What would or wouldn't you have in your dream house?

[MrsMcTats]

After looking for a new house for several years, we're coming to the conclusion that we may have to build our own. I find this quite terrifying as we have zero experience, but the thought of having exactly what we want (within reason) is very exciting.

I prefer character properties, so would love to build with reclaimed brick and would want it to feel solid and like it had always been there. Wide window sills, oak staircase, hard-wood floors etc. A timeless design that looks beautiful, but is very functional too. We have 3 DC so it needs to be hard-wearing.

So, let's pretend money is no object...help me build our dream home! What elements do you have that you love? Is there anything you regret? What brands would you recommend?

@Puffinhead I have always wanted an obscene hallway with an antique round table and vase of flowers

@vinoelle Great advice on the roof. Would definitely want this.

@user1497787065 I suggested maids quarters 😂😂😂

I forgot THE most important part!! A BAR!!

Mine would have a housekeeper who cooks.

A slide between floors. I've always wanted one 😂

DH wants a home cinema (when we win the lottery).

I want huge kitchen/diner/living area with another totally separate family room and also a separate lounge (more formal).

LOTS OF LIGHT. Garden/rooms onto garden to be south facing. None of this North Facing crap where the kitchen is -10 even in the heat of summer.

Proper sized hallway where you can actually hang coats, great people, store school bags/other shit.

Proper study for both DH and I.

Big bedrooms for all family members, big spare room with en suite bathroom for guests and a second spare room for general use eg kids having sleepovers, guests bringing kids etc.

Gorgeous garden and swimming pool (which I'd like to be heated using solar power) with a gardening service to do all the work.

Utility room and pantry.

Small enclosed courtyard to one side of the house for sunny but not warm days with lots of pots (also probably looked after by my garden service).

In a more realistic world, I just want a decent sized hallway, reception rooms and kitchen that are big enough to fit more than just me and the DC (eg big enough to actually seat our family and close family for Christmas at one table), a spare room and a utility room (even its cramped and ridiculous).

I love my separate dining room hate open plan.
Love my pantry.
Would love a utility room and downstairs toilet. We have two bathrooms but none on the ground floor!

Ive always wanted a laundry chute. So a utility room with a laundry chute and dumb waiter (to get the laundry back up again!)
A pantry with stone floor and marble shelf. Shelves all the way up to the ceiling so no space is wasted

A staircase with slidable bannisters . Im imagining a smooth curved downward sweep - no knobbles! Ending in a beautiful hall with tiled flooring.
Storage everywhere! No point in a beautiful space burind under toys or clothes.

I would have the kitchen on the front so I could sit in my living room and have French doors on to my garden and not have everyone gawp in as they walked by

Definitely no swimming pool - if living in the U.K.

AstroTurf is a disgusting invention and should be banned

Otherwise our house is not posh but fine for us, no pool, real grass

I’ve also put in a separate wine and drinks fridge with glasses shelves above in the kitchen so you can pour yourself a drink whilst cooking....

A huge hallway.
Utility room upstairs
Lots of light
A huge garden that takes no looking after

Bungalow (dislike stairs)

1. 2 big double bedrooms
2. Study
3. Guest room
4. Sofa dining bench (I have the same in my 2 bed flat)
5. Separate kitchen (I hate open plan )
6. Utility
7. Jacuzzi bath

We're lucky in that our house ticks most of our boxes. Our teens have large double bedrooms and share a bathroom. Our bedroom is also large with a good sized en-suite. I have my own dressing room/boudoir which is fantastic. We have two sitting rooms downstairs and a large dinning kitchen and large utility so we can never crowd each other, even during lockdown, which is lovely.

But I would love a Scandinavian style garden room opening out from the kitchen and I really want our garden professionally landscaping so it's understated and stylish with a vaguely Japanese vibe. Unfortunately DH can't see anything wrong whatsoever with our dull dull dull lawn and boring borders

Items I wouldn't thank you for are:
Hot tub
PVC conservatory
Boiling water tap
Granite worktops
Bi fold doors
Decking
American style fridge
Really huge open living kitchens with actual sofas in them. Had that in the last house and turns out no one ever wanted to chill out in the kitchen because it's just not that cosy.

I almost have my dream house so if I could magic a wand over it I would make these changes:

Detached!!!!
Bigger larder/pantry cupboard
A second room downstairs for office/library
Larger kitchen open to dining room with big glass doors to garden
Separate lounge
Keep my downstairs toilet but a bit bigger
A bigger bathroom so I can have a stupidly bug walk in shower

A cool pantry
A library
Wide windowsills you can sit on/ put plants or books on
Lots of natural light - skylight above the stairwell if necessary to let more in
A square tiled hallway with a plant stand
A herb garden, a vegetable plot, lots of roses, jasmine, honeysuckle and other scented plants
Chickens

We did a big renovation of our house and the things we now have and love are...

Utility room
Laundry chute from bathroom to utility room
Downstairs loo
2 living rooms, one for teens
Log burner
En-suite x 2
Dressing room
Pantry/larder
Remote control blinds in bedroom
balcony from bedroom
Big bifolds
Loads of plug sockets
Underfloor heating
Powerful showers
Power supply down the bottom of the garden with outdoor sockets

It's my dream house now and I can't imagine living anywhere else. Sadly might have to sell it due to Coronavirus related financial hit!

Would have: Grand Piano

Won't have: Visitors

Defo a south facing garden so the sun is always in your back garden I love plants so I would have a greenhouse build onto the house I would love a secret hideout room too xx

Gonegrey31
I'd love a laundry shoot from upstairs to my utility room.
As we are in the process of digging out the basement further I am putting a fireman's pole from the kitchen to kids play room and a slide down the slide of the stairs.

