What 1 thing would you want in your dream house?

[Egog]

DH and I just bought our forever home, it's in our dream location, lots of space, huge garden... but it's falling apart. (The only way we could afford to buy here!) We've got a wonderful builder on board, and we've renovated before, but I wanted to canvass opinions- if you were taking a house back to its bones, what would you include when you re-did it?

It's a 5 bed Victorian detached with all the original features, albeit mouldy and crumbling. I can't wait to renovate the huge old windows, DH is excited about installing a kitchen island. I'm after inspiration- what would you be most excited about putting in?

Oh yes and a walk in wadrobe

Michael Fassbender.

I would want:

A room big enough to chuck all shoes/coats in (have tiny cupboard that's overflowing)

Utility room (one end of my kitchen is overflowing with laundry)

A family/play room

A library/grown up room where no sticky fingers are

Dressing room with walk in wardrobe
Decent sized utility
Big hallway with a fabulous staircase

A huge utility with space to dry stuff indoors, iron, store wet coats and boots, leading out to an outdoor clothes line (maybe covered so you could dry even when drizzly).

Massive airing cupboard upstairs.

A snug type little room with a log burner for cosy evenings round the fire with my knitting.

A big hall with a seat and a cupboard for shoes and coats.

A mechanical heat recovery ventilation system- gets a good exchange of air around the house without losing too much heat. Means the air always feels nice and clean and gets rid of damp air so it's healthier.

Zoned central heating, maybe heat pump type (don't know much about them though).

This is what we are having in our new home, so no slidey stair fantasies but a more modest reality:

Downstairs:
utility
Boot room
cloakroom
A wide entrance hall
Open lounge/kitchen (with a large island) and dining space
Fireplace

Upstairs:
Study
Library
Guest bedroom
Master bedroom with walk in dressing room and ensuite

Throughout:
Underfloor heating
Engineered wood floors
New roof/boiler/internal doors/insulation/lighting
Glass staircase

We are fitting it all in about 2200 sq feet so its bijou, but there's only two of us so it feels just right. Plans are being drawn up now so I don't have any sage advice on actually building any of this

I adore my massive living/dining/kitchen.

Oh and 2 ovens.

I also appreciate lots of storage and space for a piano.

I would love another bedroom. I wouldn't mind if I never had an en suite but I would like another shower.

I'd also like a little seating,play and study area attached to the kitchen so the kids can get on with stuff whilst I cook.

Oh I forgot there's another bathroom upstairs, not just an ensuite (which would be weird..)

We had to knock down the back of our house-on-a-hill and rebuild to get level floors for wheelchair-bound DH. The bits that have pleased me most -
TWO walk-in floor-to-ceiling shelved cupboards; one with cold slab as pantry, all food stored here, the other for pans and all kitchen hardware so no scrabbling about in cupboards

Light pipes in ceiling for poorly lit parts of rooms

Everhot cooker (no gas here, very flexible always on but v easy to switch off)

Body drier in wet room (saves on washing towels as well as being fantastic for man clinging to zimmer frame with no hands spare to use towel).

A roll top bath

Decent size walk in pantry and utility room combined.

Decent storage/built in cupboards etc.

(Our last house was nearly 100% perfect, but we had to move and I really, really miss the storage - but we do have separate his and her bathrooms and I have a walk in clothes cupboard ).

Ok more useful; the bits we love the most-
Teen room -furthest from our bedroom so no noise from sleepovers!
Study/playroom I use for my job, dc for homework and hobbies,
Huge kitchen diner with sitting area and which leads into the conservatory-great for parties, living room separate.
Good sized/shape utility room with separate entrance stores all the boots and wet weather stuff/dog stuff and still room for laundry appliances and ironing and extra fridge.
Boarded out loft with easy access- keeps all clutter out of sight. Big bedrooms with loads of storage and one with walk in wardrobe.
Lovely big main bathroom with storage, bath and walk in shower.

