<p>light switch inside and outside - door going into garage
use wasted space under sink - and put shelves on each side
place in kitchen for office stuff/ bills/computer/ etc
trash in drawer or cupboard
recycle center in kitchen
think about new flat screen tv’s and putting cable drops/ electricity/ fiber drops
you can also tile with smaller grout lines - makes them walker/wheelchair friendly
if you have a pet - a doggie door that is automatic/ and built in dog kennels
built in ironing board in laundry room
pull out shelves in kitchen cabinets/ maybe lazy susan in corner cabinets
warming drawer under oven
water spout over stove top for filling pots/pans
intercom system/ with radio/ or mp3 hook up
The blinds that are “inside” the windows - don’t have to clean
Rounded corners - makes such a difference and a very cheap upgrade</p>
<p>Install base cabinets in your kitchen with drawers only, no doors. It will save a lot of groping around, crouched on the floor, and it one step less than the sliding shelves.</p>
<p>My one fantasy is to someday have an interior courtyard with a single tree. Glass sliding doors all around.</p>
<p>all rooms with a ocean view, on top of a cliff with beach below…or on top of a mountain with ski slopes to your door.</p>
<p>300 amp service box. A 20 amp breaker for each room.
Solar Tube skylites.
Solar Tube atic fan.
Natural air circulation in the summer. A high window and low window that opens. One room that is 2 feet higher than the other rooms to collect the summer heat and a heat trap for the winter.
Grapes.
Good neighbors.</p>
<p>A place to store my broom, mop and vacuum that is convenient. A broomcloset is what my mom used to call it. Central vac. An out of sight place place for the trash can…one of those cabinet slidey-things with separate compartments for trash and recycle. A trash compactor. Single height kitchen island, preferably at regular table height. A vegetable sink. A deep kitchen sink. A single grate stove top with lots of BTU’s. </p>
<p>Instant hot water…the tankless water heaters sound neat.</p>
<p>Way more outlets and insulation than the builder thinks necessary. Heated floors would be nice.</p>
<p>Interlocking paving stones instead of cement. Tired of the cracks.</p>
<p>Patio covers made from synthetic material, not wood. Tired of painting the darn thing every couple of years.</p>
<p>A whole house fan. Sucks in the cool air in the evening while forcing the hot air out of vents in the attic/roof.</p>
<p>Good luck…you are living my dream. Can’t wait to finally get it right, although I don’t know if that is every REALLY possible when building a home. :-)</p>
<p>Do you ever get power outages? If you do, put in a natural gas-powered standby generator (or at least pre-wire your house for easy generator hookup). Here are some other ideas:</p>
<p>Heated floors in kitchen and bathrooms.</p>
<p>Epoxy grout and tiles that do not need sealing. </p>
<p>Dual shower in the master bath. </p>
<p>Lots of storage closets.</p>
<p>Guest bedroom that fits a king size bed (so your guests can rest well)</p>
<p>Soundproof walls in the laundry room</p>
<p>Stone deck with aluminum railings (no wood!!!)</p>
<p>oh, almost forgot the deck…we have galvanized steel pipe railings but the best thing is to have all rails on the horizontal rather than the vertical that you see on most wood decks. Our house is on a hill overlooking the river. We wanted to be able to see the great view. With horizontal metal railings you can see right through to the view unlike the vertical rails which totally block the view. </p>
<p>Like someone else mentioned…a portable gas generator for power outages. </p>
<p>Electrical outlets on porches</p>
<p>Pendant lights over kitchen island that use regular lightbulbs you can buy from the gro. store rather than those tiny bulbs you have to make a special trip to Home Depot for (and they’re more expensive). I got some great ones online fr. Lighting Universe. </p>
<p>Poang chairs (with the basket weave nylon seats) fr. Ikea for the back porch(or sunroom in your case). They are ridiculously comfy and look great.</p>
<p>Two things I like best about our current house - one geeky and one old fashioned…</p>
<p>Geeky - I wired the entire house for ethernet. Ran Cat 6 cable from every room to a single cupboard in the office where I have a ethernet switch to tie them all together along with a cable outlet and a phone jack. Yes I know the world is going wireless - and I have a wireless network as well - but this serves as the backbone, tying all of the wireless endpoints together along with shared printers, network storage for backups, etc.</p>
<p>Old fashioned - I am a book lover and collector - so I took a small bedroom, soundproofed it, and then install floor to ceiling bookcases on every wall. Add a window seat big enough to settle into along with a couple of chair and you have a instant library (and refuge from the rest of the world when you need it)</p>
