# dream home



## albionjessica (Oct 25, 2005)

We are in the planning stages for building our final home. We've been focusing a lot on making it spacious so we can get around okay when we're older, but living in a big house comes with a lot more responsibilities. The more floor area... the more cleaning.

So I would like to ask you all what you have issues with in your house, and if you have found any solutions? If you could rebuild even a single room to make cleaning it up quicker and easier, how would you do it?


----------



## Use Less (Nov 8, 2007)

A heated mudroom with closet or wallhooks for wet, muddy garments, boots, dogs. Not just a porch or covered entry. A window wall or all-season sunroom. Doors, halls wider than typical (wheelchairs if ever needed.) Banisters on both sides of any stairs. Good grab bars in bathroom next to toilet & in shower. Metal raised-seam roof. Solar panels. Heat pump. Sue


----------



## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

I would not have the laundry room as the mud room. I would have a separate laundry room adjacent to the mudroom. You want to be able to sort laundry, and fold the clean stuff and be able to hang up things you don't want to put in the dryer, and iron. If you don't do much sewing, you can also have a sewing corner in the laundry room. I don't see a problem using the utility (furnace, sink, water heater) as part of the mud room. I'd also want a half bath easily accessible from the mud room and front hall or family room.

His and hers closets in the bedroom. I was in one house where they had his and hers closets, with the dresser drawers built in. One side of each closet was for hanging, the other side had the built in dresser, giving a large top, mirror, and the bedroom area was for the bed and only one highboy, and a rocker. Lovely. We have two closets and it has probably saved a great deal of frustration.

In the kitchen, use drawers and sliding out shelves. Have 4 ft of counter space at table height for short people, kids, wheelchair users, ability to sit in a chair. This area can have no cupboards underneath, or a removable unit on casters. Most of my kitchen counter is at table height because I'm short. The cooktop is also at this height. Unless you are tall, the lower cooktop is better because you can look into your pots, and it is less stressful to move them when they are full. A wall oven works better than a regular, because you don't have to bend over when lifting that Christmas turkey in or out of the oven. A wall oven also keeps toddlers from touching the oven door and using the handle to balance. Having the cooktop and oven separate also means that two cooks can be working without getting in each other's way.

I have ceramic tile counters (12" floor tiles) so that I can place a hot pot from the flame or the oven right on the counters.

I would have tile floors in the mud room and bathrooms. You can get tile that has a slightly rough surface which makes it less slippery. You will have to reseal the grout every three years, but that's easy. I'd also have at least one bench in the mud room, and the area under the bench can be for boots.


----------



## Christine in OK (May 10, 2002)

My aunt and uncle went one better - when you step in their back door, if you turn left you will pass the washer, dryer and deep freeze, large cabinet/pantries, and right into a full bath. That way my uncle can get as dirty as he pleases and never step on Aunt's living room carpet.

She also has a HUGE closet (at least 8 x 8, if not 8 x 10) completely lined with shelves for storage of canning equipment and decorations, other things you need but have trouble finding a spot that they will fit.


----------



## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

rose2005 said:


> Is your dream home single story? If not, make sure there is a bedroom with handicap accessible bathroom ( walk in shower), on the ground floor. You never know when you might need it.
> 
> Also, make all door ways, and halls wide enough to accomodate a wheelchair, and make sure there is easy entry into the house.


Ditto! And, make very certain that a person in a wheelchair can move around each room, including turning around!


----------



## Marcia in MT (May 11, 2002)

I've found several books to be helpful:
anything by Don Aslett, and
"It's Here . . . Somewhere."

They deal with making things better organized and lower maintenance.


----------



## marvella (Oct 12, 2003)

it doesn't have to be spacious to be handicapped accessible. i just had one built. put in extra wide doorways, all rooms on one level, shower that it as long as a tub insert, with a 3 inch lip to step over and a seat on either end. all in 1000sf. for added room there is a nice covered porch with a ramp and in the back a screened in porch for my summer kitchen. it's 2 bed, 1 bath. i'm quite happy with it.


----------



## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I will share with you MY dream...
A clothing room.
One room, centrally located, that has a washer/dryer and all of the dressers and a closet area. Doors to the bedroom and bath..
That way I could keep the bedroom sparse.. I like only a bed in a bedroom.. do the laundry and fold, hang and put away all in one space. I envision built in dressers in a deep rich wood.. matching closet doors and hideaway hampers under a central island that also house the washer/dryer.. oh and some easy access to the outside because for the most part I prefer linedried clothes etc...
No more dirty socks in the bedroom. No more piles of clean laundry on the bed patiently waiting to be put away and in reality just spending it's time going into and out of the hamper as day turns to night.


----------



## Ode (Sep 20, 2006)

Tile floors are easier to keep clean, and don't need refinishing like wood does. And less issues with allergens and dirt collecting like carpeting. Area rugs are a better idea than wall-to-wall. If you want wood, consider bamboo. It is harder than maple, and can be refinished just like other wood can, and I read that bamboo doesn't support fungal and bacterial growth the way other products can. A lot of fabrics are being made from bamboo now for that reason.

Make your cleaning chores easier after moving in by having minimal knicknacks on your surfaces. Some places look like a junk shopppe with all of the 'collectibles' crammed onto every surface. And boy are they a pain to keep clean regularly.

A really good idea in a kitchen is Silestone. It has antimicrobial qualities, so it keeps you a bit safer from contamination, plus they are pretty sturdy and can be resurfaced when scratched. Just sand the defects out. Get a really big sink, the apron front farm sinks are great. Makes it much easier to clean big pots and pans. Get sink hardware that will accomodate extra tall pots, you will be glad you did. They are useful in lots of ways, such as filling a watering can or watering houseplants.

Windows...get the kind that you can clean from the inside. It sure makes cleaning them a lot easier if you don't need to get on a ladder to reach them from the outside.


----------



## fostermomma (Feb 26, 2007)

For me it is all about being organized. If I am not I can't keep anything clean. It seems like everything is cluttered.

Our current home used to have a kids playroom it has since been turned into a bedroom with closet space. I can not tell you how much I miss the playroom. We are also in process of building our last home and it has a playroom off of the kitchen. With not only exterior windows but, interior windows openings that will have shutters on them. This way I can work in the kitchen and laundry room while the children are playing and can keep a good eye on them. It will have all types of storage for the kids things and store up high for the kids paints and craft stuff. It also keeps the kids from dragging the toys out all over the house. Also makes it easier for the kids to clean up the toys.

In our new house we will have a laundry room for the first time. We have never had a washer or dryer. I am so excited about it. No more trips to the laundry mat. Yippy!!!!
Anyway our laundry room is kind of also a mudroom. It has a walk in pantry off to one side and a 1/2 bath on the other, it is off of our kitchen and also has a door to the garage. I am thinking of adding some hanging hooks and putting in a bench that has some cubbies for shoes in it also inside the garage between the laundry room door and the garage door. This would be for the really dirty things.

I also agree with lots of closets. I don't know that you can ever have to many.

If at all possible you might want to put in a basement. Our basement has a closet in it that we have big shelves that store our tubs of seasonal things, things I find thru the year to use as gifts, homeschool supplies, ect. These are all things we don't want to get rid of yet but, don't want it in our closets taking up space.


----------

