Post by fivechickens on May 7, 2021 8:44:30 GMT -5
I hate large 1/2 baths. One reason we bought our house is because the 1/2 bath was not a bunch of wasted space. I have seen some 1/2 baths that you could fit a loveseat in.
I hate formal dining rooms/livingrooms.
Our bedroom is too big. We could have a sitting area if we wanted but we don’t that is one of only flaws of this house.
Loft space areas on the second floor. Our old house had it and, again, it was wasted unused space.
I love jack & jill bathrooms. One of the floor plans we looked at had a jack & jill bathroom but unfortunately the house was one bedroom too small.
I love large island that you can sit at. Not two level islands though.
--Breakfast nooks --mud room / breezeway - keep the mess out there! --trash drawers. Ours has two garbage cans so one is for garbage and the other for recycling.
I think you're the second person to say this. I'm planning on doing a breakfast book w/built in bench and lots of windows when we renovate our kitchen. Meanwhile, I have 2 neighbors doing $$$ renovations and neither of them are putting tables in their large kitchens, they're just doing large islands w/seating. I find this surprising....but apparently is becoming a trend?
We just installed a nook because our kitchen seating area was so small, a table and chairs just felt like it wasn't utilizing the limited space well at all. With the nook everything is tight into the corner and it fits so much better. If you are custom building I highly recommend storage inside the seating.
We were concerned about family dinners, holidays, etc., then we realized we were totally planning our kitchen space on 3 or 4 meals a year, at the most? Our nook can seat 5 comfortably, 6 if we had too. For every day living that is plenty for us!
I hate not having a mudroom. We are getting one added on this fall and I cannot wait. Popcorn Ceilings. Both homes we owned (built in the 90s) have had popcorn ceilings and I just do not understand it.
AW warning: We added one last year (along w/a bathroom and large master closet upstairs). Game changer! I'll throw my vote in for practical design in the mudroom. When I was planning, I saw a lot of gorgeous pics on pinterest of mudrooms that were all cabinets, or had lower cabinets for shoes and whatnot. I needed a drop zone b/c my kids will just kick shoes off and drop all their stuff w/o neatly opening cabinets to do so. I like having the bench open too and undivided b/c I can fit large things under there too (like backpacks and bags). I also originally wanted painted cabinets but went w/wood - the wood hides a myriad of sins & knicks (plus it's a varied finish so you don't see dirt and cuffs as much), and can easily be touched up w/stain or polyurethane. We have long coats, a broom, short coats dog food, board games, baking supplies, light bulbs, vases, and other things in the large cabinets w/doors. The porcelain tile looks like slate (sort of) and has a a varied finish too which also helps hide dirt.
(unpictured are french doors to the back patio)
In the colder months I put mittens and winter stuff in that large basket (right now it has baseball stuff, and eventually swim and other summer stuff).
While I've seen examples of some of these that I like/don't mind, I generally dislike:
- Dark wood trim/molding/doors - Carpet in general - White kitchen cabinets/counters, especially when paired with dark or vibrant wall colors - Sectional couches - Split-level floor plans (specifically how they look on the outside) - Kitchen cabinets that stop short of the ceiling (I have these and wish upon all that is holy that they would have been extended to the ceiling height) - Arched/rounded windows
We're in contract to buy a new house and sell ours right now, so I've looked at a lot of houses lately! It's easier to think of hates than loves though.
Hates: - TVs above fireplaces, and often mirrors too. So often the mirror reflects something dumb, like the kitchen microwave or the family room ceiling fan.
^This is actually the family room of the house we are buying. I can't wait to take that mirror down (although it may take some time because it's firmly installed). It's too large for the fireplace, and what it reflects (the ceiling fan) is not attractive enough to want to see twice.
- Bedrooms with no overhead lighting. Our current house was like that; the wall switch just went to an outlet. We hired an electrician to wire for lighted ceiling fans with separate switches for light and fan.
- Strange asymmetries on the exterior, like this:
Not only the first floor, but look at the spacing on the 2nd floor windows. It would drive me bonkers every time I pulled up to it.
- Master bathrooms that waste tons and tons of floor space - like there's a double vanity, a freestanding tub, and a shower around the periphery, and then in the middle there's like enough floor space to do a gymnastics routine.
