What's on your 'forever home' must have list?

[RoryAndLogan]

I spend far too much time daydreaming about when we move to what will hopefully be our forever home in the next 4-5 years (don't have the money right now to afford what we want, and DC are still tiny so hoping to be a bit more settled first).

Ideally we'll build from scratch or do a full renovation if we can get the key things we want in. My list so far is below- what would your must haves be for a forever home? Inspire me/ critique my choices/ point out what I'm missing!

Open plan kitchen/diner/living area with an island that has those snazzy holes straight into the veg bin to drop your potato peelings in
Bifold doors onto patio area and garden
Separate snug/living room to hide away the gross plastic toys kids adore (or keep as an adult only space)
Utility room/mud room
Master with walk in wardrobe and double sinks in the ensuite (no beard hairs in my sink thanks)

Utility room
Pantry/lada
Garbage desposal
Boiling water tap
Double oven (gas)
Kitchen big enough for a big table
Separate dining room
Converted basement for all the kids' crap.
Ensuite for each room
Master bedroom big enough for a sofa.

Mini library/reading room for me with: window overlooking garden/mountains/lake/whatever, old record olayer, small heater, wooden globe that opens into a cocktail cabinet, luxurious fluffy blanket, sound-proof walls.

Indoor pool, big.

No neighbours for miles.
A driveway of at least 1 mile.
Ancient trees in the grounds, full of crows and magpies.
A tower.

The opposite of yours

No open plan, no bi fold doors, no big kitchen, hate ensuites

What made my list was:

Very high ceilings
Very quiet
Lots of loos
Efficient heating
Good original features
Beautiful fireplace where I could have an open fire for snuggliness
Lino (amtico) flooring so easy to clean
Thick walls so can’t hear outside noise

I bought all that last year (finally!) Got 3 loos.

@elQuintoConyo I thought a tower and heated pool were givens hence left off my list...

@LaurieFairyCake anything in particular you hate about bifolds?! I've never heard anyone say that didn't want them!

And no ensuites?! Surely having a private bathroom nobody else can walk into/wait outside of and is 5 foot from your bed is the best thing ever, how can you live without one?!

Hooray for getting your forever home though!

I’d love to build a Potten home. We have a show street quite near by and the houses are just so beautiful. The sticking point, as always, would be purchasing the land.

Bifolds - too much light and heat (I live in London)

Ensuites - peeing or worse near where I sleep - yeurgh!

I don’t have children at home any more though so all the loos are mine

walk in pantry, upstairs laundry room, garage attached to utility room plus many of the things already mentioned above

I'm about to move into mine! When it's all finished... It has:

It's detached
A big driveway
Big hallway
Separate play room/their own space
Large open plan kitchen/diner/front room with space for a large table and sofa and has an island - my ideal kitchen with oak work tops
A utility room
A downstairs loo
A garage/workshop for DH tools
Big garden (one day it will have a pool)

4 good size bedroom (1 ensuite) 1 is an office
Balcony/roof terrace
Bathroom with roll top bath

Argh! Can't wait!!

LauraFairyCake your home sounds like me dream home for all the same reasons. Where do you live?! and does your house have a sister?

Oops sorry saw you said you live in London, that's the only bit that wouldn't be my dream!

@Mayhemmumma it sounds dreamy!! Congratulations and enjoy it!

Are you sure Ovarina - I live right near a massive park (Greenwich) with this view - it’s pretty nice

We are in our forever home. It’s pretty much perfect for us.

Detached
2 acre garden
5 double bedrooms (1 each plus spare)
Study
Ensuite to master bedroom - absolutely essential for my happiness!
Playroom/den
Big kitchen with room for large table
Oak framed triple garage
Small gym

I adore our house. It needs some remodelling but haven’t quite the cash for that right now.

The only downside is a shared driveway with two other neighbours. This hasn’t been a problem but I can see it would be if you don’t have a good relationship with your neighbours. I wouldn’t buy another house with that set up just in case it proved to be an issue.

Laurie your views! I'd live in a Wendy house with an outside lav for that view!

