To ask: if you could design your house, what would be essential for you?

[theDudesmummy]

Hi, I know this is not really an AIBU, I am posting here for traffic, but I really would love some thoughts on this. Essentially we are renovating an old derelict stone house completely by ourselves, we have got to the stage where the roof is on and we can start to design the interior. It is basically just walls and roof at the moment, no plumbing, electrics, nothing. So we can put in anything, wherever we want.

The kitchen will be built on at the back, entirely from scratch, it will be big (40 square metres).

So we can put in absolutely anything we want, how we want. If you had the choice, what would you deem essential to include in your dream house. It may be relevant to note that we are older people (50s and planning to grow old in this house) and have only one child left at home, DS is 11 and has special needs (no physical disabilities).

I am looking for ideas not just about big important things, but maybe little features/lifehacks that people have put in their homes or would have put in if they had had this opportunity.

If this is intended to be your house for life, you might consider enough adaptable ground floor space for when you can no longer manage the stairs.

Yes, we are thinking of that, both in terms of ensuring a stair lift will fit and that there is an accessible downstairs bathroom...

Rainwater harvesting, solar panels for heating water (more efficient than the electrical ones so faster payback) heat exchange fresh air system. A dim light option in the bathroom so you can have a light without blinding yourself at night. Underfloor heating (water not electric).

Big utility room with hanging racks so you can hang laundry to dry rather than using a drier (much better for planet). A decent size coat cupboard so you can put coats and shoes away. Electrical socks in every corner of the room plus network points in case you gave wifi issues

I self-built my dream home. I haven’t read the thread but what i miss about that place is

• wet underfloor heating throughout
• solid walls absolutely everywhere inside and out. Great for thermal gain, soundproofing and hanging heavy stuff.
• tap and power points on all 4 outside walls
• greywater/rainwater harvesting that fed the outdoor taps and downstairs loos (had to sacrifice that to the budget but I really wanted it badly)
• built in vacuum cleaner
• drawers built in to the eaves spaces where they came down to meet the floor in the upstairs bedrooms (chalet bungalow style for planners)

When I dream about doing it again for my old age the buggiest additions are consideration of stairs, so space for a lift, or an actual lift, or stairs than can definitely take a stairlift. Also no random steps inside.

I am so envious! Enjoy your beautiful home.

When we did the kitchen we had sockets 1m apart, best thing we could have done.

At some point the rest of the house will be rewired and I'll do the same.

We've put dividers in our larger rooms creating smaller spaces, the dc use one for the xbox and I have one for reading.

Definitely a pantry, utility room and toilet on each floor. I would also like a space for hobbies. A boot room would be great for coats and bags.

A pot-filler. I only know I want this after watching too many Property Brothers episodes.

Hardwood flooring throughout for continuity. Underfloor heating. Gas fire. Separate laundry room. Walk-in closets. Spa bathroom off master suite. Built-in cabinetry in nooks for books.

I would make sure you got a shower / wet room on the bottom floor incase someone is sick or breaks something and can’t get upstairs easily.

People told me this and I put it in, but never really thought about it until I suffered a bad break. It was an absolute god send

Also, I have tiles on every floor. Even tiles that look like wooden floors in bedrooms. Not at all cold and so easy to clean / care for

A ground floor bedroom with a large shower room with a decent height loo for when your older (minimal steps or ramp access to the garden)

Kev needs to see this thread and Channel 4 need to film you as a Grand Design that mums would want!

A walk in pantry off my kitchen and a laundry/utility room

One of those laundry chutes from a small upstairs laundry cupboard that goes down to a utility area ready for washing, preferably behind a door so no laundry basket on display.

Plug sockets if you have a kitchen island or seating area

Outdoor warm shower attachment if you have dogs I think previously mentioned

Walk in power shower

Downstairs shower and loo as per another poster's suggestion

Two dishwashers, and ovens or aga if you entertain

Oh, 2 way switches for certain lights -
so top and bottom of stairs, for example, or either side of the large kitchen so you can turn on lights as you walk in from the dark hall or in the back door.

Outdoor lights that have motion sensors are great for when you get home in the dark and are trying to find the right key in the dark and the rain.

A cover of some sort at the door you normally enter by - an overhanging portico, an actual porch (with or without an external door), eaves that stretch beyond the wall, or even just a wall protecting the door from prevailing wind direction.

