If you were starting from scratch and buying everything new for your home...

[ShangPie]

Let’s say your house burned down and you had a fuck-ton of insurance money to restock it with appliances, furniture, bathroom sets, new kitchen... the whole works.

Dream items, wish lists, things you have and love and would 100% re-buy, things that were an absolute disaster and you’d never buy again.

What would you get?

Oooh following.
Miele appliances. Dyson cordless hoover. Le creuset cast irons pans/casserole dishes.
Some budget stuff is surprisingly good though. Our IKEA sofa bed was ten times better than the one we replaced it with that cost triple :-(

Baavet wool duvet

Oh this happened to us.

I didn’t replace all the kitchen appliances - electric hand whisk, toastie maker, popcorn maker etc etc which were gathering dust - instead I bought a kitchen aid mixer and a really good coffee machine, cupboards weren’t full of things I used once in a blue moon and we’ve had so much use out of the two things we did replace. I also bought one really good stoneware dinner service (not Denny) instead of random plates etc. All are still going strong 19 years later.

Because we were out of the house I lost “sight” of the room sizes so my new sofas were really too big for the room so we ended up replacing these more quickly than was needed.

Basically we bought much less stuff but much better quality.

Food ninja everything!

I had a total house makeover, built in hob, neff built in oven,Bosch dishwasher.
Got rid of loads

Dishwasher (I don't have one and really really want one).

Smeg fridge.

Dualit toaster and kettle.

A decent tumble. Mines a condenset one and it is shit.

Some nice plates. We got emergency cheap ones from wilkos and being stone wear I think they all have a chip somewhere

I want an amazing bathroom with a jacuzzi type bath, amazing needle shower with jets that surround and massage you, ambient lighting and a built-in TV. I wouldn't bother about the rest of the house and just live in there.

Quooker hot water tap. We love ours. We also have 2 dishwashers to save having a mountain of washing piled up whilst one is waiting to be unloaded.
I'd also have a walk in closet if I could choose.

A hand painted oak kitchen.

My biggest wish right now is a decent shower. Walk in. Plenty of hot water. Reliable temperature.

Good solid furniture. I sort of lust for my parents Oak dining table.

Custom built shelving/bookcases etc in other rooms. Elder DD has a fantastic built in wardrobe which I think would make a lovely little study for her, but the walls are curved.

I would replace my dyson chordless like for like, perhaps putting a second upstairs. I would also just replace my range master cooker - 5 ring gas hob, electric grill, 2 electric ovens - I absolutely love it.

Miele appliances in kitchen and utility (this is imagining my dream home - there is a separate utility!). American fridge freezer but also a separate chest freezer in utility or shed.

I would also get a kenwood chef again, or else the one on bake off with the glass bowls. But with more attachments (I have a blender and food processor attachments but there are some others I'd like in the catalogue). And a better storage system for appliances (including a drawer/segment for smaller bits and blades to be stored safely near the appliance itself). I think though that I would get a smaller slow cooker - it's great but I don't use it much as I got too big a size for our family so it needs more stuff in it and a lot more liquid.

I would love a proper power shower and either large walk in flat floor shower or fully open shower room with underfloor heating and heated towel rail (for just after showers) and decent fan system (to remove heat and condensation once my spa session is over). Also, double sink, plenty of counter space/decent cupboards for bottles and potions, and an anti-fog mirror and good lighting.

I agree that lots of IKEA is very good, some of the high end things but also some of the very cheap pieces too. DHs favourite chair is not available anymore so we'd probably get an Eames chair to replace that, but I have the standard bent wood chair with a leather cushion rather than the fabric cushion and I would get that again. And I love having a few folding kitchen chairs tucked away for spare bedroom use, extending our dining group in the kitchen or taking outdoors if we have more people than outside chairs.

Wood burning stove definitely would return.

I would probably buy a different bed as the mattress is starting to fail (over 20 years old now), but dd would want her IKEA bed replaced as it is (she's trialled a few mattresses to get her perfect set up).

Some of my things are irreplaceable- like my DGM's roasting tins and trays for baking tartlets. But I think it would be nice to put together a house in a coherent style and our current tastes (which have evolved over the years). And to get a matching set of tools for the kitchen, and well though out storage solutions everywhere rather than the mish mash that we currently put up with.

Good quality, solid wood furniture, preferably old. No crappy Argos bookcases that can't take the weight of books.

Good art, the right size for the walls. In decent frames. Most of our current pictures are in cheap Ikea frames and they look cheap. It really bugs me.

Neural coloured stuff. We decorated our first house in quite a colourful manner and while I've outgrown the style, the stuff is still around.

Less stuff. Fewer towels, sheets, dishes, glasses, candle holders, random decorative shite. Fewer small kitchen appliances. Fewer clothes; we all have more than we need, especially DH. I wouldn't replace all the sheet music, CDs and DVDs DH has stashed in the attic that will never be used. I probably wouldn't replace all the adults' books; they take up a huge amount of space and I'd rather just use the library. Kids' books I don't mind.

Basically, much less stuff, much better quality.

Ooh, some great ideas here!

@Jellycatspyjamas sorry you actually had to go through this - it was a flippant way for me to phrase the scenario.

Yy to upgrading crockery, pots and pans and downsizing the small kitchen appliances.

Keep them coming!

Every single light would be Philips hue and I'd connect everything to voice control, plus voice control curtains. Also smart heating and smart towel radiators.

If the shed has burned down too can I please have a keypad or fingerprint lock on that so I don't need to faff with keys?

@Jellycatspyjamas sorry you actually had to go through this - it was a flippant way for me to phrase the scenario.

It’s totally ok, it was a long time ago and I’m very over it now, but it was actually really difficult to effectively start all over again. There’s something very daunting about furnishing a whole house from scratch, rather than gathering things as you go but also lots of opportunity to not make the same impulse buys that don’t stand the rest of time. We spent the money on good quality furniture and appliances and still have them in good working order many years (and two kids) later.

My parents did this in the late 60s, having lived in married quarters all their married life, they didn’t own as much as a teaspoon! Dad negotiated a deal with the local department store that if they bought everything there they’d give them a discount.

My mum was treated like the Queen when she went in to choose everything - carpets, curtains, furniture and, of course teaspoons! Some of the Ercol furniture they bought now has pride of place in my home and my son’s.

I’d bring back BHS, and get their towels.
Denby crockery
WFM cutlery

This is all stuff we got as wedding presents 21 years ago and still going strong.

I'd also like to wire up speakers to every room so I can listen to my choice of music / radio or whatevr as I go around the house doing housework etc. Sick of having the radio on the telle in the living room, dab radio in the kitchen, phone for upstairs. And really good quality sound speakers too