5 bed detached house with:

• Large utility room where I can leave the ironing board set up all the time and still have space to move around.
• Pantry or larder, with enough bench space & electrical sockets that I can bake in there.
• Two living rooms - one for us, one for the children, with fires.
• A large linen cupboard.
• Laundry chute from upstairs to utility room.
• Integral garage so I don't get wet going from car to house.
• Large garden with fruit trees and plenty of space for vegetables, flowers and children to run around.

Detached
No public buildings next door
No ungated amenity land next door
Quiet
Lovely views

We had a long list and got most on it:
-detached with a decent garden and drive
-3000sq ft+ that can be adapated to suit
-large windows and lots of light
-S or W facing garden
-on 2 levels
-quiet location with trees & bird song but short walk to amenities
-convenient for central London, some hills and the beach (all well under 1h :)
-super safe with excellent state schools

Compromises made:
-would have loved views (only got some similar to Laurie’s in the distance visible from upstairs)
-high ceilings and period features (the house is 1920’s so pretty characterful but not a patch on on Regency or a Victorian Italianate villa which would have been my top choice).

We live in our forever home. Have to money to move up the ladder but this house just works so well for us and ticks all the boxes that we just don't want to leave.

It's a 3 bed townhouse over 3 floors, the things we love are kitchen with enough space for a table to eat at, a small garden (i hate gardening), downstairs toilet, loads and loads of built in storage, all the bedrooms are a really good size and easily fit double beds, parking for 2 cars plus plenty of space on the street to park for visitors, big windows letting in masses of light, walking distance to town , it needs very little maintenance .

Vaguely realistically:
big kitchen diner
Drive for 3 cars
Mid -sized garden with space to grow veg, patio, lawn, space for a play house, climbing frame and mud kitchen
4 good sized bedrooms
Utility room
Larder

In my dreams:
An indoor pool (Perhaps with a retractable roof for good weather?)
Playroom
Library with those ladders on wheels
Lots of lovely Victorian features

We live in a Georgian house in zone 2 London. I love everything inside the house, all the original features and the proportions in the rooms. We also have a very decent garden. Compromises are that we do get some road noise (as expected when you live centrally) and we had to spend a lot of money (6 figures) bringing the house up to modern standards of living with regards to heating/electrics/windows etc. We had to adhere to strict conservation rules and everything was bespoke so it cost £££. It also costs a bomb to heat and all the fireplaces are draughty

Once kids leave home, we’ve decided to downsize to a house under 2000 sqft, it’s too big for two. I’d love to go super modern, maybe even a flat!

My esentials were pretty small and I am now in my forever home (wahoo)

1. Detatched - after years of living with loud sex neighbours this was a must!
2. Garage for storing stuff like Christmas Trees, lawnmowers etc
3. Driveway for two cars
4. Two proper double bedrooms for us and any guests plus a coulpe of smaller bedrooms for our hobbies etc
5. Big enough garden for a dog to have a run around but not too big as to be a pain to look after
6. Kitchen / Kitchen diner separate from the living area

Whilst its nice to want a lot of stuff such as utility room big enough for washing machine, fridge, freezer etc I'm a realist and know that we would have got there too late in life for it to be worth it so we went for the must must haves and found our house pretty much right away

We've just moved in and got the following:
Everhot range
Larder
Boot room separate to utility (don't understand why you'd combine mud with laundry in Idealworld!)
Upstairs utility with TV for ironing!
Separate play room
Downstairs WC/cloakroom

Didn't get:
Boiling water tap (just couldn't justify cost)
Has some street noise

We are currently looking we would like/need

4bedrooms
At least 1.4 acres
Room for 16/17 bicycles
Veg garden
Space for chickens
No houses too close
Something for DP to take a sledge hammer to and remodel
Home office
Workshop
Space for or already have range cooker
Fireplaces

We're in it pretty much now but we will have to downsize sometime. All I'll really insist on is a view and large rooms.

Detached with decent sized garden
Large open plan kitchen/dining room with separate laundry room
High ceilings
Decent sized ensuite that doesn't feel like a shower squeezed into a bedroom cupboard
Spare double room with ensuite for visitors
Separate family room for kids to hang out in
Small study
Good school catchment

I got 3 of those in our new house!