If you were creating a house from scratch, what would you make sure it had?

[clevername]

We're currently converting a building into a house and it suddenly occurred to me that I should really think about all those little things that could perhaps be thought about and incorporated that would make life easier. It's prob a bit late to ask this question (rooms are built, plasterers are nearly done!) and, frankly, budget is beyond TIGHT but there might very well be simple /easy things that we are missing...

For example, I was just outside in our current garden and was thinking how I defo need to have decent storage for outside toys / furniture in the new place because they are all disgusting from being exposed all winter.

Don't get me wrong - we have been sort of thinking about this kind of stuff (eg we've incorporated a big porch / boot room with loads of storage for shoes, coats, book bags etc) but I just wondered if anyone had any more ideas?

Cheers

A panic room

You have just reminded me to ask our builders to fit a socket with usb in each room!

WiFi and telephone points in all rooms.

The things I wish I could have built into my house:

-Utility room
-Mudroom
-Bathroom closet (for linen storage)
-Bedroom walk-in closets
-Pantry (preferably walk-in)

Plenty of storage for coats/shoes etc. near the entrance (a lot of homes on the continent have a walk in cupboard or alcove for this).

Plenty of built-in storage in general.

Mixer taps - I don't understand why separate hot and cold taps are still a thing at all.

Plenty of sockets in useful places.

As it's a conversion and first fix electrics are already done then a lot of dream must-haves won't work for you now, but I can say that one of the really disappointing things in our new build was a lack of cupboard to house the bigger utility items. I'm thinking vacuum cleaner, ironing board if you use one mop and bucket, steam clearner, set of steps. All the stuff that has to live somewhere but looks so untidy and is prone to falling over.

One thing I've found very useful is the ceiling airer in the boot room. The boiler isn't in there but the warm air rising from the room is still enough to dry things. I put stuff straight on to hangers and it stays there until I want to deal with it.

For storage and space saving look on pinterest, I like the idea of the pull out shelves built in under the space beneath the stairs if you have one and in our bathrooms all the basins sit on cupboards so the cleaning supplies and toiletries are put away.

Make use of the trades on site before they go as it's harder to get those small jobs done afterwards.

my ideal house has
bathroom for every bedroom - not necessarily all en-suite, but dont mind adjoining rooms iyswim- plus two bathrooms for the master bedroom (i want my own)
guest suite
utility/boot room with an adjoining walk-in shower room for filthy dogs after their muddy walks
huge kitchen with sitting area looking out over the garden, underfloor heating
two sitting rooms-plus a study/snug-all need windows with window seats
attic rooms for storage- tall enough to stand up in , and with windows that open
shed with power supply
discreet bin storage area

I've just been reading a lot of this, some fabulous ideas.

OP, I have recently viewed several clips on YouTube that had good built in storage ideas, and also some ideas for creating a family admin point (a wall in our house). There may be some ideas you can use.

Easy access plumbing!! Previous owners plumbed all their kitchen and bathroom through the conservatory and then boxed it all in.. was an absolute nightmare lifting floors etc when we had a leak

My ideal would be a hot tub that came out of the ground, surrounded by our Conservatory, a bit like a thunderbirds thing haha

Lynne x

Ahhh that explains it. We have a plug socket very high up the wall in a bedroom and I've always wondered why it was there ! Getting rid of it anyway but that's one less mystifying thing in a house full of mystifying things. Sorry, I digress

Storage, storage and more storage. Hanging space in the airing cupboard for drying clothes, digital showers, utility room, larder cupboard with lights or if space allows then a real larder. Our house came with a butlers sink/drainer just outside the back door with hot and cold water. It's the best thing. I wash plants pots/wellies/garden stuff/veg/dog etc and it keeps all that dirt outside

I would love a giant porch where we could come in and dump all the muddy shoes and coats. Instead we have to bring them straight into the house and I'm always hoovering.

If you don't want to dry clothes in a bedroom, you could get one of those ceiling clothes horses on a pulley and put it in your utility?

Twice as many power points as you think, outside power and water, storage for the mop and ironing board (I forgot about this) lots of shoe storage.

Same @BeGoodTanya!

I thought it was a bit of a random rhetorical question to create a horse from scratch but my brain immediately kept in the swooshy tail.

A big boot room/back door dumping ground for all the bloodyvwellies football boots and garden crap that end up in a narrow corridor...
underfloor heating throughout
All plug sockets tobhave the usb pints too- we have these in kitchen and wish we did upstairs too
A decent drying rack space and ironing board space, it always seems to be up
A decent sized laundry cupboard, and washing chute to washing machine downstairs or upstairs washing machine space with dryer
Decent decent security provision- cameras outside and on entry points, alarms internally
Excellent fire protection and escape routes clear- even if just metal rope ladder affair
Door panels/provision for renewable energy source and super efficient
Good storage in all bedrooms, doesn’t need to be massive but well considered ie accessible
I’d max out ceiling heights
A kitchen which is super user friendly- not chosen when 9 months pregnant and just wanted house finished 😆

A “Sheila ‘s maid” @janetheimpaler