<p>scualum - a library is the only thing I really really want in my next house (if I ever get one!) Floor-to-ceiling bookcases and a big comfy chair. That’s all I need.</p>
<p>My recommendation would be a handicap height toilet at least in your master bath. Those extra inches sure make it easier on your knees, especially those middle of the night runs when your body hasn’t warmed up!</p>
<p>Radiant heating. No more tile floors in my kitchen - probably will do cork. Mud room. Stairs located off the front hall instead of off the living room. (At least current house has a front hall!) Ground floor master bedroom if not now, at least easy to switch to one in the future. An entry door that doesn’t require multiple steps. A shower without a curb. Generally accessible design. Laundry on the floor where most of the laundry in generated. Guest quarters with enough room for a port-a-crib. (A mistake I made on my parent’s house - well they fit, but barely.) Extra deep kitchen counters so I don’t have to put the appliances away. Passive design, better than code insulation, solar panels.</p>
<p>EmeraldKity - you need to be careful with light in closets - clothes can fade fast.</p>
<p>cnp-you wrote: “Eventually we think it will be our retirement home”</p>
<p>In laws built their dream house about 15 years ago,
their biggest regret is not planning for bad knees and older frailer bodies.
Big regrets at this point.</p>
<p>Definitely, the next house will be single story, and much smaller. The more space you have, the more junk you accumulate. </p>
<p>As for the knees, I’m not even 50, and I can’t make it up the stairs anymore. Anybody over 30 should definitely not build a new home with a second story, unless you plan on building another one before you’re 40.</p>
<p>A wider garage. (Ours is so narrow that I actually knocked off one of my car’s side mirrors pulling out of it last winter – to the tune of $500).</p>
<p>Washer and dryer on the main floor, not in the basement.</p>
<p>No swimming pool on the property (I have never had one and don’t want one because of the liability.)</p>
<p>A kitchen with a door (so that the noise from the dishwasher doesn’t bother people in the adjacent room).</p>
<p>Air conditioning that actually works throughout the house. (We live in an older home, and there’s a 10-degree temperature difference between our first and second floors in the summer, which cannot be corrected at any reasonable price.)</p>
<p>A full bathroom on the main floor. (If you have ever been in a situation where a family member was ill or injured and could not climb stairs for a period of time, you will understand this.)</p>
<p>At least one entrance to the house that does not require climbing steps. (Same reason as above.)</p>
<p>Actually, I would prefer a one-story house because stairs are best avoided as we all get older, but they are almost nonexistent in our area.</p>
<p>Fewer and smaller rooms. With the kids gone or mostly gone, we are heating, air conditioning, and cleaning much more house than we need.</p>
<p>Decent cell phone reception.</p>
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<p>If you equip your house with Miele appliances, you can save a bundle by not adding the door. :)</p>
<p>A see-through fireplace (nat. gas) in the master bedroom with a sitting area nearby. That would be my dream house feature.</p>
<p>Or buy a Whirlpool and run your dishwasher at night while you’re sleeping and save even more:)</p>
<p>Marina, sounds like you have the same model house that I have! :)</p>
<p>CNP – I was in the car with S1 and had a flash of inspiration. I would have a men’s room – with a urinal. Would cause a lot less aggravation and mess. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>My sister put a laundry room on the second floor (where the main bedrooms are located). It makes a lot of sense–no more lugging laundry baskets up and down the stairs.</p>
<p>We bought a new home earlier this year that we will be using part-time when my H retires. It has a main floor master, which I love. The other feature that I love love love, and it sounds silly, is the drop down ironing board. 
</p>
<p>The house really has every possible thing I could want in a house. It’s very large, which was intentional, because I wanted enough space so everyone can visit. We had four generations there for two weeks this summer and we never felt like we were on top of each other.</p>
<p>Have fun with your project, cnp!</p>
<p>Cork floors - watch out - high heels will permanently indent on cork. We have a cork floor at work and it is pitted with heel marks/indentations. It looks great, but I wouldn’t get it for this reason.</p>