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[sarahpanda]

I will be building a house soon and would like to know what it is in 'your' home that you are glad you installed while building or that your home had when you bought it.  In my present home that was built 20 years ago, one thing I like is that the faucet handles in my bathroom can be 'pushed off' with the back of my hand instead of having to twist the knobs...also I enjoy the little accordian type pull down corner cabinet  in the kitchen that I have no idea what it is called. What is it in your home that sometimes you think ''I sure am glad I have _______""  or I wish I had thought of building ______ into my house.  Thanks so much.

[aoldgirl]

Heated floors , especially in the bathrroms. do it while building.     You'll be glad you did

[LindaSal]

We are now in a townhouse but built our own home 20 years ago and lived in it for 15 years until we downsized recently.   There are several things I was happy we did........put in basement french drains, (will save you with heavy rainfall)  beautiful stone fireplace and large farmers porch around the house with a roof over it, which we had a good size portion of it screened in.   I  miss my screened in porch more than anything.

[Mi47]

1.  Two large walk in master closets in master bedroom, with closet organizers.  

2.  Kitchen sink with window

3.  Large island in kitchen

4.  Pantry cabinet that has 2 double doors, when opened up two doors with shelves, behind that, shelves.   We used Kraft Maid brand, cost of that cabinet was $5000 in 2005, not cheap but gives you lots of storage space for a small foot print in kitchen.  Go to Kraft Maid web site and look it up, it's a great website to see what's available for cabinets (kitchen, bathrooms etc).   

5.  A laundry room, not a hallway, gives you more storage. 

6.  Kitchen:  I prefer drawers for lower cabinets, if you use lower cabinets, have pull out shelves.  

How much fun to design your home, good luck.  😀

[sarahpanda]

@Mi47    Thank you for your suggestions - I'm sure this will be an overwhelming ordeal for me, much like it was last time. I've always said I'd never 'build' another house - but the family situation is changing due to illness and I need to live closer to relatives to help me through the later years of my life, more convenient. I wish I could just blink my eyes and voila !  It would be ready to move in! I need lots of prayers, please folks.

[PinkyPetunia]

Utility tub/sink in laundry room.  I wouldn't be without one.

[Eileen in Virginia]

We don't have this now, but if we ever build a home it will have a large "dumb waiter" type elevator for moving things from one floor to another. Our current home of 38 years is a rambler with a full basement and attic. We can handle the stairs just fine if we aren't carrying anything (like a laundry basket), but struggle with a full laundry basket or other heavy container. I think I'd put it in a walk-in closet in a spare bedroom or some other accessible, but infrequently used, space. This wasn't a consideration when we bought our house - we were young and thought it would be a starter home. 

[bmorechick]

We built this house 22 years ago and while I do love it, there were several things I wish I could have changed, but everything additional or different from plans costed more money and we were on a tight budget.

Things I wish we could have done:

Have stairway from second floor come down into the kitchen instead of facing front door

Opted out the dining room for a bigger kitchen (this would not have costed more, I just had to have it and we used it maybe 4 times)

Narrowed doorway in master bedroom that leads to master bathroom so a pocket door could have been installed to hide sink and vanity. Toilet and shower are behind a door.

Built a screen porch off the back of the house instead of trying to do it now ($$$$$$$)

Installed a half bath on third floor 

Have fun with your new house!

[wagirl]

My former house was nothing but a bigger box with smaller boxes inside (the rooms)--nothing fancy about it.  2 story with stairs--hated most everything about it really---- but...... we built it in 1986, had 2 1/2 acres of land with a creek running thru it,---- bought the land and built the house for under 100k and sold it in 2021 for an astounding 1 million $$ !!! and  in 2 days--had 10 cash offers, 3 from 1 person---am in western WA state--and real estate was going bonkers and we just got lucky!! It still makes my head spin in amazement---

[pupwhipped]

We redid kitchen in a 1952 lake home in 2007. I love my full extension, soft close kitchen drawers! So wish I had them everywhere. We also have a huge corner lazy susan type cabinet on the bottom. Wasn't sure how I was going to like that but it has been excellent. It is a very good quality all wood unit and you wouldn't believe what all I have crammed in there...and just how easy it is to access! 

Good luck to you...I know my hair turned extra gray when remodeling our home......sooooooo many decisions!!!