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NWMR: What are your must have features in a new/future house?
Virgo17
member
in Working Moms
We are planning on building within the next couple of years so I'm trying to get my wish list together. So far, I know I want a mud room with storage, a large kitchen pantry, and I'm thinking about dual washers and dryers. The laundry piles up quick with 5 family members, plus towels, sheets, bath rugs. Is it frivolous to want two washers and dryers?
So, what are your must haves? And what are your dream wish list items?
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Re: NWMR: What are your must have features in a new/future house?
Large walk-in closets.
I also love built-ins (out last home had a huge bookshelf/storage along an entire wall and it was awesome; current house doesn't have that.
Oversized or 3 car garage.
My husband wants a built-in safe or armory room. There is a local builder here that has built them in some of his homes and we were able to see them at the parade of homes show.
My must haves or very nice to haves:
- a large walk-in closet
- large dual-head shower in master bath
- mud room
- paved area on the backyard (i.e. not just patio + grass)
- separate laundry room, NOT in the basement but away from bedrooms
- hardwood everywhere!
- eat in kitchen
- a separate bedroom for office away from other bedrooms
- kid bedrooms on the same level as master bedroom or above
- open floor plan for living areas and a tall ceiling in at least one shared room
I wish I had:
- a wider than regular fridge
- top of the line stove
- sub-floor heating (I really wish I had that)
- walk in close in kid's room
- energy efficient windows
- a pantry
- finished basement or at least a basement with installed along-the-wall-shelves, etc.
- a big bathtub
Nice to have but I could live without
- fireplace
- 3 car garage or better yet a separate shed (we're getting it now for the mower, tools, workbench, etc.)
- skylights (pain in the behind to repair)
That's all I can think of now.
We are in our forever home and it's nearly perfect (needs new bathrooms as they are circa 1990). What sold me on the house was the layout for entertaining... all the rooms need to flow together without being one big open space. I love that the master and 2 kid bedrooms are on the second floor with the guest being on the first floor. I love that the 3rd floor was converted into big game room so that kids stuff stays out of the main areas. I love that the kitchen was redone (not totally my style but very nice). The kitchen is literally the best thing in the house. I cook and entertain a lot so I love that it has 2 very quiet, efficient dishwashers and 2 ovens. I also like lots of counter space which it has. Nice built-ins everywhere.
I think 2 washers is overkill but 2 dishwashers is money.
The only thing the house is lacking is a good mud room. The garage is not attached but connected by a covered breezeway. And when you walk in the back door, you are right in the kitchen and eat-in area. I hate how things (shoes, bags, etc) congregate right there. So that would be nice if you are building from scratch.
I also think making sure you spend money on the things that are not seen but really affect life (good hot water heater, good HVAC system) is important. We all want pretty but function is important too.
Space for garden
Solar panels
Efficiency
White kitchen
Some kind of sun room for me and the cats to lounge, lol.
Deep sink
Tiled shower
At least two full baths
........,
Garage with storage
Outdoor living/eating space in the backyard
Large bathrooms
Not-too-dark hardwood floors (ours are very dark now and show every footprint and dog hair. Drives me NUTS)
Well this really depends. If we go back to the DC metro area, I'll will sacrifice house for commute and not be picky. If we can get out of NOVA then I'll be in house heaven.
Wants - Open layout with an office away from kids play area (work from home). Neighborhood with lots of kids, preferably able to walk to things.
Dreams - Mudroom, butlers pantry, unfinished basement, nice outdoor space and a great shower (I'm really waiting for the giant garden tub trend to end).
We built our house and customized everything.Our must haves that were on our list. We were able to make them happen and are very happy about it.
hardwood floors everywhere except bathrooms which are tile
energy efficient windows
spray insulation
front loading he washer/dryer on bedroom level
mudroom with large closet
large-ish with great reviews appliances
central vacuum system
radiant heat
finished basement
lots of storage in kitchen
large master walk-in closet
seat in shower
deep tub
keyless entry (can use keys if want to though)
generator that kicks on automatically
surround sound in ceilings
open floor plan
Things that are still on our list but we don't have it in the budget at this time:
paved driveway
fence to block annoying neighbors with their crazy dogs
finished basement (half way there!)
fireplace/woodstove
back deck
outdoor patio/fireplace
two car garage
One feature that I heard about recently that sounds completely amazing is some sort of building in vacuuming suction thing in your baseboards in the kitchen where you can sweep and just use your toe to open it and it sucks the crumbs in???? Has anyone seen this?
Also I always thought having the faucet above the stove to fill pasta pots would be really awesome.
We have this. It is part of our central vacuum system. We rarely use it though. We love the central vacuum system though.
Really you don't? We have dark wood floors and I sweep the kitchen two to three times a day with two kids one of who is a totally slob his food is always everywhere esp if I give him something crumbly like a muffin!!! Haha....I don't really want a dog but wouldn't mind some post meal crumb cleanup...
Must-have's we are putting into our house:
Things we wanted but aren't doing:
Building a custom home has been a lot of fun but also very eye opening. It is amazing how much a small "add-on" will really cost you in the end. We have been able to add things that aren't too expensive (like the wine fridge) but have had to limit some things that add square footage as that is what really bumps up the price.
*Walk-in pantry (we have one now in our rental and I LOVE IT)
*Double wall ovens
*Laundry room with big utility sink
*Formal dining room
*Office/den/guest room - so maybe a five bedroom house in reality
*Three car garage with workshop area
*Master with walk-in-closet and bathroom w/tub and dual sinks (I hate only having a shower and a single vanity in our current master)
*My biggest is that the garage is right off the kitchen. I hate traipsing through the house with groceries, garbage, and recycling.
