Unclutterer

1. Posted by karry - 10/08/2007

   Hi Erin,
   Quick idea here: replace your traditional water heater with a tankless model. You instantly gain a closet with ventilation that you can store the kitty litter box in.

2. Posted by mindy - 10/08/2007

   I think everyone should have a pantry. We built one into our kitchen remodel, and it has been a godsend. It stores not only the extra foodstuffs we have, but also the brooms, mops, recycling bins, and seldom-used but necessary gadgets like blenders and food processors. Having everything visible on the shelves in there keeps me from buying 22 boxes of jello and shoving each one to the back of the cupboard.
   (You can see a pic of my pantry in all it’s organized glory here: http://www.ourfixerupper.com/o.....renzy.htm)

3. Posted by LazyLightning - 10/08/2007

   I think you hit it on the head with those features. Additionally I need to see a floor-to-ceiling area of the home dedicated to books. I can’t stand bookshelves that leave vacant space between the top of the unit and the ceiling. And with a husband who collects books, I think this feature could save my sanity when it comes to keeping them tidy.

4. Posted by Lana - 10/08/2007

   Customized electrical outlets. I’m tired of all of those stupid cables on the floor. No matter how you organize them, they never look good enough for me. I’d like more outlets placed strategically on the walls to accommodate our home theater system and computers.

5. Posted by Kristi - 10/08/2007

   An area right where you walk into the home (off the garage) with “locker style” area for each member of the family. A drop zone of sorts with everyone having a hook for coats and book bags, and some slots for shoes. This would MAKE MY DAY every day because it would get the clutter out of that walk-in area. My friend has it, and just looking at it makes me happy!

6. Posted by Anonymous - 10/08/2007

   A covered central vac recepticle in the floor of the kitchen where you could sweep all the debris in your kitchen–you would never need to have a dustpan and you could get all the dirt out.

7. Posted by Ben - 10/08/2007

   Central wiring shaft and conduit to every (double) outlet. Lets you add any connection (cable, phone, ethernet, speaker) wherever you need it, and not have cable go halfway across the room in order to change the room layout. 9-foot basement would be nice too.

8. Posted by Tom Karches - 10/08/2007

   1. Ventilation fan in kitty litter closet
   2. Storage under the floors accessable from the inside

9. Posted by zh - 10/08/2007

   On food network one time I saw a cupboard that had a swing-out shelf for your mixer — you store the Kitchenaid on it and it would swing up & out and lock when you wanted it, and then unlock and swing back into the cupboard when you were done. It was love at first sight

10. Posted by Simon Powell - 10/08/2007

    Your mention of the kitty-room and the laundry room / bedroom proximity reminded me of the Dilbert Ultimate House (Duh) designed in concert with the comic’s readers. Both of your ‘feature requests’ are in there, along with some other clever ideas!

    http://www.dilbert.com/duh/

11. Posted by twosandalz - 10/08/2007

    My dream kitchen has a cupboard especially designed to organize flat and shallow pans and cooling racks. My mother has one and I’m green over it… it had several vertical dividers, so you’d stand several pans between each one. Currently, those all live in a drawer below my oven. To keep it neat, you have to unpack it every time you want to use something or put something away. Needless to say, that much amount of work is rarely done, so its always a mess. It drives me nuts.

12. Posted by Rick - 10/08/2007

    I have a similar file!

    1. Pocket doors
    2. Keyless entry
    3. Automatic lights in common areas
    4. Shower layouts that do not require curtains
    5. A closet (8″ deep) that contains all the utility panels: power, home stereo wiring, phone, internet, wireless router et cetera
    6. full extension drawer slides
    7. full-depth drawers that use all the cabinet space

13. Posted by Aimee - 10/08/2007

    More space! At this point, that would be the ultimate dream home. Sometimes, the house is just too small, even after clearing out as much as possible. For us, it seems that our home doesn’t have the room to store all the things that we actually use. Of course, hubby could clear out more than he has, but overall we are truly clutter free.

14. Posted by Patia - 10/08/2007

    I have a list, too. On the top is: A 3-section sink — one for pre-rinsing, one for washing and one for final rinsing.