Some good ideas on here. I particularly like:

First floor laundry room (though we hada a twonhouse years ago and the washing miching we ordered was not suitable for anything other than a ground floor) Also, there have been times when we've had to put stuff on the night before it's needed. I couldn't imagine a 1600 rpm machine going at full title whiclst you're trying to get to sleep.

Turning the smallest double into a walk-in wardrobe for every room other than the master

A boot room (I'm astounded that our house doesn't have one!)

If I was going to have anything at all......it'd be an indoor pool - or more sensibly an endless pool with a sauna/steam room

Honu never knew that there was such a thing as a body dryer....that would transform our household!! - I have 4 teenagers who shower 2-3 times a day each (after getting up, after sport and the before bed) they dont get that habit from their parents.....can you tell me which model you have an why?

I am a firm believer in LOTS of functional utility rooms in the background - which are well equipt, well lit and in the right place to keep rest of the house running smoothly.

In my dream house I would have:

1. A cloakroom off large welcoming hallway - for visitors & family.

2. And a side boot/mud room with shower and washing machine No 1 for running/cycling/sports/post holiday laundry and sink with hand shower to wash dogs. Hooks & shelves to store all sport & dog related kit.

3. Upstairs laundrette for washing machine No 2. this would be massive and central with every bedroom leading directly into it. Loads of remote control glass velux windows in a pitched roof with sheila maids hitched up to dry clothes up high. Bank of wardrobes for every family member so no need to trawl around the house putting clothes away in bedrooms! Ironing board always up. Main aim is to get everyone responsible for their own laundry from start to finish (have 4 teens).

4. 6 en-suites all with body dryers - one for each of us.

5. Upstairs cleaning store/utility room for hoover, mop/bucket, cleaning stuff etc as well as months supplies of loo rolls and tooth paste.

Not sure I get the pantry thing - why you need to go into a windowless room for supplies? But I do like the floor to ceiling visibility and organisation so would install floor to ceiling cupboards in kitchen - one each for

Food
Cleaning equipment (same as upstairs)
Crockery and glass
Kitchen gadgets & cookware

A pantry isn't necessarily windowless. All the ones I've seen have had small windows (north facing), the exceptions have been butler'so pantries where glassware is kept and some of those have been windowless.

I'd love a proper pantry - somewhere to keep things cool that a fridge would be too cold for. And a downstairs utility room as I line dry whenever possible (so laundry chute also sounds like great). Definitely a boot room/decent sized cloakroom too.
Not too bothered about ensuite as we've never had bathroom clash issues and I hate cleaning bathrooms!

Yes to pantry. The first house I remember living in had one - long narrow room with shelves all down the sides and a massive marble slab at the end. That has a tiny n-facing window. Didn't really need a fridge except in the hottest weather.

A sunken spiral wine cellar. Totally unnecessary, but on my dream list <a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=PsiiVPzmIYfdas-2gJgP&url=m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DIuIbsTuKFuI&ved=0CC0QtwIwBA&usg=AFQjCNFiFAyJHiyWTxqyJ3S2DP83WxOKJQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=PsiiVPzmIYfdas-2gJgP&url=m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DIuIbsTuKFuI&ved=0CC0QtwIwBA&usg=AFQjCNFiFAyJHiyWTxqyJ3S2DP83WxOKJQ

Big big kitchen we can eat in - table for homework, chatting, sitting at while someone cooks etc.

If poss big enough for TV/Wii as well.

We have this actually so I know I would prefer it over separate dining room or extra living room all day long.

Huge utility room to organise: laundry, boots, waterproofs, sporting goods, car washing kit, shoe polishing accoutrements, etc.

I too need to know about this body dryer please!

A utility/laundry room
A family/playroom
A big kitchen/diner
A view I can love

We put in our body-dryer nearly three years ago. Hot air comes out of the holes in the vertical tube. Noisy but works well for us.

ensuite

larder cupboard, bigger walk in coat and shoe cupboard. more cupboards generally