Married Bio * BFP Charts
We are in our forever house (at least we intend it to be), but if we could build, I would want (different from what we have now):
-A true laundry room with enough space for washer/dryer, two drying racks, a utility sink, and all of our cleaning/utility supplies
-A true storage room
-No glass shower doors!
-Soundproofing in the floors of the master bedroom (guest room is below) and two upstairs bedrooms (kitchen and dining rooms are below), and in the wall that our master bedroom shares with the kitchen; maybe also soundproofing in the wall the the upstairs bedrooms share
What we have in our current (forever) house that we specifically looked for when looking for houses a few years ago:
-4+ bedrooms (master bedroom and one for each kid plus a guestroom)
-main floor master bedroom
-finished basement
-3-car garage
-granite/updated kitchen
-somewhat open floor plan
-low-maintenance floors
-fireplace (we ended up with 2 - one in main floor great room and one in basement family room)
A nice to have would be a 3-season porch/sunroom. Also, maybe the windows with built-in blinds.
Get the irrigation...growing the seed or maintaining the sod on a new house is misery esp if you don't have much shade or have tons and tons of shade...worth every penny.
We just built our house in 2012 and my must haves were:
Cape style home with front porch
4 bedrooms / 2.5 baths
Master on the first floor
Open concept in the kitchen/great room
Huge great room with high ceilings
Large walk in pantry
Large island with seating
An extra room or office on the main floor that can easily be used as a playroom
No separate formal living room (had no use for it in our old home)
Large master bath with jetted tub, separate shower, a separate toilet room and double sinks
Walk in closet for me and separate closet for DH
Dark hardwood floors throughout
Mud room with storage and a bench with hooks
3 car garage
___________________________________________________________________________
Trying for #1 since May 2010 l DX ~ Unexplained Infertility June 2011
IUI #1&2 = BFN; IUI #3 = BFP, m/c @ 6 weeks
November '11 ~ IVF#1 ~ ER 11/18 (29R, 17F) ~ 5dt of one beautiful blast on 11/23 = BFP!!
Beta #1 9dp5dt = 116, P4 = 28 ~ Beta #2 13dp5dt = 700 ~ Beta #3 20dp5dt = 9500, P4 = 26
1st u/s 12/27 - hb of 156!! EDD 8.10.12
**TEAM GREEN!**
Sweet baby boy born 8.18.12
Trying for #2
FET #1 - October '13 - c/p l FET #2 - December '13 - cancelled
l FET #2.2 - 1.30.14 - BFN
~ More testing - hysteroscopy, endometrial biopsy & more b/w - all normal / negative~
Surprise BFP while waiting on FET #3 ~ beta #1 500; beta #2 1600; first u/s 4/3 - measuring 5w5d, no hb yet!; 2nd u/s 4/10 - hb 132, measuring 6w6d - EDD 11.29.14
**TEAM GREEN!**
Beautiful baby girl born 11.24.14
This is a great question...
My dream house would be:
1. In a great school district
2. 4 bedrooms - all on the same floor of the house
3. 2.5 bathrooms - 1 would be a master bath, then the other full bath on the same floor as all the bedrooms. (We looked at so many houses where all the bedrooms were on one floor and shared 1 of the 2 full baths and then the other full bath was in the freaking basement...why would you have the second full bath in the basement??)
4. A huge finished basement ideally parsed out into like a playroom area and a storage area. Is there such a thing as a basement that has separate rooms?
5. Big laundry room - ours isn't big but it has tons of storage (cabinets, shelving racks, chest freezer) and it has been a godsend for us.
6. Fenced in yard with a deck.
7. Because I'm kind of a brat like that, everything would be pretty "new"--hardwood or hardwood laminate floors, stainless steel appliances, backsplash in the kitchen, cherry cabinets, granite countertops, etc.
8. Kitchen pantry, ideally a walk-in
9. Walk-in closets, at least in the master bedroom
Our house has maybe 40% of my requirements. And yet I'll probably never move because I FREAKING HATE MOVING.
BFP #1 6/28/11 ~ EDD 3/7/12 ~ m/c 7/15/11 at 6w2d
BFP #2 8/29/11 ~ EDD 5/12/12. 4/25/12: Our take home baby is here!
BFP #3 8/27/13 ~ EDD 5/11/14. 4/27/14: Our second take home baby is here!
On central vacuuming: I had this in a beautiful home we were renting. I hated it. I didn't feel the suction was strong enough for carpets or rugs. The hose was very thick and cumbersome.
On hating laundry: perhaps a laundry service would be more beneficial to you than a second washer dryer? Considering the cost savings of the units themselves, along with the water and electricity (or gas) savings, it might not be a bad ROI. Plus there is the time you would save. FWIW, all DH's work shirts are sent out for laundering and ironing. Everything else I wash, but I really don't want to spend my time ironing his shirts. Anyway, you can always try out the laundering service. Some even pick up/drop off! Otherwise let it be DH's chore to haul the bags to/from home.
We are building soon as well, so it is on my mind!
Mudroom and laundry room are key.
Also a dedicated office and a playroom (or area in finished basement).
Open concept living/dining/kitchen
soaker tub in master bath
would love a screened porch (we may not have room but it's a dream item)
walk-in pantry
extra fridge in basement or garage for overflow staples (drinks/butter/eggs/bread/etc)
fireplace with mantle
window seats
I agree with PP that two washer/dryers are overkill. Just get a large laundry room with large capacity washer/dryer. How often do you really need to do two loads at the exact same time?