15. Posted by patty - 10/08/2007

    closets that have lights

16. Posted by Anonymous - 10/08/2007

    @ Patia – A triple sink…hmmm, that’s an interesting idea. I have a double sink right now and I like it, but sometimes when I’m washing something cumbersome, I wish the divider in the middle would “go away” so I’d have just one extra large sink instead of 2 smaller ones. I keep wishing someone would invent a sink that could convert back and forth between the two. Now you’ve given me something even more to think about. How about an extra large side (the size of my 2 sinks put together) and a smaller side (like one side of my sink). Of course at this rate I’ll have such a large sink I’ll have no counter space left. Oh, well, one can dream…

17. Posted by Andrew - 10/08/2007

    Hey Erin, wanna post the rest of the list? You’ve piqued my curiosity.

18. Posted by clodia - 10/08/2007

    @nameless

    My parents had an excellent setup where we had one large sink and one small sink (1/3 the size) right next to each other. The large sink could hold pans for soaking and all, and the small one had a hot-water tab and our disposal. Mom said it was one of the best choices they made when they were building the house.

19. Posted by Josh - 10/08/2007

    I’d love to have a home office designed similar to Joel Spolsky’s bionic office (hidden outlets, huge desks, wire snake trays, etc.):

    http://www.joelonsoftware.com/.....ffice.html

20. Posted by Baly - 10/08/2007

    A cabinet above the sink that has no solid bottom, but instead has a draining mesh bottom. Because I use the same 10 items over and over again, they would live in that drain board cabinet, and I wouldn’t need a dish rack.

21. Posted by david - 10/08/2007

    Wall-mounted toilets. Gunk and hair are such a pain to clean off the base of a standard floor-mounted toilet. It’d be so much easier and faster to sweep/vacuum and sweep underneath.

22. Posted by Erin at Unclutterer - 10/08/2007

    @Andrew — Some others from my list are: Fence around outdoor garbage cans to keep hidden from street and dogs, pull-out shelves in lower kitchen cabinets so that all shelf space can be well utilized, frosted glass in shower stall (the clear glass we have shows every water droplet and has to be cleaned daily to look nice), and a dishwasher with an adjustable top shelf (I just bought one of these and love it).

23. Posted by Red - 10/08/2007

    I already have the office designed in my dream home – from desk space to storage to what will be on the walls. Even the colors are already picked out. Now to just find a small home to put the office in… (and the rest of the house). I can’t wait until my husband’s desk will be in a proper office with a place for all his random computer parts.

24. Posted by Laura - 10/08/2007

    this is for twosandalz – if you have a tall cabinet, use tension rods to create vertical dividers for your cookie sheets, etc. – it’s a Martha (Stewart) idea that I used in a previous house – perfect!

25. Posted by Debbie M - 10/08/2007

    twosandalz, you could also use a plate rack, one of those things with pairs of wooden dowels sticking up that you’re supposed to rest plates in. This is what I use. You just need a place tall enough for these to fit upright–mine (and my cutting boards) are under the sink. Which means my trash is elsewhere (next to the oven).

26. Posted by Ornery's Wife - 10/08/2007

    1. Sound proofed laundry room near the bedrooms; that is where all the clothes are.
    2. Pantry with hinged shelf-doors that allow you to store things one or two cans deep in the doors.
    3. Pull out shelves in all lower kitchen and bathroom cabinets that go all the way to the wall and extend all the way out.
    4. Built-in stacked drawer dividers in several of the kitchen drawers for various kitchen gadgets.
    5. NO Grout in the bathrooms. What a PAIN!!!
    6. Large shower with no door and easy to clean walls and a built in bench for shaving
    7. In line water heaters at each bathroom sink

    Oooh. I could go on a long time! I’ll have to give this more thought!

27. Posted by Cole - 10/08/2007

    A traditional Japanese style home. Flexible multi use spaces seem common. A real effort at simplicity and a design that forces you to dump stuff because there’s literally no where to put it.
    I think I might need to compromise on the kitchen and bathing areas (but I do like the idea of a separate shower and bathtub.) I’d really like a well designed and simple kitchen but I don’t think I could go to bare-bones. I haven’t figured out how to have a home-office space in this sort of environment either. I really like the rice paper style dividers and windows, let light in but keep your privacy as well.

28. Posted by ClickerTrainer - 10/08/2007

    I am fascinated by the cool bookcase-wall on the tv show “Moonlight”. A bookshelf and wall art at the same time. It’s kind of like a giant store-style wine rack for books — I can’t even begin to explain it, but it’s on my cool dream-house list.

