what makes a great family house? Wish List.

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speedy

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hi there,

we've just gone sale agreed on a site and we're starting to think about the type of house we'd like to build. having lived in a 3 bed semi for the past 10 years i know what i don't want. however now we've a 3 year old and a 6 month old and we want to design a house that will be our family house for a long long time.

i'd love any opinions on what to include or leave out. here's my few insights, please comment or tell me i'm wrong on any of them

1. Separate toy room, that doesn't lead into a 'good' room or else solid doors that you shut so noone can see the chaos inside

2. downstairs bathroom

3. good sized utility room with a sink

4. no carpets downstairs, the carpet in our sitting room is a holy disgrace. before children, it was immaculate. would you put carpet anywhere?

5. no beige or light colour carpets, see point 4

6. ground level garden(we've a raised garden, had to put fencing around it, still dangerous), ideally with room for a set of swings. a back garden that the children can't escape from e.g. with a side gate that can be locked

7. large kitchen, looking onto the back garden

8. plenty of storage

9. large hot press? not sure about this one but i know our one is ridiculously full

10. is free standing furniture than built in wardrobes for childrens rooms?i've only experience of free standing.

11.beds with inbuilt storage

12. black out blinds or any window covering to keep them in bed for even 10 minutes longer

i'm sure i'll think of more, please add on if you can:)
 
I think there was a 'wish list' thread for a house some some years back on AAM but can't seem to find it at the moment. If you use the search option on the main page you may be able to find it.
 
Consider timber flooring with underlay for the little ones.
It has some "give" in it in case little bodies decide to fall over.
We put it in because we didn't want carpet, but did want a warm floor and good visuals.

Also tailor your accommodation/house type to accommodate your intended family and then "add one".
There are still "Miracles" in later life, bundles of joy that come along when you least expect it. :)

ONQ.
 
And don't forget no house is a home without one of these. :D



Sleepy_Cat.jpg
 
onq said:
Also tailor your accommodation/house type to accommodate your intended family and then "add one".
There are still "Miracles" in later life, bundles of joy that come along when you least expect it. :)

ONQ.
Click to expand...

To add to this, a great piece of advice from my mother

Dont forget you are not planning a house for kids under the age of 5, in no time you will be faced with 3 teenagers doing homework with multiple computers. Think of this when planning bathrooms and bedrooms.

I have every room cabled with CAT5 for a computer network. Very easy to add a internet radio or extra computer. ( BTW, That advice came fromme, not my mother)
 
thanks for the brilliant suggestions. in regards to the cat, i'd have to choose between the cat and my husband........:D
 
A house in a cul-de-sac with some kind of grassy area - no through traffic keeps the kids safe.
 
Go for a large roomy 4/5 bedroomed detached house with an acreage of a garden on the edge of town. You will have your privacy and be near to all the relevant services. You will never have to move again.:)
 
A walk in larder in the kitchen

A walk in wardrobe in the main bedroom

A large bathroom

A built in water filter in the kitchen
 
what makes a great home

- plenty of light in the house - no dark hallways.
- a porch outside the front door- keeps draughts at bay.
- your esb box and letters box built into the wall at the entrance - that means you can lock your gate if you are all away during the day.
- solar panels
Instead of putting funds into fancy stone etc..... put it into getting the drive sorted, garden laid out and house painted.

oh, and have a stove in the kitchen - bliss !!!


good luck !!
 
Have a decent sunroom with a proper roof, they are really great and can be used from march to oct no problem with plenty of free heat and brightness.

2 sitting/living rooms, one smaller than the other for ease of heating in winter and hook a stove up to your heating system from this smaller room.

Make sure your house is configured to take advantage of solar gain.

If i was starting from scratch again i'd plant my hedges at the very beginning of the build.

Cat 5 to all living areas and bedrooms.

Look closely at your plans and imagine the room layouts, you may need to move doors slightly etc for better room configuration. I didn't and it has messed my master bedroom up a bit.

Think long and hard about placement of TV sockets also.
 
