Must haves - Design of House

amother

Tangerine

Fri, Dec 14 2018, 2:31 pm

We will hopefully be building a new home. What are some things we should definitely consider( Example - dining room leads into living room so can expand our dining room when have a large simcha, etc).
Our contractor told us to bring him examples of plans that have most of what we want and he would tweak it...

pesek zman

Fri, Dec 14 2018, 2:47 pm

Wow! A custom built house sounds like a dream come true.

I’d want:

An eat in kitchen
Outdoor space accessible from kitchen (both for bbqs and of course sukkos)
Pantry in kitchen
Washing station near dining room, ideally within a ‘butlers pantry’

An office
En suite master bath
Separate living room and den (for more casual use)

Large entryway with large coat closets and even cubbies

My husband dreams of a window in a bathroom. Also radiant floors and towel racks but I’m not into any

Enjoy!

amother

Mustard

Fri, Dec 14 2018, 2:56 pm

Big laundry room with lots of light
Big entryway with plenty coat closets (separate for adults and kids)
Space to park a carriage/stroller when walking in
Master bedroom slightly separate from other bedrooms but close to baby room
Master bathroom is a must
I'd love 3 sinks and 3 dishwashers in kitchen, but at barest minimum one dishwasher for fleishigs.
Lots of windows and natural light
Work out the furniture layout of each room so that you can place windows accordingly, for example, headboards of beds in bedroom shouldn't end up blocking windows, etc.
I know some people would be very against this, but iy"H one day I'm gonna have a reading nook (window seat and some beanbags with a bookcase or two) on the same floor as the bedrooms so that kids can lounge around in PJs and relax quietly (or head downstairs to the playroom).

amother

Taupe

Fri, Dec 14 2018, 3:19 pm

I built a house but dream of:

Huge too off dining room for playroom and to spill into by a simcha.
Make sure that you have a laundry room near the bedrooms. I have five bedrooms and three bathrooms upstairs. I adore the extra bathroom and it's worth every penny. A nice thing is high ceilings in the basement which I did not do.
Tons of closets!! I have three large coat closets in my entrance way.

I love my three sinks. I have two dishwashers as well. I love having ample cabinet space that I store all my pesach stuff in my kitchen and don't have to ever shlep it up and down.

A huge refrigerator and freezer!

I would have made a bigger deck.

amother

Green

Fri, Dec 14 2018, 3:26 pm

-A central vacuum with slots in the floors near the wall so you can sweep straight into it.
-Full size fridge and separate full size freezer in the kitchen. (Sub zero or Frigidaire)
-spacious laundry room with room to hang dry

amother

cornflower

Fri, Dec 14 2018, 3:47 pm

amother wrote:

I love the reading nook idea! That would be amazing

amother

Sapphire

Fri, Dec 14 2018, 4:00 pm

Large cabinet in kitchen for pesach dishes so no schlepping in and out.
STORAGE - we did a massive remodel and I ended up without enough storage
Minor thing - have some outlets that have a usb port for charging phones in key places.
key lights in house set up with the special switches that you can program from your phone for shabbat - dining room, etc
Two dishwashers and two sinks (we have this now and it's amazing)
Radiant heat in floors is the best. Especially if you have family members with asthma or allergies.
Laundry room on the same level as bedrooms.

FranticFrummie

Sat, Dec 15 2018, 11:39 am

Here's something I've learned from experience. Install WAY more fuses in your electrical box, than you think you'll need. Only have a few outlets to each fuse. Any appliance that pulls a strong current should have it's own fuse.

At the moment, the entire back half of my apartment is in a blackout. The kitchen, back bedroom, hallway,bathrooms, and laundry room. We didn't have any hot food for Shabbos, and the refrigerator is not working. Everything in there is spoiled. I don't have any heat in the apartment, either, because the main heater is also on the circuit.

You guessed it. It's all on one fuse, and the switch is completely blown. Mad

Iymnok

Sat, Dec 15 2018, 12:22 pm

Ample space in the master bedroom for a crib/bassinet.
Laundry room with enough space to fold and hang multiple loads. It should have enough space for ironing and storage of all laundry related stuff. (Including pins to mark things to be sent out for mending.)
A guest room with a bathroom. An office or other multi-use room close by for when you host families.
An attractive (tall) fence with a lockable gate to keep unwanted guests off your trampoline.
A front porch. Small is fine, it gives great curb appeal.
A garage on the coulpnter to keep your larger kitchen appliances like mexer, blender, popcorn popper. Accessible, but out of sight.
Drawers under the counters in the kitchen. Big strong deep ones. It makes organization way easier.
Space to eat in the kitchen.
Logical storage of pesach things.
Logical storage for the sukka and other seasonal things.

Look at houzz.com for great ideas.

jkw

Sat, Dec 15 2018, 12:54 pm

Strongly agree with FF re electrical phases. Not always easy to add more.
I put a special Shabbos cabinet and drawer in dining room which hides all Shabbos dishes, stuff for lighting, tablecloths etc. Makes setting up for Shabbos a lot faster!

amother

Pink

Sat, Dec 15 2018, 1:59 pm

Wheelchair accessibility- no steps into the house, a ground floor bedroom and bathroom with walk in shower. No one wants to need these things, but if you do need them and don't have them, the most beautiful house in the world is worthless.

Iymnok

Sat, Dec 15 2018, 2:06 pm

amother wrote:

If it’s not possible or you don’t want the look now, ensuring that there is space and structural support for it in the future is good too.

amother

Mustard

Sat, Dec 15 2018, 5:47 pm

More ideas:
All lights in main areas of house attached to Shabbos clocks which are located in one central location. (I know someone who has this.) This way you can set kitchen/dinette/dining room lights to go on/off over the course of Shabbos (or when you go on vacation) by setting them all at once (no need to run to each light separately).

Playroom near kitchen.

Pesach kitchen near regular kitchen but with a side door so you can enter way before pesach and with the option of opening the whole wall up for pesach itself. (Looks like a huge closet facing the dinette with doors that are removable for pesach, but on the perpendicular side, there's a regular door that allows you to enter, like a long walk-in closet). I know someone who has this and this is by far the best set-up and placement I've ever seen for a pesach kitchen.

amother

Taupe

Sat, Dec 15 2018, 5:57 pm

amother wrote:

Just as an aside. I have these in some if my outlets. It is a couple dollars, really not expensive and u can do it at any point. Dh did it on his own.

amother

Taupe

Sat, Dec 15 2018, 5:59 pm

amother wrote:

I have thsi and it works very well.

Another idea that ppl do are nightlights.