By Vanessa Brunner, Houzz

Just like with any other romance, the one you have with your house goes through ups and downs. At first glance, you love it all — it’s perfect. Then you move in, and all those little things you used to find adorable start to drive you crazy: the squeaky floors, the lack of closets, the funky door handles that don’t work quite right.

Related: 11 Quirky Features Worth Keeping in Historic Homes

The good news is that a relationship with a home often gets better with age, too. Just like the partners in that long-married couple who love to nitpick at each other’s quirks, you may have started to realize that some of your home’s oddest features are what you love most.

We asked you what you’ve grown to love about your house. Here are some of our favorite Houzzer responses.

 einportlandor, original photo on Houzz 

Older architectural features often spark the love-hate relationship.

1. “I love my 1928 house with its drafty wood windows, some with wavy glass,” says Houzzer einportlandor. “And my glass and brass doorknobs that sometimes come apart in my hand. And my stucco fireplace with the very cool but somewhat chipped floors.”

Related: Replace Old Hardware on Cabinets and Drawers


 decoratorlb, original photo on Houzz

2. Decoratorlb‘s Victorian farmhouse came with original doors and doorknobs set much lower than she was used to. “Back in the 1890s, people were short in stature,” she says. “At first it was very strange to reach down to use a door, but now it reminds me of a past history in the house and all the people who have lived here before us.”

 Before Photo, original photo on Houzz

Structural quirks become blessings.

3. Lm Chipman‘s house has taught her about the durability of older houses. “Friends and neighbors affectionately refer to our medieval German row house as ‘hexenhaus’ (witch’s house),” she says. “The first time we tried to hang something from the ceiling, we were dismayed to find that it was stuffed with straw and impossible to use for mounting anything,” she says.


Before Photo, original photo on Houzz

“However, as we’ve progressed through various stages of renovation,” Lm Chipman continues, “we’ve discovered that the original wattle and daub construction, seen in this photo, is the sturdiest and most adaptive aspect of the building.”


 Terri Thompson, original photo on Houzz
4. Terri Thompson‘s 1920s farmhouse is full of surprises, including this water cistern, original to the house. Although at first it looks like a deep eyesore on the side of the house, a little research revealed that this could be a future asset.

Commonly found in turn-of-the-century rural homes that didn’t have modern plumbing, this 10-foot-deep cistern originally gathered and filtered water from the house’s gutters. A pipe led up to the kitchen, where the water could be pumped into the house to use.

While it has its downsides, she loves that this water storage solution can help save water for her garden during particularly dry years.


Vanessa Brunner, original photo on Houzz

Loving your home’s quirks often means sacrificing convenience for charm.

5. My apartment’s radiators took a while to grow on me. They seemed cute at first glance, but when I moved in I quickly learned what a hassle they were. Impossible to adjust and incredibly loud, they struck me as the worst heating solution possible.

Fast forward to four years later, and I couldn’t imagine my apartment without these clanking metal beasts. I’m grateful for these charming heaters — particularly on especially chilly San Francisco nights.

6. Houzzer texshop had the opportunity to get rid of some radiators but decided to keep them. “Although they take up wall space, I love the nostalgic look of the radiators,” says texshop. “Glad to know others feel the same.”

Some Houzzers emphasize their home’s crazy quirks.

7. “When changing a three-season room into a year-round space, [we realized] the walls had many irregular surfaces and edges, and there was a post that would have been difficult to remove,” says Houzzer erplaut.


Eloine, original photo on Houzz

“We decided to emphasize them with white pine and give the room a very Japanese flair,”erplaut says. “It is now many people’s favorite room in our home.”

Related: Find a Ceiling Fan With Flare


seandebra1, original photo on Houzz
Sometimes loving the challenges requires extra effort.

8. Houzzer seananddebra1 loves to garden, but living in northeast England doesn’t make that easy. Regardless, he and his wife have made the backyard the main focus of their remodeling. “Summers are unpredictable, but my wife toils endlessly to bring out the best of what the U.K. has to offer,” he says.