<p>My H and I have an opportunity to build our dream home. This will be the second home that he and I have built for us to live in, but he is a development professional so the actual building part is not an issue at all. I was the project manager for our current home, and as I like to say – I know where <em>all</em> the bodies are buried on this property!</p>
<p>We’ll be building one of his company’s production homes and I will have the opportunity to tweak, not the design, but the details. We have picked out the actual model – and I am looking for some ideas. I will be working with one of the color selections offices on my finish choices … and I know upfront, granite countertops, second upgrade cabinets, ceramic tile floor for kitchen, bath, and sunrooms. I forget which brand of kitchen appliances – but I won’t have a choice of brand. </p>
<p>Basically, I can have anything I want as long as it’s a standard option for the house. Or if it’s something I feel really strongly about and want to do all the footwork and instruct the trades on what it is! </p>
<p>When I built our current home 17 years ago, I know there were a bunch of things I would have changed. I don’t remember them all … and I don’t remember where my notes on them are either! So … CC friends … what would you change about your current home if you were starting from scratch.</p>
<p>My list includes … more outside lighting. Bigger garage. Exterior door from garage to side yard. Higher ceiling in basement (taller foundation). Covered front entrance. Oh yeah. Where it’s carpet …no white! Tile backsplash. </p>
<p>Storage and easy to clean would be my mantra. Also I would consider planning for aging if you are going to live in it a long time. I remember some books I got from the library about smart design you might get one of those.</p>
<p>I would want a pantry area so I could shop at BJs or the like and have a place to pull all those bulk purchases.</p>
<p>I would also think about layout in terms of visiting children and grandchildren – ideally two sleeping and bathroom areas so that the young folks could have a separate area from the old folks.</p>
<p>ok so I missed the not so much tweaking with the design- but interior courtyards so cool, bring the outside in, as much as possible.
Also light switches- each end of halls or stairways.
closets with solar tubes/windows
built in bookshelves
outdoor kitchen
laundry chutes
doors to close off kitchen- don’t like " open floor plans"
I like nooks & crannies- which is why we still live in a really old house- about 110 yrs old which from the outside, looks like it did in 1930</p>
<p>Larger window in our hall bath (I stupidly listened to the builder who said the one I chose was too big).</p>
<p>Solar something.</p>
<p>Geothermal</p>
<p>Low maintenance YARD (we have a huge high maintenance yard now)</p>
<p>A laundry area large enough to have a folding surface either a counter or a table. And a place for the ironing board to permanently be…yes, we iron still.</p>
<p>Pocket interior doors wherever possible. I hate swinging doors.</p>
<p>We in the middle of a major renovation on our house. We have a master on the main but it’s right off the kitchen and we are moving it to the other side of the house. Too much noise when you share a wall with the kitchen!</p>
<p>So…we get to design our master bedroom, bath and closet. Here’s what we are doing:</p>
<p>heated floor in bath (relatively inexpensive to do, if done during construction)
A second hand-held sprayer in the shower
A hand-held spray on the garden tub (in addition to the spout)
Lots of recessed lights, 6 scones and a chandelier and rope lighting by the toe-kick under the floor cabinets
Glass doors on the shower
A built-in bench in shower and several niches for shampoo, soap, etc.
