on house style and quality anyway. It was the best of what we could afford in a location that worked for us at the time, but I would not have bought it in a normal market or with more time to look.


We haven’t been able to put any money into yet and honestly, without gutting it, I don’t think I’ll ever like it. Built in 2000, it has weird “bones” - the rooms are oddly shaped.

I would have to spend $400,000 to remodel this house to like it and I’d still have weird-shaped rooms I dislike.

I hate mine too.
The list of what it needs seems endless.

The longer you live there, the more you will make it feel like home, the more you will get used to it, and the more the memories you build there will soften the things you don’t like. Pick the top three things you want to fix and then do those right away. (I did this for my house and it immediately greatly improved how I felt about the house.) Train your brain to focus on the things about the house you DO like.

We didn't like the creaky stairs until we had teenagers - we joked they would never be able to sneak out.

Work to make the house a home. There's no need to rush, take your time and make it comfortable for you and your family

Be creative and improvise the sound will end up being white noise.

We bought a very old house four years ago, and I felt the same way during the first few months — and that was even after we had renovated some areas before moving in. Long story short, four years later, this place truly feels like home, and I love it. Sure, the floors creak and the windows are definitely past their prime, but we’ve made it ours.

You’ll get there too. Focus on changing the things that matter most to you, and try to compromise on the rest. Storage issues, for example, can often be solved with the right furniture.

Me again, and I want to sell it. Nope lol

Anonymous wrote:Bought a house in our dream neighborhood a month ago. It has a lot of what we wanted but mostly we bought it for the location. And I hate it. It needs a lot more work than we realized. It’s loud. It’s bigger but actually has less storage than our old house. Some of it can be fixed but not all, and some of the must-do fixes are going to be expensive. I’m trying to play the long game and remember that we moved here for a reason and lots will get fixed. But I’m finding it hard to stay positive. Anyone been here and have good success stories for making it to the other side?

This is how I feel. Been in it 4 years.
It is somewhat nice. Some areas ‘need’ improvement (most everyone would agree). Other areas don’t feel right for us. Just the yard alone, I could re-do almost every inch. $50k later…. Really. I mean it. We haven’t done it but I think about the interior and exterior not really being what we want or need .. every day.

But it’s not bad enough to justify cost and effort. Especially with our open and available heloc being at about 7%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Kinda’ in the same situation. We’ve been in our home for almost three years and I’m not overly feeling it.

Mainly bc of the wild life - Yes!!
More recently we’ve had to combat not only squirrels but raccoons (this week) destroying our home - literally ate through side of the home and moved on in.
And while the home has amazing views and stream in the back it’s exhausting dealing with ALL the wildlife.

We absolutely didn’t even think about that 😬

We need a new deck anddddd want to do the basement over.

Also, all 10 neighbors are 70+ and while super nice - we kinda’ feel like they may be aging us.
We don’t wanna’ bird watch nor constantly hear “ we have kids older than you” or “ you have a lot of cars”

It’s been super interesting!

Kind of sounds like you didn’t do due diligence with your research on both the neighborhood and what comes with living near woods and water.

I’m sure it’s a gorgeous neighborhood so hopefully you’ll eventually love it.

Agree with you there... Researched just about everything but the wildlife piece ..argh.
It is a nice home though.

Oh don't let the sour PP get to you! There's no way to predict every outcome. When we were house hunting, we used to joke that we should spend a night or two in the house before making an offer. Need to see how late the neighbors stay up, how nighttime sound carries, any creaks or squeaks etc. And it was a JOKE. The proportion of time to money spent on houses versus literally anything else is insane. We spent a couple of hours in a house before buying it. We spent multiple weeks researching appliances / driving cars before buying one. Homeownership will always entail a leap of faith.

NP. This post is spot on! I feel we need a movement to achieve this goal of a couple days in the house before you buy.

Maybe this is a thing in Scandinavia?

Anonymous wrote:It's common to feel buyer's remorse for the first few months. The noise thing sounds like it should be prioritized, but otherwise I'd wait a few months and then see how you feel about what needs to change. I felt like this at first and then 6 months later certain things didn't bother me anymore and we had a better idea of what we wanted to renovate.

Also agree about painting now. That made the house feel more homey and less like a staged home with covered up DIY projects.

Not OP but I also had a "noise thing"and noise things can be super expensive.

Anonymous wrote:How is a house "loud"

Bad mechanical / HVAC/Ducts / No interior sound dampening / Not properly insulated

It's common to feel buyer's remorse for the first few months. The noise thing sounds like it should be prioritized, but otherwise I'd wait a few months and then see how you feel about what needs to change. I felt like this at first and then 6 months later certain things didn't bother me anymore and we had a better idea of what we wanted to renovate.

Also agree about painting now. That made the house feel more homey and less like a staged home with covered up DIY projects.