Furnishing a house from scratch

[comeondover]

Inspired by a current thread about lovely timeless things, and a couple of recent ones about beautiful pasta bowls and wallpaper for the downstairs loo.

Imagine you're furnishing and equipping your home from scratch. What would you buy? As this isn't real, budget doesn't matter. What are your must-haves or really-wants?

I'd like wooden loo seats. Somewhere I visited once had an antique mahogany one that was very wide, it felt bizarrely decadent. My bottom has never felt so generously accommodated.

Bedroom curtains must have blackout lining. Maybe shutters or blinds for downstairs south-facing windows.

I'd like a titanium frying pan. Does anyone have one? Are they as amazing as the marketing suggests?

I have a lot of floor to ceiling bookshelves. Would like some beautiful old library steps, but any I’ve seen at auction I’ve been outbid for. And a big ornate 19thc French mirror for over the fireplace, dripping with gilt swags.

Given in my imaginary house I'd have room for a 3 seater chesterfield rather than the 2 seater we do have, that. In oxblood to match the club chair I do have.

A tiled victorian floor in the hall.

A Hepworth in my massive imaginary garden. Hey, a girl can dream.

This is making me think it might be fun to have a doll's house because you could decorate and furnish it over and over again. This has never crossed my mind before. I'm definitely an adult. I was given one for Christmas as a child, just after my I-want-the-Sindy-dollhouse phase had blown over, and I pretended I was thrilled.

@SingingHinny both of these sound heavenly

@murasaki thank you for bringing in the garden. Yes, absolutely, sculptures. And an orchard (mainly apples) and a herb garden where I will grow all sorts of things and turn them into teas and tinctures etc in my fantasy apothecary, which has shelves of brown glass bottles with white labels on.

I did once have a Victorian tiled hall floor. It looked great but was cold underfoot so I put a rug over it

I still have a the dolls house my lovely neighbour made for me for my 5th birthday, I’m 60 this year. I plan on making that a project to refurb one day when the body is a bit more knackered.

I would have a Chaise Lounge in my own personal dressing room, plus a library with a window seat overlooking a pond and walled garden.

Custom made bookshelves - with a ladder.
Reading window seat (obviously with proper insulated windows so no cold coming in) - looking out to my garden

A sofa which is neither to soft nor too hard, no leather but lovely soft fabric. I hate sofas you need a lift to get out but I just can't seem to find anything.

A bathroom big enough for a large shower, free standing bath which looks out to the garden, plenty of space for lights, a tray for wine and a book.

A laundry room equipped with:

A drying rack with hoist and open windows.
A pull down ironing board at the right height (most too short for us).
An out of season clothes cupboard.
A laundry chute on one side from the family bathroom and the other side from the ensuite.
Washer
Dryer

There would be cupboards that opened on the laundry room side, and on the bathroom side, so fresh towels etc could be put in the cupboards without being carried around.

Everything would have a lovely copperplate label for what went where.

I'd have to live alone for this to work though, I can see my husband spoiling my lovely set up.

@TheNinkyNonkyIsATardis I can see you've put a lot of thought into this!

Sometimes I think it makes sense to have a laundry room upstairs but not so much if you do a lot of drying outside

Pics and links welcome. This is the titanium pan I have my eye on. It's wildly expensive but I'm drawn to the promise of properly non-stick with no coatings at all. Can anyone confirm it does what it says?

I lived in a maisonette with an upstairs kitchen next to a small bedroom we used as a walk in wardrobe.

Trust me, having all the machines on the same level is awesome. Laundry took 10m. 1m into the machine, 1m into the next machine, 8m sorting directly into storage. Which is why I added the option for a fully ventilated rack that you could expose to the fresh air on the outer wall.

I'm making notes. I'd love a window seat @reluctantbrit but I don't have any bay windows

Sounds like a lovely project to look forward to. You don't have to be knackered though! What a nice neighbour to make it for you

So maybe a fantasy master suite would involve an extra room - bedroom, generous bathroom for big shower and freestanding bath (another thread today has strong support for bidets too), dressing room plus laundry room. I know in some other countries they put the washing machine in the bathroom but I reckon that would kill the vibe of a long soak in the bath

Imagine you're furnishing and equipping your home from scratch

I don't need to imagine because this is my actual reality! Not the unlimited budget though!

DH and I moved from a flat to a large house and very little of our original furniture we wanted to bring. (Wrong size, falling apart, given away, left in the property etc). Watching this thread with interest. 👀

A free standing bath with a view out of a window into a beautiful garden.
A window seat.
Walk in pantry
Large utility with lots of storage space, pull down ironing board, a tall cupboard for my vac, mop, steam mop etc.
Two dishwashers.
Full height wall cupboards in the kitchen with a library ladder so I can reach the top shelves