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.

AND there's an acre of land, with dozens of olive, banana, orange and lemon trees, figs, apples, pears, feijoas, and a pergola covered with grape vines. A designer chicken hotel and run, the size of a small house- fresh eggs! You can tell I'm excited! Good luck with your plans-I can recommend all of those kitchen features!

Large cellar, coal cellar for smokeless coal, walk-in larder, boot room, walk-in linen cupboard upstairs, tall cupboard for cleaning implements upstairs, utility room for laundry with a couple of industrial-sized sinks, ironing board with all the gubbins for sleeves etc. stationary as built-in, not the flipping flippant kind , and an extra fridge for drinks, etc.
Log burners in all downstairs rooms, proper wooden shutters for all windows.

I’d have a laundry chute from the bathroom(s) direct to a hamper in the laundry/utility

A pantry

Sockets at tv height so there aren’t any wires trailing from the TV. Same for any speakers you plan to have.

Nest/Hive smart heating

Underfloor heating

An “insink-erator”

A separate drinks/sauces fridge

Tiled cubbies in the shower for storing shampoo etc. No rust etc. On a hanging one or leak risks from drilling. Similar for my foot when shaving.

The bath shelf turned into a cupboard so I can store cleaning products/extra loo roll in ordinarily wasted space.

More plug sockets than you think you’ll ever need including pop up towers in the kitchen bench tops.

Our lifestyle is that we very much live in the kitchen, so that is the main room really. The existing kitchen has only one tiny window, the new one we will build will have big windows, French door to garden plus skylights...

Yes to the hot tub and BBQ! That is already factored in! We have used an inflatable hot tub for several years in rented houses, now DH will make a fibreglass one fitted into the decking outside the kitchen door...

Forgot - butler's pantry for all the crockery and silver sets and candlesticks etc. etc. that only come out when entertaining on a larger scale, all the silver-cleaning stuff, etc., and stuff that has nowhere else to go. Big deep shelves all around and a work table with good light.

100% it would be access from outside to a coat and boot room. All shoes, boots and muddy crap to go no further. My actual hallway would be a beautiful, clean and uncluttered ode to joy.

Actually my DB has a ski chalet with exactly this set up and it’s so useful yet obvious I’m puzzled as to why it isn’t incorporated into many new builds or conversions. Especially when children and dogs are concerned. Or men like my DH. I’m perfect, obviously.🤣

I have a laundry room next to the bathroom. It’s really useful BUT, carrying a full washing basket downstairs to hang on the line is a bit perilous.

I don't really have any things like silver candlesticks! For us large scale entertainment usually tends to mean a big BBQ! We will have a big decking area with retractable roof over...

The idea of a lift is something we have thought about, in that we will ensure there is sufficient space around the stairs to put in a stair lift...

We did some redesign of ours... Some things that I'm glad we did or wish we had done:

• storage near door for coats, boots etc. At front and back door.
• think light and space in every room. Maximise Windows, think about velux and light tunnels too.
• when designing the big kitchen, think about how you cook, mime it in the space to see where things should go (DH thought I was nuts, but it worked!) Remember small things like where will the bin and kettle go.
• don't sacrifice utility space if you can avoid it.
• for utility, think about where clothes baskets etc will be, not just the appliances
• if you can find space for a small storage room, do it, SO helpful.
• more sockets than you think you need. Ditto network points.

Double sink in kitchen
Separate utility room
Down stairs loo
Cat flap
No island in the kitchen I have an real hate for them!

Walk around the shell of the house before you do the electrics. Where you turn one light off you may need to turn another light on (bottom of the stairs ect). Have two different set of lights in each room, side & central for living rooms, bright and half dimmed for kitchen if that's where alot of time will be spent
Have a coat /boot cupboard with a light and horizontal poles to hang coat hangers on. Hooks will just damage the coats if over loaded
A completely separate laundry room, with a sink, away from the kitchen, with a laundry maid Make it a proper room, you'll use it
Check your staircase will be able to accommodate a stair lift in later years, some designs can't
Double sockets everywhere

Utility room with external door and floor drain (ie tanked) and retractable shower hose for dog washing.
Floor to ceiling glass sliding doors in lounge and dining areas.
Japanese bath in bathroom looking out onto garden.
At least two full size kitchen sinks.
Underfloor heating and backup radiators.
Halogen cooker and gas cooker (with wok burner).
Tonnes of built in storage.

My parents built a house that is wheelchair accessible downstairs so that it can be adapted as they get older. Has been brilliant recently because my mum had an accident and couldn't use the stairs for a few weeks but was able to come home because the house was easily adapted to her needs.
The main thing is an accessible downstairs bathroom and a spare bedroom or adaptable reception room.

Separate laundry room with washer, tumble dryer, massive sink and space for drying racks/pully.

Fireplace with wood burning stove.

Kitchen big enough to have a decent dining table.

Mud room/entry way.

En-suite shower room.

Oh and more plug sockets than you think you will need. And USB sockets in bedroom and kitchen. And dimmable lights.

Think about your lifestyle rather than what you can fit into the house. For example if you prefer to watch tv in the evening you don’t need a massive sitting room but if you live entertaining you need a kitchen/diner/entertaining space. Prioritise what you actually do in your spaces, rather than what you think you should have.
But do have downstairs loo, utility room/boot room, outside plugs and taps! Lots of storage. I like built on interior shelves at the bottom of windows for photo frames, candles, plants!
It sounds a wonderful project, enjoy!

Yes, there will be a downstairs loo/shower room (atm it's the only loo in the house! We will get rid of existing loo of course, it's about 60 years old!)

Utility room and in the dream scenario a downstairs wet room with an outside door for ease of dog washing.

If you live in the kitchen will you actually use two living rooms as well? Maybe one of them is better off as a downstairs bedroom (with en-suite) unless you have one of those planned already?
I’d also make sure DS had his own bathroom so you don’t have to share with him during his teenage years
I wouldn’t get wood burners/multi fuel stove as they are really bad for your health. I love the idea of a reading nook though, you could get some lovely built in bookcases.
A tall cupboard for the ironing board, hoover, broom etc with those clips so the broom isn’t always falling over!
If the walls are stone you might also need to think about WiFi boosters to make sure you get signal in all of the rooms.

If there was space I'd design a layout that was wheelchair friendly - wide doorways, space on the stairs for one of those chair lifts, easy access shower. Just so if one person had an accident/illness it wouldn't mean having to move house or then have part of the house not accessible.
Also, a decent sized utility room. Drawers in the kitchen rather than cupboards, and/or a pantry.

Yes also to downstairs bedroom (will be the spare room)

A large porch - so you don't have the wind and rain blowing straight into your home whenever you go and answer the door. My ex drives me demented standing on the doorstep - he knows full well the house is getting freezing cold 😡

I’d love a central staircase that sweeps both ways at the entrance.

I’d love a towel warmer drawer in the bathroom

Lots of storage, especially at the entrance for shoes and coats

Separate guest room with en suite.

Utility

Walk in Larder

Walk in wardrobe so all clothes are available at all times (no seasonal shuffling!)

Hive/nest system
Kitchen- dining space with lots of storage
Utility room
Downstairs bathroom
Plenty of storage upstairs - we've moved from a house with loads of built in storage to one with none and it's driving me crazy having no where to put things!