There are many reasons that couples will argue and fight, some perhaps more meaningful than others… but as anyone who’s ever tried to renovate a property or do some DIY with their partner will certainly already know, home improvements can be serious sources of contention among couples.
SunLife Direct has just published some very interesting research revealing that for couples over the age of 50, DIY and renovation work are in fact some of the biggest sources of tension, followed by money and the cleaning, as well as taking up too much room in bed and laziness.
Some one in six of the survey respondents admitted that their biggest arguments are over DIY and home improvements, with Simon Stanney – non-life products director with the organisation – saying that it isn’t exactly surprising that such undertakings are so contentious, given that they take a lot of both time and money.
“And, when you consider that on average, people over 55 have lived in their homes for 24 years, it is likely that many of these properties are in need of a bit of improvement,” he went on to add.
“Our research reveals that 62 per cent of over-55s categorically did not want to downsize, which means a solution for many could be to unlock some of the value in their homes via equity release, which could ease their money problems and maybe even pay for those home improvements that are causing so many arguments.”
It’s natural that doing up a property will result in a few fights here and there but what you don’t want to do is find yourself questioning yourself and your relationship just because wallpapering is a bit on the tricky side.
You can help protect your relationship by planning properly and prioritising communication above anything else, making all the most important decisions before you even think about starting the job.
If the project you have in mind is particularly big, make sure that you take regular breaks from it and destress as much as possible. If you know your home is going to be overtaken by builders for months on end, this is especially important so that you can step back and remind yourselves just why you’re doing the project in the first place.
A good plan of attack, depending on the size of the job in hand, is to give yourself a safe space at home, somewhere you and your other half can escape to so you can get away from the chaos of the project.
If you can afford to at any point during the build, go out for a romantic dinner for two so you can remind yourselves that you do really still love each other… and perhaps talk about what you’ve both achieved already so you can keep that end goal firmly in mind.
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