- Complicated roof lines with extra peaks:
- Wood paneling on appliances (fridge, dishwasher) to match cabinets
- Open shelving. I don't want to dust all that or keep it "pretty."
Love: laundry on same floor as bedrooms lots of windows for natural light smaller backyard good placement of closets & bathrooms between rooms for noise barriers
Hate: tile used as counter top pedestal sinks/no backsplash behind the sink in the bathroom sliding glass door right where the dining room table goes formal any rooms (dining or living) no side door into the garage from outside
not enough closet/storage space
front door entry and entry into house from the garage being on opposite sides of the house
Love: split wing floor plan. I love that my bedroom is far from the kids. They are teens and can stay up late, and I never hear them.
High ceilings
Love/meh: open floor plan. Initially I loved it and I still like the kitchen being connected to the tv room. During Covid, I hated it. The the kids are in the dining nook, so that essentially takes out 3 rooms. I wanted more walls, but now I’m ok with it again.
Hate: dining nooks. I have a dining room area, an island with stools, and a nook area. I don’t need 3 eating areas.
- Garages without a door that isn't the garage door, especially big oversized garages. In the house we are buying, my kids are going to go in/out of the garage when they get on/off the bus, and we don't have an access door, so it's going to annoy the heck out of me that they will open the garage door so many times per day. But this was one of the things we compromised on.
Our old house in California didn't have a door to the outside, so we put one in ourselves. Several of our neighbors did as well, since it made so much more sense....well, that and everyone wanted to 'keep up with the Joneses", and all copied everyone else. lol
- shelves in the kitchen replacing upper cabinets. It only looks good in magazines. It attracts dust and grease. - air return covers near the baseboards. They're going to be covered by furniture. Just put them by the ceiling. - busy tiles, especially in modern homes.
Likes: - mud rooms - return to large bedrooms. A lot of houses built in the 80s and 90s had very small bedrooms. Once you put a queen size bed, there's not much room for anything else. - open floor plans - powder room on the main floor. I don't want guests to use regular bathrooms with personal stuff.
- original woodwork. Our house still has the original, intricate wood trim outside our windows, in our front door, and on our bannisters. I also love original hardwood floors. Our house was built in 1910 so I love all it’s non-right angles and history.
- We have a dining room and it’s the greatest thing ever. It’s not formal, but we have an expandable table in there.
- enough bedrooms for people living here, offices, and guest room. Our current house is four bedrooms and I sorta want one more.
Hate
- Open floor plans. I’ve hated them since they came in vogue.
- heavily built up backyards with pavers, outdoor kitchens, sitting areas, etc. Please don’t cover the backyard where nature lives with pavement and electricity. Ugh, I really hate it.
Most of my complaints have to do with layout because it’s the one thing you can’t easily change.
I hate when a front door opens directly into a living room. Give me a foyer and a coat closet. Plus a mud room at the garage or back door. I live in a 1400 SF 4 bedroom ranch and this can be done even in a house this size so there’s no excuse for not doing in every house (or a 1300 SF, 3 bedroom). Having adequate closets/ cabinets/shelf built-ins makes a huge difference. It’s annoying not to have a closet for things like a vacuum.
I dislike a detached or single car garage, but I really hate when the garage is most of what you see on the front of a house. I prefer the front door and a big porch to be the focus. There are ways you can locate the garage so it’s not the primarily focus or the door is perpendicular to the front door. I also see little need for a huge front yard. Put the space in back!
Also love: retro or antique details with quality craftsmanship.
Hate: Jack and Jill bathrooms - I don't like that you have to worry about two doors when you need to use the toilet (especially in the middle of the night) and I don't like that you are basically making a shared bathroom in accessible to the rest of the house unless you traipse through a bedroom.
Open shelves in kitchens, but also hanging pans in kitchens. It looks so cluttered to me, even when the stuff is nicely staged. Plus, stoves are messy! I can't imagine how much gunk gets on your dishes/pans if you do that (like when people hang all their pans over their stove top).
Space for kitchen tables. I just don't need it.
Galley kitchens. I have a great sort of L-shaped kitchen.
Meh: Those square grids in windows, but really only if you have a nice view. You are over looking a lake! Why are you obstructing your view?