In line with others on future proofing etc, downstairs loo with a WHB and shower, but with a flat floor and a drain sunk into the floor for shower. Properly tanked for waterproofness.

Reading nook, with a useful light, small window if possible also, space for a comfy chair, and a table/shelf/nook in the wall as space to hold a book and a mug.

If cabling, def consider wifi needs and cabling that around the building, but also any satellite cables etc as well. And do you want any additional landline phone points around the house, whether now or just having the junctions to plug into at a future point (eg. kitchen, bedroom, study....)?

Waist height sockets are very useful in many rooms.

We have tiles in the kitchen as it gets very muddy (open plan room contains kitchen/dining/extra living space leading to garden), and both the utility cupboard and downstairs shower room leading off that open plan. Easy to hoover or mop frequently.

Wooden flooring in hall (fully wood, not laminate). Takes a fair amount of abuse also.

Rest of the house (sitting room, stairs, upstairs) is carpet, other than lino in upstairs bathroom.

Far prefer tiles to lino in the kitchen (we had very good lino previously but tiles are easier to clean and take more abuse). The wood can be kept fairly well, but needs a damp not wet mop so a bit more care. Carpet has been replaced twice due to stains over the years in sitting room, and on stairs, which went beyond rescue by shampooing ....nice underfoot but to be aware of.

Think about things like taps and fittings and whether you could turn them with arthritic hands/ reduced strength. We are just about to start an extension and thinking about this for DH who has manual dexterity/ strength problems. So tap controls are long handled designs that can be knocked on with edge of hand/elbow for example. He also struggles with integrated handles in eg kitchen doors, that are just a lip or groove, his fingertips don’t have the strength to grip and pull the door open.This might be a problem when elderly too. So we are going for handles, but picking carefully so they don’t catch on clothes or pockets (I’ve been caught up on door handles in our current kitchen).

Low level lighting that comes on automatically in bathrooms and toilets when natural light levels drop below a certain level. No need to be faffing about with light switches in the evening/during the night. We put this in our last house, we will be inststalling it in this house.

Most things seem to have been covered but I’d double stress getting more sockets than you ever thought necessary.

I’d also stress the value of pan drawers rather than cupboards under the work surfaces, I adore mine, I never lose stuff at the back. I use one for crockery with a couple of plate racks.

I also have a narrow larder pullout, bottom three shelves for veg, top three for oils, vinegars etc. (I scrounged an extra shelf).

LED lighting under the upper cupboards, it doesn’t generate the same amount of heat as normal strip lighting and should last much longer.

Good lighting above sink and the prep worktop area. I don't have cupboards on the wall there but a row of led lights you normally put on ceilings. Great, especially in winter

Huge, south facing utility room, with space for drying, ironing and folding clothes, and separate boot room.

A dressing room the other side of the en-suite, no wardrobes in bedroom

A utility cupboard, upstairs - close to dressing room for ease

Kitchen and living open plan living area as I find really sociable

A study for tv watching, cosy with books etc

A drive that is close to kitchen utility where freezers and dry stores cupboard is - for ease of inliading

Solar and storage battery, rainwater for toilet and washing machine etc

One thing that I love is having a big sink. We got it because of AGA trays etc but it is very convenient on a daily basis and I miss it when I am at other houses.
In an ideal world I would have a utility room that was a pleasure to be in with plenty of hanging space, another big sink for laundry, flowers, dog washing etc. I wouldn't mind if it was for dirty boots etc as well if there was dedicated space for them. Dogs could potentially be shut in there when needed out from under foot or wet and muddy.
Outdoor tap front and back and electric point.
Enough cupboards to be able to find things as pps have said eg 'best ' crockery, fish kettle type things.
A large airing cupboard to use as storage for towels, sheets etc.
I like to eat in the kitchen and am not wedded to islands but we have extra deep work tops so that might be why.
I love our aga but probably wouldn' put one into a new house for 2 radon's, firstly because on energy use grounds they are not great and secondly new houses are so well insulated that I think one would get very hot. Plus I would be having our drying airers / Sheila maid in lovely utility room so wouldn't have be using the Aga for that reason.
I would like my own reading room/ library/ study with sofa and window to beautifully cared for garden!!

Love this!