Large tub with an in-line heater so the water doesn’t get cold while you’re soaking (no whirlpool)
Pocket doors to the bath so as not to take valuable wall space (also to our closet)
Tiled shower and marble counter-tops and bath surround
Built-in laundry bin
Several outlets near my vanity area</p>
<p>Also I had them make the entry to the shower wheel-chair accessible and they are reinforcing an area in the shower so we can put a grab bar at a later date if needed (planning on ‘aging in place’ !)</p>
<p>Master bedroom-
We are having recessed lights installed in there because it’s getting harder to see as we get older. :)</p>
<p>We are also having them add extra insulation on the interior walls to muffle sound in the bedroom. I’ve discovered that one of the disadvantages to having a master on the main floor is noise can be an issue. A master on the main needs to be as far away as possible from the kitchen and family room.</p>
<p>I’m also having undercounter lighting put in my kitchen as well as more recessed lights in the kitchen. We have tons of hundred year old oak trees in our yard, so natural lighting in the house is limited.</p>
<p>We also switched to a tankless water heater for the whole house (note: tankless does not mean instant. You still have to wait for the water to go through the pipes. It’s just that you don’t run out of hot water - even when it’s being used in several places in the house at the same time).</p>
<p>Phase 2 of this project will be converting current master bath into a laundry room (I currently have a laundry closet. It’s an old house) and the current master bedroom into a large family room. Would also like to open the kitchen up a little more into the family room.</p>
<p>cnp55, we just finished our second nest home. We implemented lots of the ideas already mentioned. Ours is to eventually be our retirement home. </p>
<p>With that in mind we opted for: </p>
<p>One story house, only one step up to front porch</p>
<p>Levered door handles</p>
<p>Separate hot/cold handles for bath/kitchen faucets (easier on arthritic hands)
a walk in shower with no ledge to step over and a built in tile seat(will be wheel chair accessible if ever needed). </p>
<p>Three foot wide doors on our coat closet and linen closets make access easier. </p>
<p>We have two pocket doors, one in the master bath and one in the laundry room. </p>
<p>A screen porch off the living area…use it all the time. Two ceiling fans make it cooler in the summer.</p>
<p>In the kitchen, the sink is in an island that looks out to the living and dining area.
The granite counter top is all one level rather than the “bumped up” bar type ledge. It just gives us a lot more usable space. It’s much easier to sit and eat at that lower level. I’m glad we did it.
The island is a different color(green) than the cabinets (antique white).
Undercabinet lighting with light rail attached to cabinet that hides the lights.</p>
<p>Wood shelves in the pantry (hate the wire ones in our current house).
Lights in the pantry and bedroom closets</p>
<p>Energy efficient windows that tilt in. Ceiling fans in all bedrooms (we live in the south. it’s hot).</p>
<p>Sconce lights on either side of our bed for good reading light. </p>
<p>Planning all natural yard. Don’t want to spend retirement mowing the lawn.</p>
<p>DH had the great idea to put in a single garage door for the basement entrance on the back of the house…great for moving big stuff in and out.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone …you are reminding me of all the things I promised myself if I did this again (aside from “my next house will have a gym” which is another story!)</p>
<p>PackMom …that’s the idea. It’s a beach / weekend / vacation home for now, and also a landing perch between my H’s two offices. Still commutable to my work. Eventually we think it will be our retirement home. I’m getting the first floor master, a second first floor bedroom, a first floor study, laundry room, and probably two sunrooms … one off the master and one off the kitchen. Sunroom perhaps a misnomer as they will face north and be under a stand of pine trees.</p>
<p>There will be a second floor …because it’s not so much $$$ for us to add, and we need the extra bedrooms as our resale hedge. Also room for the kids to visit … there will be lots of room up there! Not sure if a basement will work on this lot … but we are planning for it.</p>
<p>EK … I love courtyards and if this was a Florida house or a Vegas house or a California house I’d get to choose one of those plans. In New England, we don’t do the courtyard thing so much … and it will look like a New England colonial from the outside. The current lot we are thinking of is actually in an historic district. The two twin sunrooms to the rear will leave a potential patio with a courtyard feel between them I think.</p>
<p>My list would have no carpet–just really nice hardwood floors, tiles in bathrooms. Lots of closets, decked out with shelves and drawers. A laundry room with a sink, folding surface and drop down ironing board. A big garage. Have fun, and good luck.</p>
<p>Just saw that it’s a beach place. Then, an entrance directly into a bathroom with a shower, or better yet, an outdoor shower that can lead into a bathroom or a mudroom–keep the sand off your floors.</p>