An American friend of mine has his and hers ensuite bathrooms, dressing rooms as well as a study each. I would love that too.

I love our double double (two double mattresses) four poster bed (not so much on bedding change day).
And our jacuzzi corner bath.
And our real fire.

Would love sofas in kitchen, and a new kitchen preferably in pink, but can’t be arsed with the work involved in ripping old one out right now.

Would love a utility room/boot room for dirty smelly dogs to dry off, but house too small.

You have so many of the things I would look for but I'd add:

Design as though you might end up in a wheelchair - wide doorways, two cupboards on different floors that could be converted into a lift, no step doorways, downstairs room with ensuite or easily accessible bathroom
Sizeable walk in showers in any bathrooms - and allow for a large bath rather than a shower over the bath
Natural light and an openable window in any bathroom and the utility room
Lots of accessible cupboard space, everywhere, including under the stairs
Pull out drawers and larder cupboards (we have both in kitchen, utility and bathroom here)
Have an openable window in any room where you have outward opening bifold/French doors - when it gets windy, you may not want to have them standing open
Think about outdoor electricity (lights/external sockets), even if you don't install it yet, put in cable ducting
Think about furniture sizes when you're designing where windows/doors/radiators will go, also if you've got large artwork
Leave enough space behind a door to fit a bookcase or console table
If you're building a garage, leave enough space to be able to open your car doors fully
If you build a double garage, make sure you don't design it with a door that's considered extra large as the price ramps up significantly

Something else I put in is an electric charging point in the garage and one on drive for cars .
Good point about wheelchair accessibility, have also got water supply in big walk in downstairs utility room and floor drain so this could be converted into a downstairs wet room / bathroom . Staircase would take a stair lift too if needed .

A good big kitchen!

Absolutely sick of stupidly tiny, badly designed kitchens! Feel certain they are designed by men who spend sod all time in the Kitchen!

Well equipped too - huge American fridge/freezer, dishwasher, concealed bin, plenty of storage space, plenty of counter space. Space for a decent sized oak dining table to seat at least 6 for having people over. Good sized cooker too, halogen hobs, fan oven, eye level grill (yea I know no such thing but I can dream)

My current kitchen even putting the dishes away after washing is like playing sodding crystal maze or X factor! Can only open certain cupboards/drawers if everything else is closed, shelves in upper cupboards are too high and hard to reach (I’m 5’2” so not especially titchy)

Does my bloody nut in!

Meanwhile the living room I barely use (immediately neighbouring kitchen could easily have been designed so more space given over to kitchen)

I’d love a proper utility room with laundry stuff separate from cooking stuff. Washer, dryer, plenty of storage.

Ditto bathroom. I also hate the toilet being in with the bath/shower. Now I have ocd which is part of it but also it was really annoying when dd still lived with me to either have to ask her to go loo before I was in Bath/shower or have to rush washing so she could use loo. We had one place that was separate loo/bathroom (but sink in loo room) and that was much better but I’ve found few places have this layout.

I’d love a good big bathroom with a double bath with jets, comfy pillow etc, a separate modern shower, preferably one like my very wealthy friends have, you can easily fit up to 3 people in it, it’s voice controlled, you can set temperature preferences for each person, lighting preferences, pipe music directly into the cubicle and when you’re done it air dries you! It’s fucking amazing!

Large sink/vanity unit with well lit mirror

Other than that I like huge windows, but as money no object rather than curtains/blinds I’d have smart glass windows, voice controlled for clear in the day and privacy settings at night. Including patio doors onto a lovely big garden.

Decent sized windowsills for plants and ornaments.

Good quality, easily controlled heating/air conditioning.

Big comfy living room with recliner sofas, large tv, good sound system, large real fireplace just for the cosy factor and the smell.

A study/library bedecked in polished walnut shelving, filled with classic and other favourite books. A classic roll top bureau kitted out with longhand writing materials. Plus a 2nd modern desk kitted out with the best in modern IT for writing in hopes I’d finally be inspired to finish all my half written books. A comfortable chaise longue for reading.

A large bedroom with a king sized bed, perfect lighting, tv screen that comes out the bottom of the bed frame and speakers built in at the top end (yes it’s naff but I still love it), fully fitted mirrored wardrobes, an en suite style dressing room with proper dressing table with well lit 3 way mirror, slots for holding hairdryer, straighteners which are wired in, walk in closet for shoes, bags and accessories.

A huge garden, including a heated indoor pool. In the garden proper a decked area for seating and bbq and a lawn, raised beds for easy growing of herbs and vegetables and borders filled with colourful flowers (probably need a gardener for these as I’m rubbish with decorative plants), comfy loungers on the lawn, a summer house for reading and chilling out.

I’ve just built a new house and put in a laundry chute from the family bathroom down to the laundry room . Hope it appeals to future buyers ! I totally love this idea! However, my place will need to be all on one level as I’m already disabled and likely to get worse as I get older. Same is true for dd and I’d love to be able to pass on an appropriately adapted home to her.

I'd have a large enclosed porch at the front with a big coat cupboard and hidden shoe rack. stealing this one too, though I also love the idea of a traditional coat rack and umbrella stand.

Garage with automatic door, with a connecting door in the side of the garage into the house, often seen on USA tv/film. Why we don’t have this here in Scotland as standard with all our rain I don’t know!

“You have all omitted the cleaner that isn't you to clean and tidy all these rooms!” Oh no! I was coming to that!

I’d definitely need a cleaner/housekeeper and a gardener cum handyman for everything from changing bulbs to keeping the pool clean and working.

But I haven’t thought about it much...