apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I love old places and their loads of character, but I know what you mean about sometimes wishing you had a new place (like the old wiring and plumbing, or when the windows stick shut, and when the cold comes through their single pane glass, etc)

I love old places, too, but not for a forever home per se.

new homes are boring and they lack charm. i grew up in a brand-new home built in 1994 (we moved there when i was 10), and it just never felt interesting. my parents have put work into it, but it's still... missing something.

A brand-new house is supposed to be boring; it's a blank slate. Nothing a good decorator can't fix.

Character such as beautiful moldings or tall coffered ceilings is far too expensive to get in a newer build...and anyway, there is also the character that goes along with the neighborhood as well as the house. Living in a city gives you the chance to connect with your surroundings and community in a way that is lost in suburbia.

Living in an older house definitely makes me wish sometimes we lived in a nice, shiny new place too. But overall, I'm glad we live in a house with lots of character.

I love our 1892 brownstone apartment, but that doesn't mean we don't have complaints. Sure, the walls are super solid, but then it's difficult to hang anything in plaster (stud finders can't find studs through wood lathe). The moldings, fire places, and radiators are charming, but it's tricky to have any furniture against the walls. 12' ceilings are great until you have to change lightbulbs. It's definintely a trade-off in charm vs. convenience.

I live in old.
My boyfriend lives in new.

Two years old to be exact - and while I love the creaks in my floor as my feet squeek by in my nightly bedtime ritual - the squeek of his kitchen floor - which sounds like split plywood in the subflooring just sounds scary to me!

I'm just in the middle of buying and old apartment (from a 1950's building), but someday I'd love to have my own new eco-friendly house with energy provided mainly by the sun and the wind. Someday...

But older buildings definately have charm that only comes with age.

If I could find new, green construction that had charm, interesting and unique architectural details, that included the same quality of workmanship that most old buildings have, then I would consider new construction. I haven't found it yet, and I have looked.

ditto bluelittlegirl.