Things you would NEVER want in your house:

[AlphaBravoHenryFoxtons]

I'll start.

A kitchen island.
A hall console table.
A corner sofa.
New rugs.

I am thinking of getting a plumbed-in Miele coffee machine.

www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/interiors/9839432/Everyone-loves-a-wood-burning-stove-but-are-they-bad-for-us.html

www.epa.gov/burnwise/pdfs/woodsmoke_health_effects_jan07.pdf

calmingmiranda if you can smell the burning wood then you are inhaling the chemicals.

Hmm. So essentially, at present, there is still no robust evidence linking woodburners to malignancy.
However, I suppose like many carcinogens- asbestos, tobacco, possibly mobile phones- there will be a significant time lag between exposure and an increase in cancers.

Border tiles. Especially mosaics.

Curtain tie-backs.

A pedestal mat.

Kitchen wall cupboards.

AphaBravo - please tell me about "new rugs" I understand all the rest (especially border tiles) but can't for the life of me understand your rug thing.

You can't normally smell the stove in the house. It's not an open fire. It's sealed and the fumes go up the chimney. In Cleanburn stoves, the fumes are burnt mostly off during the secondary combustion, which is how come you can install them in Smokeless Zones.

What is a pedestal matt?

And where do you keep stuff in the kitchen if it in a wall cupboard?

This thread is a bit strange -most posts just random lists without explaining why. e.g. OP what is so wrong with a corner sofa and NEW rugs??? and whats with mass hatred of wall mounted TVs? (don't have one, but may get one in future)

Modern furniture
White tableware, or anything that matches
Matching sets of mugs
People who expect to be entertained and waited on
Fitted kitchen units
cherubs, fairy lights, tea lights, scented candles
Fitted carpets
My neighbors
Net curtains
Microwave, blenders, and all other shiny "time saving" kitchen gadgets
Shower curtains
oh, and I hate new rugs too, rather have something antique and worn.

Thinking about it, if it isn't old, if it isn't either valuable, sentimental, or very beautiful, or very useful, it isn't getting over the threshold.

Can be quite revealing, threads like these huh?

Millie I had to read yours twice.

I thought you said Tories in the kitchen.

Lovingmatleave, my dislikes are all pretty practical reasons:

An en-suite loo DH is a smelly bastard and wouldn't clean it
An electric hob Can't get the hang of them, love the ease of gas
laminate floors dog can't walk on it, she skitters
Wooden stairs had them in an old house - too noisy
Wallpaper I don't like patterned walls because we have lots of pictures
Wood burner I hate the messy, dusty, not-as-warm-as-a-gas-fire bastarding thing

Well I imagine that we're all performing our identities through objects and symbols.

I am a thinking person, and here is my thinking cap; there is my thinking sofa and there is my thinking mat. [tongue]

Bath in the bedroom which they often have on grand designs. Horrible concept.

I love our woodburner - it absolutely belts out the heat. Our house is 17ThC very cold, very draughty and very large and our burner heats it perfectly. I'm wondering if you are doing something not quite right/it isn't set up right if it's ony as warm as a gas fire?

Lovingmatleave I don't like wall mounted TVs because of the crick in the neck business, I like the TV at eye level when I'm sitting down. I understand why people do it for safety reasons though.

MiniTheMinx I have to agree! Ours is definitely not an open house. It's a family home and I'm very selective about who enters. I do not entertain or wait on people!

It isn't so much that I mind people in my house, I will even cook for them. I just expect them to make themselves at home, not stand about like statues littering it up. If they can find the kettle and the fridge and just muddle in they are welcome. The neighbors aren't though! they are nosy.

Photos on a canvas. MIL have us one for Christmas. It's hidden.

I grew up in a house with old uncomfortable furniture and antiques that were neither use nor ornament. The house was dark and dusty and draughty.

As a result I like light, airy houses with fitted carpets in the living room and bedrooms, plain, light coloured walls so I can display pictures, modern comfortable furniture, fitted kitchen, two bathrooms, modern kitchen gadgets etc. To me a house should be comfortable and lived in, clean and welcoming and practical to suit our lifestyles.

Someone asked: why all the conservatory hate? Both DH and I loathe them, not least because they render one of your existing rooms all dingy and internal. And they're just horrible. Too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, weird looking. I honestly cannot see the appeal at all. I would not consider buying a house with one. Fair play if other people like them, but I hate them.

And, everytime is see one, I can hear my mother's embarrassing aspirational tones going on about how she'd love a house with a 'conservatoire'.

I love our conservatory. It doesn't make our living room dull and dingy. It was built with the house and looks like part of the house, not just an afterthought.

At this time of year on sunny days we open the doors between the house and the conservatory and the heat from the conservatory heats the house nicely.

We're staying in a holiday cottage at the moment. It is a veritable feast of anti-mumsnettyness. We have:

Corner sofas in black leather
Potpourri
Laminate and cream carpet
Kitchen island
Union Jack cushions, mugs and pictures
Jack Vetriano prints
Fake flowers
Random skylines and beaches
Cute quotes and sayings everywhere telling you what to do

Above our bed Remus there's a big Keep Calm and Carry On sign.

It's a beautiful, spacious house though, so these things are a little irritating but not really a big deal.

Pets
Bees and wasps and any other insects
Carpet in the bathroom

Roomforimprovement: people have been warming themselves by wood fires since the stone age. Is that enough of a time lag?