Love: Large pantries. I have a very large pantry right now, but it has bi-fold doors on it and I can never get my H to close them, which has driven me bonkers for 18 years. I hate constantly look at all our food, random bags/appliances, etc.. When we remodel, it's becoming closed cabinetry, even if I loose a little space (because he will close cabinet doors).
Well designed storage. Our coat closet is pretty standard for a house built in the '70s, although the vent for the furnace runs through it so it's a little small. But whoever built it put the bar for coats down low, with a bunch of shelves above. It's great. It wouldn't be tall enough for a trench coat, but it fits regular length jackets just fine, and then we have a space for games, puzzles, and a little sterilite drawer thing that acts as our junk drawer.
Deep garages + garage with a nook. Our garage isn't as wide as I would like, but it's long enough that we can have a workbench and storage for tools and extra cat litter in the back. We also have a little nook where we have our freezer, bikes, and garbage/recycling bins.
Dislike: Open kitchen/living area Cathedral ceilings Islands with seating and a cooktop and/or sink (who wants to have front row seats to splashing water and splattering oil?) Polished granite countertops (so cold and way too shiny) Subway tile backsplashes Snap-in mullions on windows, no matter how convenient to clean Greige walls (or any variation thereon) Kitchen cabinets that don't reach the ceiling Lots that are way too small for the house that's on them SHIPLAP
Like: Mudrooms Eat-in kitchens Large gas ranges (I adore our Wolf 8-burner) Soapstone or honed granite countertops Wood floors Color (not just an accent wall). So tired of the relentless neutrals in American interior design. One-level living (basically impossible to find where we are)
ETA: How could I forget my personal biggest pet peeve, lol?: Random columns, usually between a living/dining room or kitchen, that serve no structural purpose.
I hate not having a mudroom. We are getting one added on this fall and I cannot wait. Popcorn Ceilings. Both homes we owned (built in the 90s) have had popcorn ceilings and I just do not understand it.
Same. We live in a townhouse so it's fine, I don't expect to have one there. But it's a must for our next house. Right now both our front door and interior garage door open into a small stairway landing so there's zero room for even a little storage bench. I guess at least it keeps us from cluttering the area because we store most stuff in the small closet that's adjacent.
I hate not having a mudroom. We are getting one added on this fall and I cannot wait. Popcorn Ceilings. Both homes we owned (built in the 90s) have had popcorn ceilings and I just do not understand it.
Same. We live in a townhouse so it's fine, I don't expect to have one there. But it's a must for our next house. Right now both our front door and interior garage door open into a small stairway landing so there's zero room for even a little storage bench. I guess at least it keeps us from cluttering the area because we store most stuff in the small closet that's adjacent.
ugh, here as well, but we are in a house. Our front door opens into our living room and our garage door opens into the dining room. We are taking part of the garage to turn it into a very small mudroom, with just enough room for a little bench and some coat racks. I cannot wait, I HATE having shoes, jackets and DIRT all throughout my living and dining rooms!
Dislikes: Open shelves in the kitchen. Do these people not use their kitchen much? Things get gross. When I wash my cabinets I'm always like ugh. I don't want glass on my cabinets for the same reason, plus everything inside the cabinet has to look nice and pretty. I can BARELY get the cave people in my family to put stuff away.
Stuff that looks cute but serves no purpose. I have low tolerance for that in general.
Likes: I would kill for a mudroom. I don't have one and I wish for one every day. There are so many shoes and not a great solution for organization (see cavepeople comment above). We live in Michigan and have a lot of lakes so there's sand everywhere in the summer, snow/slush everywhere in the winter.
Same. We live in a townhouse so it's fine, I don't expect to have one there. But it's a must for our next house. Right now both our front door and interior garage door open into a small stairway landing so there's zero room for even a little storage bench. I guess at least it keeps us from cluttering the area because we store most stuff in the small closet that's adjacent.
ugh, here as well, but we are in a house. Our front door opens into our living room and our garage door opens into the dining room. We are taking part of the garage to turn it into a very small mudroom, with just enough room for a little bench and some coat racks. I cannot wait, I HATE having shoes, jackets and DIRT all throughout my living and dining rooms!
That’s a great idea. We do store our winter and rain boots on a tray along the garage wall, and there’s coat hooks on the garage wall where we keep raincoats and umbrellas. But when my H kicks off his size 14 canoe shoes inside the house they are so in the way!!!
