If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

We're building a new home and I want to try to make it as hassle-free as possible. I want it to look clean even if I haven't cleaned it in a few days.

Some things I have already thought of:
-Light bathroom counters (we currently have dark granite in the bathrooms and they never look clean!)
-Hardwood floors with a more "textured" look... ours are currently smooth and have a sheen to them, they ALWAYS look dirty!
-Darker carpeting!

Would love any input... is there anything in your house that drives you crazy that you wish you could do over?

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

Probably irrelevant to the actual structure of the house - but I would definitely NOT buy stanless steel appliances ever again. Ever ever again.

Absolutely NO black granite bathroom floors.

I agree about the textured tiles. I have white ceramic floors in my kitchen and you can see every crumb. I hate it & cant wait to rip them up.

NOOOOO shower doors.

Message edited 3/21/2011 9:16:53 AM.

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

I would try to do as much to make my house more energy efficient. Such as radiant heat, gas vs oil for heating. Solar Panels, the best windows/doors, great insulation. Central Air.

I would stay away from Dark Cherry colored cabinets, mine always look dirty. Definitely no Stainless Steel.

ETA - I would do a patio vs deck. Brick or vinyl on the outside so no painting.

Message edited 3/21/2011 9:19:42 AM.

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

We did rebuild our house from scratch and there still are a few things that I'd change lol.

- Stain the wood lighter or do carpeting (downstairs only) so my dining and living rooms didn't look so dirty all the time...currently a dark cherry color which I love but it only looks clean a day or 2 after washing it.

- Move the door for my master bathroom about 2 feet to the right so it doesn't interfere too much with our entrance door to our MBR.

- Train my boxer to wipe her feet when coming in after she plays outside

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

-Central Vacuum

-Larger laundry room with enough room for drying racks. My washer and dryer are in a closet I wish the space was bigger so I could leave drying racks and the ironing board set up and not have to look at them.

-2 dishwashers

-A kitchen work area that can't be seen when you walk in the house. We relocated our kitchen and I love sitting in our living room and not having to look at a stove.

-Outside Plant more perennials.

Message edited 3/21/2011 10:33:29 AM.

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

I agree with all of the above. I think have as many closets and cabinets you could fit to hide everything so nothing is left out. I wish I had more. I end up having baskets and over the door hooks because we don't have enough closets or cabinets to hide stuff. My mom has plantation shutters as window treatments. She just has to dust them, no more cleaning blinds and taking down curtains to wash them. - but you have to love the look of plantation shutters alone to do this of course.

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

closets, closets, closets. And if you think you have enough... add more.

You cannot have a clutter free house if you have no place to store seasonal items, blankets, linens, toys, luggage, sporting goods, vacuum, etc...

Tile floor. SO MUCH easier to maintain if you have dogs.

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

laundry room close to bedrooms

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

I would remove the lazy susan cabinet in the kitchen and just make it a regular cabinet with a shelf

I would mount the kitchen sink under the counter so that it is seamless

I would put outlets up higher on the walls where I knew we were going to be mounting tv's

I would put in central air

I would put in those white thermopane windows, very energy efficient and easy to flip down and in for cleaning

I would have put in a full bath in the master (instead of the half bath that it is)

I would make sure that the master bedroom had enough room for a king size bed!!!

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

I would put a heated floor in the bathroom and kitchen.

Oh and if feasible - I would raise the ceiling height of the first floor to 9ft.

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

I'd turn it into a ranch!

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

I would have that vacum in the kitchen thing. Yea know under the bottom cabinet so you use the broom to gather flip a switch and it sucks it all up. Oh I would LOOOOOVE that

Add a fireplace
Add a dining room where this little nursery is and make the upstairs a giant master suite.
Redesign the kitchen to have actual usable counterspace and cabinets
Heated bathroom floors. I would do hardwood throughout the whole house.
Washer and Dryer upstairs in our hallway where there is a HUGE area of wasted space.
Egress windows in the basement

Can you tell we need to move

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

We have this already but its great and people love it.
In my kitchen there are no outlets on the walls. Instead there is a strip of outlets mounted under the cabinet.
So no matter where you want to plug something in on the counter there is an outlet and yet unless you look you dont see them because they are hidden.

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

central air
2 zone heating
master bath
no shower door!
oh, and no white floor in the bathroom. my dh sheds like a beast and he has dark brown fur. it looks like we have a pack of dogs living in the house!

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

Thanks! I think flooring is the biggest issue... rugs and hardwoods are so hard to keep looking clean

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

-Bigger dining room
-Bigger kitchen
-Dormer out the second floor. Create master suite
-Larger family room in the back
-Would never ever use paneling like these people did
-Never use wallpaper like these people did

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

We recently redid our house. I think the only thing I would of changed other than the contractor would of been to have a patio in the back instead of a deck. No maintenance and no animals living under it would be great. Other than that I love our dark cabinets and stainless steel appliances. The one thjing danielle wanted was a fire place in the master. We thought about it too late. The one thing I regret is doing forced hot air upstairs. U get so much dust from it

Re: If you could re-build your house from scratch, what would you do differently? (esp things to make it less of a cleaning/maintenance hassle)

don' go too dark with the carpeting! We have a navy blue carpet in one room (was here when we bought the house and will definitely be changed!) and has to be vacuumed numerous times a day. It shows all lint and white stuff.