They started off in the shed, 25 years ago, with a playpen in the living room for the evenings. That didn't last long (about a fortnight) and then they were in my bedroom for many years. I have three bedrooms so could have put them out of the way, but I wanted them close by. Then about 5 or 6 years ago I tried moving them to the living room and I realised how much priceless guinea pig behaviour I'd been missing. An absolutely huge jumpy popcorn sticks in my mind.
I'm sure visitors think I'm loopy setting aside a large portion of my living room for the piggies, but they're family and entitled to their space. One thing I've noticed is that being able to watch the piggies' antics in the living room means I don't cuddle them quite as much as I used . They might be happy with that though!
I wouldn't mind too much about the everyday living room noises. I am grateful that in this solidly built Victorian house, they haven't worked out the fridge noise even after all this time. The noise of hay being collected from their Hay Box however results in screaming and pacing about. I'd never change a thing about them xx