Hate: master bedroom sitting areas Our bedroom has an enormous sitting area that is a complete waste of space. It’s useless and indulgent and stupid, especially bc the other bedrooms are small and could desperately use the added square footage. Our bedroom is plenty spacious without it.
I need to think of a love...
Same in our house, the kids rooms are tiny and our room/bathroom are stupidly oversized
Dislikes: carpet, wood-look tile (pick one or the other!), glass-front or see-through kitchen cabinets, street-facing or otherwise prominent garages, bedrooms clustered together, tan-beige-white-griege everything, front doors that open directly onto the living space (aka no separate entry space), pedestal sinks, microwaves under the counter
Likes: lots of color, tile floors, entry halls, mudrooms, bedrooms separated from one another, solid doors (not hollow!), walk-in closets, cabinet space, large yards with privacy, natural light
I hate open concept and I always have. It makes a house look like a giant studio apartment and I want my kitchen separate from my living room.
Every family I know who has a living room and a family room uses only one of them and the other is totally wasted space.
I don’t like front doors with “fancy” glass panels.
I dislike dark wood floors.
I love a good front porch.
I miss the gorgeous pantry I had in my last house.
The front porch and back deck are the reasons we bought our current house. There are many issues that we have with it, but it is all worth it for the outdoor living space that we use YEAR round (even in the dead of winter because they are covered!)
I HATTTTTE Jack and Jill bathrooms. First of all, annoying to make sure the right doors are locked when they need to be. Also--it's so loud and disruptive if someone uses the bathroom while someone is sleeping. Between the lights turning on and people messing around in the bathroom it almost always wakes me up. I would 100% rather access the bathroom from the hallway. Also--in general the jack and jill connects 2 childrens bathrooms and honestly kids don't need the "privacy" of accessing the bathroom from their room. And if I had a toddler one one side I would hate that they can access the bathroom directly from their room with the ability to mess around in there.
Around here the "in" floorplan has jack and jill bathroom for bedrooms 2 and 3 and I just don't understand the trend. I have strong feelings about this. LOL Much prefer our regular "hallway" bathroom.
I also do not understand sitting areas in master bedrooms. What a waste of space. Although a gas fireplace in the master would be lovely. LOL
We just bought our first house last year (after owning two condos), and it's basically everything we wanted, but my MUST GO list is growing.
HATE: - light-colored floor tiles in the bathroom and kitchen - hardwood that faces one direction in the living room, but is perpendicular to that in the room next door (WHY??) - laundry in the basement - concrete front steps with metal railings - every light fixture ever in all the places I've owned. Lol, apparently, I'm picky. - almost all recessed lighting. It's hard to do right. - tray ceilings, and ornate woodwork just for the sake of looking fancy - dark cabinets in kitchen, dark hardwood floors - most "updated" tiling in kitchens in bathrooms (I don't actually hate these things in other people's houses. Dark would can look really nice, for instance. Just in mine.)
LOVE: - built in shelving - old house woodwork - reclaimed hardwood floors, or original floors in old houses - claw foot tubs, or any big tub - window seats - big front porches, yes! I miss mine from my old place so much. - mature landscaping and/or less grass, more climate-appropriate gardens - a "circuit," where the downstairs rooms flow in a circle or figure eight.
Post by expectantsteelerfan on May 7, 2021 15:06:45 GMT -5
Oh, reading through this reminded me of 2 more that I REALLY hate: Pedestal sinks and transom (especially half-circle) windows, ESPECIALLY in the master bedroom. I'm also not a fan of skylights in general, and also especially in the master bedroom. Natural light is great and all, but I'm an insomniac, and I don't want natural light to be un-block-able so that it wakes me up if I happen to miraculously be able to sleep in.
And something I love that I forgot about because I didn't know they existed until we saw a house with one...a gas fireplace that is on the back wall so that you can use it in the living space and the outdoor space!
The kitchen desk/ fridge/ wet bar posts got me thinking.
What are some things you love in home design? What are some things that annoy you? Big or small.