Here's what I would love but will never have in my 3 bed semi (which I love and have no intention of moving from)
- a walk in wardrobe for me alone. My other half is a total slob and I would love to not have to share any space with him! He can have a closet in the hall or something.
- an ensuite bathroom just for me so I never have to share a toilet with the same DH! After 40+ years, he still can't hit straight.
- LOADS of storage for coats, shoes, schoolbags, football bags etc.
- large indoor utility room with an overhead clothes horse thingy.
- a kitchen with LOADS of counter space ( I have this now and it's brilliant)
 
Get the attic floored with pull down ladder and lighting. Somewhere to store those works of art produced in school that will be kept forever. Yes they will....
Double patio doors leading from your kitchen/eating area to a nice patio.
An outdoor tap in front and back garden.
An outdoor electric socket ( that outdoor Christmas tree for the kids). Back door in garage.
Plenty of fireplaces for those woodburners.
Separate heating system for upstairs and downstairs. No need to be heating an empty upstairs if not needed.
Mixer taps.
 
mel o said:
Here's what I would love but will never have in my 3 bed semi (which I love and have no intention of moving from)
- a walk in wardrobe for me alone. My other half is a total slob and I would love to not have to share any space with him! He can have a closet in the hall or something.
- an ensuite bathroom just for me so I never have to share a toilet with the same DH! After 40+ years, he still can't hit straight.
Click to expand...
Sheesh, why not go the whole hog and just get a separate house for yourself!

OP - You might want to consider future-proofing your house design, to make sure it will meet your needs in the future. When you get older, you might need to have a full bathroom and bedroom on the ground floor. This doesn't mean that you have to provide a full bathroom with bath/shower on the ground floor now, but you should design in the drainage that will support this at a later stage. You might need walls that will support grab rails in the bathroom and the bedroom. You don't need to fit the grab rails how, but you should ensure that your walls will support them later. You get the idea.

See [broken link removed] for one international standard of adapability.
 
An open fire or at least a wood burning stove for those rough winter nights so you can relax in front of a real flame.
 
Complainer said:
OP - You might want to consider future-proofing your house design, to make sure it will meet your needs in the future. When you get older, you might need to have a full bathroom and bedroom on the ground floor. This doesn't mean that you have to provide a full bathroom with bath/shower on the ground floor now, but you should design in the drainage that will support this at a later stage. You might need walls that will support grab rails in the bathroom and the bedroom. You don't need to fit the grab rails how, but you should ensure that your walls will support them later. You get the idea.



Somehow I reckon the OP is a long way off from being a whiskered old man hobbling along on his walking stick.:D
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In an ideal world I'd have a seperate laundry room, not just for a washing machine but with a couple of those old fashioned winch-down clothes airers so you can dry clothes indoors (not a fan of driers, too expensive and the clothes always smell burnt). The room should get lots of sunlight and also have a radiator for cloudy days so laundry will always dry quickly.

Oh, and whatever you do don't put in an L-shaped kitchen (I think there a million threads on preferred kitchen design), put in a big island unit with seating on one side and a hob on the other, so you can make dinner while you help the kids with their homework. I only have room for a peninsula unit (with no appliances in it), but I would never go back to facing a wall every time I need to prepare a meal.
 
A utility room of some sort with a tiled floor so if mucky kids cming in from the back they have a buffer between muck and carpets. Don't mind if this room gets dirty - easily cleaned.
 
Odea said:
(snip)
Separate heating system for upstairs and downstairs. No need to be heating an empty upstairs if not needed.
Mixer taps.
Click to expand...

You're right of course, and I know this was received wisdom in the building regulations a few years back, but if you take it to its logical conclusion you might have every room in the house separately insulated.

As we get closer and closer to 2013 with Carbon Neutral houses per the Green's damand, houses will become super insulated. In that case internal divisions between floors seem to be less useful and it may make more sense to agree the position of the outer envelope, super-insulate it and air-lock it where it meets the external and people have to pass through, i.e. front and rear doors.

To avoid relatively massive heat losses, an enclosed porch to the front and lobby approach to the rear for inclement weather might be useful.
Otherwise why go to all the trouble of sealing the house when one moment with both doors open front and rear will give a total air change on a cold, windy day?

Just a thought.

ONQ.

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.
 
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