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.

Mud room. Place to enter the house and deal with muck on feet & things. Place to hang up wet things to get dry. washer-dryer could be in here, too, along with a sink hooked up to a hot water supply. Place to work on things like bicycle tube changes but in warm enough conditions not a freezing garage.

Separately- a cold pantry for things that don't fit in fridge but would be fine if stored in cold dry place.

Friends were going to put all their bedrooms downstairs (cool temps) and have living room & kitchen upstairs with great views.

Not dog people, but definitely have thought about wheelchair accessibility etc. DS will get his own loo/shower room, we are building it in to his bedroom, which is big. Definitely view of outdoors (fields of sheep, its a rural house) from bath, yes!

I second a laundry chute - my mother insisted on one when they renovated and it's great. I also really miss having a big laundry sink like they have always had.

It sounds like you've got the right number of living spaces planned for your needs. Personally my minimum dream is three separate non-kitchen living areas - a study and a music room as well as another ...

Good luck with the build, sounds a great opportunity.

Have one of the living rooms easily convertible to a bedroom in case of visitors, perhaps? For example I have a nice divan that looks like a respectable leather sofa but becomes a double bed that visitors have assured me is perfectly comfortable.

Apart from that, always more power sockets than you think you can possibly want, storage cupboards wherever you can fit them, and another vote for more than one bathroom/toilet even if there are only going to be two of you most of the time. Recipe for domestic harmony.

I have giant kitchen envy btw.

... neighbour built a house about 12 yrs ago & said it all had to (legally required) be designed to be wheelchair friendly indoors. Every door had to be large, including the bathroom door. Irony is that outside the access is just big gravel path. Not wheelchair friendly at all.

Free view aerial and wires into each room with a tv. Plug socket behind where the tv will be if it's going on a wall.
Same for wifi - have wires put in so you don't have poor wifi in certain rooms.

There is no garage but DH will have a large workshop at the end of the garden so any bike stuff etc can be done there...

Kitchen counter height is something to consider re wheelchair accessibility- my grandma was in a wheelchair and she couldn’t reach the back of the counters/back hob rings properly. My parents’ house was designed to be accessible and the doors were slightly wider I think and the light switches lower down.

oh yeah, I recall viewing houses (to purchase) and some owners would proudly point at the tv-access point in each room. They thought this was big selling point. Very important to some.

We smiled politely. We didn't even own a tv at the time.

If you have stone interior walls or the space is just plain large, then ethernet cable to a repeat router at far end of house from ADSL entry point might be good idea.

@pollyglot

We've just bought a house, lovingly designed and built by an older couple who now have to leave it owing to health issues. They thought of absolutely everything. A huge kitchen island, coffee making corner with dedicated sink, gigantic gas cooker, drawers everywhere, three doors apparently concealing cupboards, but when opened, reveal three actual small "rooms" - a utility room with beautifully designed shelving, a space complete with extractor fan for woks, and other smell-inducing cooking methods. Then a huge walk-in pantry, with tons of storage, and a door leading through to a laundry room with washer, dryer, freezer space, ironing station with hanging rails, and a sewing nook with drawers and cupboards, incorporating under-cupboard lights for fine work. A door leads out of the laundry into the garden and retractable clothes line. Last in the line of doors is a linen room..massive shelves that will hold every item of bedding and towels one could ever desire. In the linen room is a hotwater cylinder which can be solar, electric or gas. So beautiful, and I can't wait until we can move in-only 4 more weeks now!!

That sounds heavenly!!!

For me I would love a laundry room with indoor drying space
A boot room for all coats, shoes etc
A pantry
A walk in shower
A dressing room, so that your bedroom just contains a bed and bedside tables!
Loo on every floor
Lots of power points, you always need more than you think
Plenty of storage
A double integrated off the floor oven!
A double sink or sink and a half

Add power socket to your kitchen island. We do not have power socket and really wish we did. Lighting in any understands cupboards and walk in cupboards such as pantry. Spotlights in shower cubicles. Heated towel rails... especially to dry bathers after hot tub unless you plan in washing straight away? Hard water softener if you live in hard water area.

More plug sockets than you think you will ever need.

There will be 3 bathrooms, enough loos is a big thing for us! One with a bath, two shower rooms (one downstairs).

Yes, we think we will put a sofa bed in TV room so it can double as guest room if spare room is being used (have 2 adult DDs who are likely to visit regularly).

A big kitchen, all double bedrooms, a large entrance hall, a separate bathroom and toilet and a bathroom big enough for a chair.

DH was not convinced about a pantry but is coming round to the idea...

More storage! Our house doesn't have one cupboard in the whole house. Nowhere to hide stuff away, like the hoover or ironing board, the only "storage"'is the loft of garage.

Utility room which is a reasonable size.
I have a dc with sn and will live at home longer so maybe a bedroom and living room for dc at one end out of the way so dc can escape family life when needed.
A study.
Access from the living space to the garden.
Level access. I'm disabled so one level living. Walk in shower - make things easier for older age. Put in grab rails in the bathroom.
Living area separate from living area.

As someone with a rubbish, tiny kitchen - it would be a big kitchen with an island (with sink and storage in the island) and a huge American style fridge/freezer. I’d also have a utility room/boot room with all laundry equipment, which led straight out to the garden

I would have cupboards with electric outlets inside, so the rechargeable vacuum and other tools could be charging while stored.

Also a cupboard in kitchen where phones and other gadgets could be charging out of sight.

Electrical plugs in floor v wall is a good idea.

Kitchen cupboards so designed that there are no inaccessible corner bits that you lose things in for months.
Proper rail for tea towel and towel.
I wouldn't be without my utility room - brilliant for washing, dirty sink (ykwim), cat litter trays etc, away from the kitchen

Space for a fold down ironing board so I don't have to lug it into the kitchen when I want to use it.
Thanks a bunch op. You've got me really dissatisfied now!

Mum yes I hadn't thought about how the stone walls might affect the WiFi signal, need to have a think about that...thanks...

I will have a study, I wfh and have to have many remote/zoom type meetings (not just in the pandemic) so this is essential.

The raised, built in foot rest in shower, for leg shaving, is a good idea. Or a built in tiled shelf/seat at one end of shower stall.

Washing machine and drier not at ground level soon bending down to empty it. Possibly a laundry room upstairs.