Having been here a year, we're starting to think about a long term residence. (Please no "renting vs buying", that's another thread).. As usual, i'm putting the cart before the horse and thinking what i want in a house before i even decide what i'm looking for. Asking all around the area, WHAT MISSING FEATURE / ITEM DID YOU REALIZE LATER YOU WANTED / NEEDED after you finished the project or moved in ??????
Built-in closets. They weren't part of the floor plan choices we had, but we could have paid more to have them added, but didn't think about it.
I put a walk-in closet in our master bedroom and the first thing I had to do was remove the door...it got way too hot in there. I should have put in a louvred door and maybe an exhaust fan. Shawn
Not so much a feature but location to me is the most important thing, you can change almost anything about a house but if it is close by to some karaoke playing, motorbike racing, daytime drinking card playing xxxxx then that is impossible to change unless you plan on leaving the country right after you change the situation.
When I built my Kitchen here, due to space limits, I made wrap around Benches by using hollow block and reinforcement, then reinforcing and cementing the bench tops to the walls and tiling everything, very strong, very secure, I thought all that would help tie everything together should any earthquake/typhoon try otherwise... VERY PROUD of myself I was! Then someone asked me where I was going to put the Kitchen Stove... WTF?? So looks like it is Bench top Gas Burner only and why I am trying to find a stand alone Bench top Gas Oven... What do they say? "Measure twice, Cut once" Hmp...
I remember you posting a pic and I do like your kitchen idea. Are there walls separating that from the dining room? I'm thinking of one aircon unit for both.
We have the Kitchen to one side, on the other side is the Table, Fridge and Freezer with just enough room to walk from the front door between the two areas to the TV area. Beside that we have the TV area with (a small hallway between them) the CR & Shower sandwiched between the Kitchen area and TV area. Off the TV area we have two small bedrooms, small and compact, comfortable and easy to keep tidy, but no where to put another Freezer or Stove unit. Next house (IF we build one) will make sure we have more room to install a correct Stove. For now; our 'area' is under Papa's roof (he gave an area to each of the kids when they got married) and while we are not paying out Rent (BIG Saving!) we are saving to pay off our lot in preparation for our next venture. Some things I would remember to do in my next House; I would remember to; Employ a Builder with references and who can show me previous work with happy customers. Employ an Electrician who can actually wire a Light Switch (unlike the last guy who even refused to look at my hand drawn pictures after after ignoring my instructions on how to cut the wire to fit the Switch) and one who uses correct terminals instead of twisting a bunch or wires together (over an inch thick!) and hiding inside of the Junction Box! Seek out BETTER Windows, the business here who installed our Windows were rude, the Louvres (jealousy) broke within days due to ultra thin metal brackets and the Sliding Windows bounce around in their frames, POOR Quality! I am sure come the day when we get 'our new place' I will have added more to the above list... Not so much a matter of "Forget" - but in my learning curve, I will remember not to 'forget' my previous experiences here to try and avoid making the same mistakes again in my new place. *EDIT: Absolutely NO Air-con for me, no need for it IMHO...
