House design, what would you do differently 2nd time around?

[ladyciel]

My parents'' house has a big master bath with a private loo. It CAN feel a little claustrophobic, but my mom said you get used to it. It was necessary in their case because the bathroom is otherwise completely open to the bedroom. It''s set up suite style so you walk in double doors from the main hallway and the bath opens up to your right, closets and bedroom to your left. Straight ahead is a nook where they have a highboy under a transom window. The entire area has high ceilings, and the bathroom has a normal window plus glass block around the tub (separate from the shower). It makes it very bright and open.

One note about the separate loo - make sure you install an exhaust fan in there...

 

[firebirdgold]

I think it''s more important to have really useable and well thought-out kitchen cabinets with lots of organizational built-in aids than to have masses of cabinet space where you can''t reach the back. Also make sure you can reach all the cabinets. We have a lot of space in our kitchen that we don''t use because I can''t reach it easily even with a step stool.

If you''re tight for sq footage and you want a breakfast nook, I suggest going for one with built-in bench seating. Much more efficient and it has a real cozy feeling to it too.

I''d make sure a new house has good indoor-outdoor transitions. When we were house shopping a lot of new construction was tossed from our list for ignoring the outdoors.

For cool and damp climates I prefer wood stoves to fireplaces. If you get them with nice glass doors you get the same fire-watching enjoyment but with a whole lot more heat than a fireplace. I think it''s also more economical than a fireplace with a brick chimney. If you build a small area for it with brick or earthen tile, it''ll increase the radiant heat you can get from the stove even after the fire has died. With the new stove technology and emission control they are actually an environmentally friendly form of heating. (well, at least in areas with plenty of fast growing wood at anyrate.)


I highly recommend the Sarah Susanka books. They have some wonderful ideas about making the most of a smaller space. Her website. I want to build a house just so I can get a not-so-big house.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

We didn''t build but I thought I would add to this thread.

Things I love:
Seperate walk in closets. The lights turn on when you open the door (like on a fridge). Of course I wish mine was larger than his but that''s okay

Seperate vanities. The doorway is in between the two so we have seperate sides. Helps b/c I have a lot more stuff and always bugged DH when my stuff overflowed to his "side".

Seperate spa tub and walk in shower.

Large bedrooms & closets

2nd floor laundry room with utility sink and storage

Lots of outlets

Built in media cab in the family room

LARGE kitchen island (I love having an island)

Double oven

Lots of windows

Oversize garage (which DH built several lofts and shelves for all his tools and building material)

Open floor plan (well the family room and kitchen are open)

Hardwoods on first floor

Big pantry

Ceiling fans (who knew!?! I never had them before and LOVE them)

Wide crown molding

We have two heating/cooling units so we can make upstairs a different temp than downstairs.

Things I would change:
A door on our master bath (it is a little TOO open for my liking)

Wood cabs (the white feels a little cold)

Everything is brass (we are slowly changing it

)

No carpet on the stairs (wish it were just hard wood for easier cleaning)

Wish we had a 5th bedroom

Larger (longer) dining room.

Larger shower (I would love a double with extra shower heads)

A mud room would be nice (our garage enters our kitchen)

A patio vs. deck

Wider driveway. We have a side load so it is only wide by the house.

 

[diamondfan]

This is more than the second time, but second time from the ground up. We are buliding a new house. Our home now is sizeable but there were mistakes.

BIG garage, we have three now, we are going to do 6. Oversized, climate controlled, with built in organizers. I will never again shimmy around the front and climb over bicycles and bottled water.

Every bedroom will be larger, have larger closets and en suite bathrooms. I did a jack and jill with two bedrooms and hate it. Also, really nice built ins for a desk and books. Now they are more squeezed in because I had designed a homework station out on our upstairs landing and it distracts my youngest when he is going to bed. I want the big kids to have lots of room in their rooms to do work, but I still might have something in the hall as well.

A larger room for the kids to hang out in, to hold their flat tv, all their toys, video consoles (we have two big arcade sized games and they really take up a lot of space) and just generally be a nice large space for the three of them. No more drumset in my gym, or hearing electic guitar from my oldest's bedroom at 11:00 pm.

I would really bring in my designer sooner to look at all the furniture placement, where outlets and phone jacks are, the height of window sills and placement of vents for furniture...even though I built this house a lot fell through the cracks at the end.

I will also have a bigger closet, as will hubby, and a large linen storage in my bathroom for all my towels and stuff...the space is not adequate now.

I want bigger and wider hallways upstairs...and bigger landings too, so I do not feel cramped.

I love my kitchen and the ground floor layout pretty well, but would enlarge both the living room and dining room for sure.