Must haves when house searching that I don't 'get'

[Greenlightredlight]

All open plan.
Why? Much nicer to have separate rooms where people can do their own thing, and to not have cooking smells invading the whole downstairs.

Kitchen Islands.
Usually just become dumping grounds for loads of rubbish and take up loads of floor space.

I wouldn't want guest watch me cook, either!

I think there's a compromise between all open plan, and lots of poky rooms. The houses I like best are ones where a couple of rooms have been joined to make a decent kitchen cum casual living space, but there is also at least one separate sitting room.

So in summary.... each to their own😀

Which could be the epitaph to (almost) every AIBU thread .....

I bought my house several years ago, first house, loved it, big garden and NEVER EVER considered wardrobe space like a complete ass. Several kids later and I have to store all my clothes and shoes in the attic. Always look at storage space.

the perfect use of a sedon reception room is as a craft/workroom for me.

Unfortanately it is not to be, but I do get to us eth edining room, and don't ahve to clear it all away, as the sewing can't be seen from the sitting room, and we have a table in the kitchen.

The thing I hate most though, is a house where there is nowhere to sit and eat. I find it really sad. No space for table, in a 2-3 bedroom house, so nowhere for a family to sit down. Or, if there is, just a thin breakfast bar. Not actually somewhere to sit where you can look at each other and have a conversation.

And I agree re guests watching you cook. I do not want them seeing the dirty pans piling up in the sink, or the sneaky microwave rice I'm using instead of the proper stuff, or getting a good look inside my untidy cupboards everytime I have to open them to get something out.

I wouldn't say no to any of the "extra rooms" that i don't have. I don't need them but would love a study, separate dining room, garden shed, garage and oooh I would LOVE a boot room!
I couldn't be without a laundry room, its the smallest and most useful room in my place

Our downstairs has two rooms with glass doors between which is perfect for us - one is a kitchen diner, the other a living room/playroom but you could swap the dining (was built as a living-dining room).
I also prefer a table and chairs or even a sofa to kitchen island with stools, bloody hate barstools - maybe cause I’m short.

I 100% love our decking though. We use it all the time in summer (even in the cold wet north). I’d have loved bifolds out to it but if possible but unfortunately it’s not level with the kitchen.

I won't buy open plan, it might work if you have children hurtling about and need to watch them but much nicer to be able to close the door and have privacy or warmth without heating the entire house. Cooking smells, yes, wouldn't want a kitchen diner either.

Period properties, I also agree, removing all the character is very sad, I look for character in a house and the current trend to sanitise houses to remove any hint of character makes me depressed, I love the quirky corners, ornate wooden bits, antique light fittings, tradesmen's doors, coal and wood storage, stables that have become garages, proper pantries with original cupboards. There are plenty or newer houses with the character already missing, pleased don't remove the history from a beautiful old home (that I would love to buy).

I know about the draughty windows and old nails and screws that rust away so that the entire window sags off its hinges, the mesh in the pantry wall that kept the food cool that lets in cold air, the old roof tiles that sometimes slide off and take your cat with them, but those roof tiles have lasted a lot longer than many of the newer ones. Interestingly also found that Edwardian drains don't block with cat litter in the same way as newer ones if someone decides to try flushing it.

I would go back to the last house I lived in immediately, for the character, the warmth and the quirks, if I could, and never leave it again.

Always look at storage space.

I couldn't agree more. When I had the chance to re-work the interior of our house, we put in lots of inbuilt storage space.

My 2 themes were light and storage.

one of the most under appreciated room in any house is the utility/laundry room.
very few EA wouls show it off or prioritise it etc, but a good laundry room can really change day to day life. I can do all my washing and hang it all out for sight in one room. I bloody love it.

echoes chocrock and dreams of a bootroom

I dislike the idea of "bringing the outside in" with those massive folding windows. Yuck. All that does is mean that you get lots of flying things in the house (and potentially animals too like squirrels). I prefer my outside and inside areas separate.

Sorry about the typos above.

I also want a large garden, I hate being enclosed. A small garden with fences or walls all round has no air. I need fresh air and a breeze, not a humid little square of nothing special.

A lovely old Edwardian home with a wrap around garden is all I need.

Yup, a bootroom is life-changing. Apart from the washing machine, we put all our shoes/boots, big bags and winter coats in there too.

And a veranda, sit outside with the choice of shade. hang the washing out at night under cover so that it gets the morning sun...

Plenty of room for bath and shower rooms, utility/laundry room, large cloakroom, huge cupboard by the front door.

I like the idea of a kitchen diner - that open planness of it is reminiscent of the farmhouse kitchen, which was the hub of the house... most of the family would congregate there in a really lovely, sociable way. It would be possible to have most of the family there at once, with someone cooking, someone cleaning their boots, someone doing their homework or scrapbook at the table, someone polishing the brasses on the dresser, cat sleeping in the inglenook...

In modern days though, you do need separate places where people can go to do different activities that create some noise, it would be bedlam if everyone was in the same room playing a computer game, watching TV, doing trumpet/violin practice, doing some research online, frying bacon... gaaaah

Tell you what, though, I've always hankered after having a booth, like in an American diner. I would need a large kitchen diner for it obviously. Padded bench seats that lift up with storage underneath, going round three sides of a commodious table. So cosy.

I definitely wouldn't want all open plan downstairs, discrete spaces are needed to give everyone a break from other people, if nothing else. Besides, open plan tends to be echoey as it goes with hard flooring, painted rather than wallpapered walls, etc.

Totally agree about the decking!!

We viewed a terrace house with a tiny 'garden' and the whole thing was just bloody decking.

The owner seemed really proud of it, as they had laid it themselves, I guess fair enough. But DH and I both said afterwards that we would take the whole thing out, didn't offer on the property in the end.

Also, my poor niece fractured her arm as a 3 year old when she totally wiped out her parents' decking on a rainy day. Needless to say, they got rid of it entirely pretty soon after.

Decking can just do one as far as I'm concerned

@steppemum

I am totally with you on the laundry/utility room!

Most people I know prefer a cottage-y feel and old fashioned or ‘character’ features and decor. I don’t get why it’s very popular.

I was so suprised on a thread about radiators, that almost every poster prefered those victorian type ones to modern ones.

I don't prefer a cottage-y feel. Hate beams on ceilings for instance, very claustrophobic to me. Any house I look at on Rightmove that has beams, I just really don't like

When I watch property programmes I can never feel the love for converted barns. They don't look the least bit cosy or homely or even that practical.

I don't mind beams but it is low ceilings I hate, which tends to go with the cottagey look. High ceilings on a barn conversion are lovely (but are probably a bugger to heat).

And I agree, low ceilings and beams are quite claustrophobic. Give me an Edwardian house over a picturesque cottage any day.

I like my kitchen dinner and the double doors to the lounge. When we have visitors open plan is brilliant, as everyone is together rather than shut into different rooms.

A must for me is a south facing garden and the kitchen at the back of the house.

I like my kitchen diner, even better than my kitchen dinner. LOL.