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)

@LaurieFairyCake Yes!! I hate bifolds too - they’re so overdone - every house seems to have them - and I think they will date hugely too. Keeping things appropriate to the age of the house is the only way to go in my opinion. Glad to have found one person who agrees with me!

Dream house would include:

Period house with plenty of beautiful original features but all mod cons.
Detached, with plenty of space and quiet, safe neighbourhood. Situated in a beautiful old university city, and preferably within walking distance of a nice local!
High ceilings, big windows and big rooms
Square rooms rather than long narrow ones
Big kitchen diner with separate formal dining room
Big utility room
Absolutely nothing open plan!
At least 2 bathrooms or bathroom plus shower room. Ideally en suite for us, en suite for guest room, and big family bathroom with underfloor heating for DCs.
Wooden floors
French windows leading on to a medium sized sunny, secluded garden (not overlooked by neighbours and without access to roads so DC can play in it unsupervised).
At least two reception rooms. Ideally separate formal drawing room, sitting room and library.
One bedroom for every member of the house with at least 1 guest room (ideally 2)
And if I could have a pleasant annexe or granny flat for elderly DM while I'm at it that would be great.

I grew up in a house that had many of these things, though plenty of drawbacks to it too, and I miss it. No idea when we are likely to buy our "forever home" and I'm sure we'd be lucky to get half the things on that list, but I enjoy daydreaming about it.

We’re planning to move in about 15-18 months time so dh and I are refining our wish list.

So far we’ve got detached, 4-5 bedrooms, big kitchen-diner, utility room, garage or equivalent for all dh’s bikes and gym stuff, space for office, decent-sized but not ridiculously large garden, views, either period or well-designed modern house, ideally self-contained annexe (it’s quite likely that ds2 with ASD will be living with us for the foreseeable future).

Not bothered about ensuite bathrooms (never really seen the appeal) and hate bifold doors (when we had our kitchen done here we had custom-built French windows going out to the garden which I think look much nicer and more in keeping with the style of the house)

My dream forever home?

Triple aspect garden E S W.
Big kitchen diner living.
Separate living space.
Utility and boot room.
Downstairs loo.
Shit loads of light. Loads of sunshine. Big windows everywhere.
3 doubles. 1 ensuite one Family.
Master bedroom with dressing and en suite off the dressing.
Warm climate.
Short commute to work.

The last two are mutually exclusive right now!

Not period but a modern ‘architect designed’ house with higher ceilings than the modern new build norm.

Very warm in winter and cool in the summer, under floor heating, upstairs laundry room and downstairs utility, en-suite and walk-in wardrobe, plus one more bathroom and downstairs loo (can't stand cleaning bathrooms, so wouldn't want too many), 3 reception rooms, very large kitchen/diner, wood burners, lots of natural light, detached, shops and train station within walking distance, plenty of space to park.

I wouldn't want bi-fold doors. Surely you must get a lot of insects and occasionally birds and mice coming inside? I'd be put off buying a house with a swimming pool either inside or out.

It would be a classic looking house that would look stunning in Christmas with all the windows covered in huge wreaths 😄

It would have a real fire (have electric now, not the same...)
One room for each child (sharing=constant fights)
An island in the kitchen and a breakfast area with a corner bench
A massive garden full of beautiful trees, loads of roses and a hidden door leading to a magical looking "secret garden". For the kids 😁😁
A utility room. I detest having the washing machine and tumble dryer in the kitchen 😝
A walk in wardrobe/dressing room
A really glamourous bathroom just for me! (one can dream...)
Slate floors in the kitchen, I find them a dream to clean.

Mine would have staff who do all the housework, shopping and cooking while I'm asleep and then fuck off before I wake up like little eves.
I'd swap an ensuite for that.

Ours is as close to our perfect home as we're going to get.

4500 sqft
Open plan downstairs,
5 bedrooms all en suite and all with walk in wardrobes (hanging and shelf space and floor-ceiling shoe racks)
Front of house office space for me (I work from home)
Huge fireplace
High ceilings
Walk in pantry
Upstairs laundry room
Eat-in kitchen & separate dining room
Covered patio out back with sofas, speakers and fairy lights
Outdoor pool big enough for lengths
Separate self contained guest house in back garden with full bathroom and kitchen
Located half a mile (walking distance) from shops, pubs, restaurants etc

We live in Texas though and you do get more for your money....

@BradleyPooper as soon as I started reading I thought surely not in the UK!

If it wasn't for the lack of holiday allowance or the work/life balance in the US being worse in the industry we work in than it is in the UK, we'd have moved over several years ago. Very jealous, especially if you live anywhere near Waco as I'm obsessed with the Gaines and all their programmes/ shops.

RoryandLogan, there are houses like BradleyPooper’s in outer London. Just a case of having 3M to buy one.

Walk in pantry
Hall with space for bench/bags/boots/kids so we are not all falling over each other every morning.
Garbage disposal (have one now and love it)
Boot/utility room
Big live in kitchen with bifold doors onto garden.
Separate living room with wood burner.

@RoryAndLogan We are about 3 hours from Magnolia at Waco but they've done a huge range of homewares for Target, which is about a mile from us and compulsive buying....