We’ve been looking at rebuilding on our lot and one builder does these really modern homes but every design has Jack and Jill bath for the kids a d a kitchen desk. WTF? How are Jack and jill baths still a thing - let alone a default? Have none of these people ever lived with the guaranteed kid blow up that is a bathroom where either one is locking the other out all the time or they are walking in on each other inadvertently? we lived for a year as a kid with one and it was the worst. I’d much rather have all four of us share one bath than have that mess.
We love the Jack and Jill for the kids! They used to fight over the single bathroom before and now we have a Jack and Jill with a separate toilet/shower room and the two of them share a double vanity and it works great.
I hate our huge mast bedroom. It’s 250 square feet. It’s ridiculous
The kitchen desk/ fridge/ wet bar posts got me thinking.
What are some things you love in home design? What are some things that annoy you? Big or small.
We’ve been looking at rebuilding on our lot and one builder does these really modern homes but every design has Jack and Jill bath for the kids a d a kitchen desk. WTF? How are Jack and jill baths still a thing - let alone a default? Have none of these people ever lived with the guaranteed kid blow up that is a bathroom where either one is locking the other out all the time or they are walking in on each other inadvertently? we lived for a year as a kid with one and it was the worst. I’d much rather have all four of us share one bath than have that mess.
We love the Jack and Jill for the kids! They used to fight over the single bathroom before and now we have a Jack and Jill with a separate toilet/shower room and the two of them share a double vanity and it works great.
I hate our huge mast bedroom. It’s 250 square feet. It’s ridiculous
I was curious about our sq. footage so I just checked out my robot vac report. 370 sq ft!!!! That’s not even counting 2 walk in closets, 2 other big wall closets, and the furniture the vac can’t get under!! What a huge waste. Our house isn’t huge by any means.
ugh, here as well, but we are in a house. Our front door opens into our living room and our garage door opens into the dining room. We are taking part of the garage to turn it into a very small mudroom, with just enough room for a little bench and some coat racks. I cannot wait, I HATE having shoes, jackets and DIRT all throughout my living and dining rooms!
When we lived in Georgia, we had a mudroom, which ended up being a great spot for my treadmill and spin bike, lol.
Now that we live in a place that is snow or mud like 3/4 of the year, and sand the other 1/4, give me all the spaaace for a mudroom. We’re thinking of bumping ours out further because bags and coats overfloweth. Are you doing built in cabinets/bench? I’d love to see the finished product. Fancy mudroom designs are my current obsession.
Not so much a design thing, but functionality. A lot of the homes built around here from the early 2000’s and earlier don’t have any lighting in the bedrooms. You have to provide it with lamps. It was an annoyance when we moved in and then a friend who is house hunting commented on noticing that about so many houses. Not one of our 3 bedrooms has any installed lights. They do all have ceiling fans though, but those may have been put in by previous owners and not original to the house.
I noticed that as a kid here in CO happening in the 80’s. The house I gre up in from 74 has ceiling lights centered in each room. My 79 house now has them in front of the closets, not centered, which is weird making the other corner of the room dark, but at least half functional?!
Post by themoneytree on May 7, 2021 20:44:16 GMT -5
Dislike:
Huge bedroom sitting area. Huge square main bathrooms with lots of empty space. Kitchen islands that are too small or have cook top/ sink in them. Low ceilings. Kitchen cabinets that don’t go to the ceiling. Microwaves above the range. Carpet.
Like:
Charm and Character. Wow factor of some sort. Natural light. First floor guest room with full bathroom (our last 3 homes have had this and it’s amazing). Chandeliers. 100 + year old homes but with practical living. Original hardwood floors. Exposed brick. Crown moldings. Large closets. Front porch. Gas fireplace. Space for kids which keeps toys out of the way.
ugh, here as well, but we are in a house. Our front door opens into our living room and our garage door opens into the dining room. We are taking part of the garage to turn it into a very small mudroom, with just enough room for a little bench and some coat racks. I cannot wait, I HATE having shoes, jackets and DIRT all throughout my living and dining rooms!
When we lived in Georgia, we had a mudroom, which ended up being a great spot for my treadmill and spin bike, lol.
Now that we live in a place that is snow or mud like 3/4 of the year, and sand the other 1/4, give me all the spaaace for a mudroom. We’re thinking of bumping ours out further because bags and coats overfloweth. Are you doing built in cabinets/bench? I’d love to see the finished product. Fancy mudroom designs are my current obsession.