29. Posted by Lisa - 10/09/2007

    My million-dollar idea:

    You know those night-deposit boxes at banks, where you open a drawer, close it, and it transfers the item from the box into the bank directly. Well imagine that same idea, but reversed. Instead of a bank, we’ve got a baby room. And instead of monetary deposits, we’ve got STINKY DIAPERS! YES! An easy and stinkless way to get those diapers out of the house, and fast.

    LisaZ

30. Posted by Trish - 10/09/2007

    - one of those little rubbish bins recessed into the kitchen bench, so you can scrape stuff straight in.
    - a hole in the wall from the kitchen through to the laundry, to throw dirty cloths and tea-towels.
    - A decent sized bookshelf in the kitchen for recipe books.
    - Kristi’s comment above about a room to walk through and drop off everything. We just created this in our long narrow laundry. We now come in through the back door, the kids have a tub each on a tall shelf for their hats etc, there are hooks on the wall for school bags, and one of those canvas, hanging shelves for shoes for all the sneakers, crocs, sandals etc. Top shelf for horseriding gear that is needed once a week, and then a couple of small tubs for car keys, wallets, purses etc for mom and dad. All from Ikea for under $100.
    - a cupboard for firewood located right next to the fireplace, that can be accessed from the outside of the house so new wood can be easily chopped and added.

    I’m collecting ideas, pictures from magazines etc for when we finally get round to building our dream home. Thanks for all these other ideas!!

31. Posted by Gates VP - 10/09/2007

    - Recipe book that is actually a touchscreen LCD with a digitized collection of recipes. For space-saving, it should fold under the cabinet. It doesn’t need to be big, a 10″ monitor is bigger than the 4×6 or 5×8 recipe cards that we’re used to.
    - I love the “entry-way locker idea”. Here’s what my fiance and I are using right now. This little number from Ikea has a mirror and a small coat rack and a small shoe rack, plus it has a ledge in front of the mirror. Under the ledge are hooks, so there’s even a spot for purses. I’ve seen too many places without some type of ledge at the door and it just doesn’t make any sense. For families, I can definitely see the use of a locker system.
    - Cooling rack and pan shelves sound wonderful, but pull-out drawers are a must. I’ve been living in rented apartments and lots of stuff usually gets stuffed in corners of square kitchen cabinets which is such a waste.

    - Pull-out drawers for pantries can also help mitigate the “Where’s the margarine problem?”. Some people have the habit of simply stuffing things back into their appropriate receptacles, so you end up with the tub of margarine firmly hidden behind the milk. Having a pull-out drawer makes everything instantly visible.

32. Posted by Laura C. - 10/09/2007

    Recessed nook in kitchen (or pantry) for recycling bin/s.

33. Posted by Cliff - 10/09/2007

    I’ve always noticed that the interior of refrigerators tends to be poorly laid out. As though they’re thinking more in terms of how to get people to buy the item by putting lots of gew-gaws up front and center; rather than how to maximize energy efficiency and storage capacity. I’d suggest raising it up two feet and putting a (non-refrigerated) cabinet under it; also making the door shelves big enough to accommodate a standard gallon of milk; and put strip glow lighting in the floor, ceiling, and side and back walls, so that the big pot right next to the lightbulb doesn’t block the entire remainder of the interior from illumination.

    I want a “mud room” at the entry that is tile-floored, with a drain and a garden-hose. Shelving and cubbies in there (as others have mentioned) would be nice, too, but mainly it’s the set-up to hose down your muddy soccer stuff.

    I also want a live-in EBay consultant. I think one of the biggest investments I’m going to make in the near future is a light-tent and setting up a UPS account …

34. Posted by Lori - 10/09/2007

    Hey, Cliff — save that big investment and check this out instead:
    http://strobist.blogspot.com/2.....tudio.html

35. Posted by Jasi - 10/09/2007

    @Rick:

36. Posted by Carol - 10/09/2007

    When designing our house, I wish we had put the washer and dryer in the master bedroom walk-in closet. I wish we had planned a diaper change area in the master bathroom. I wish we had planned a better place for the pets to eat and sleep. I wish we had a bigger sitting area in our master bedroom.

    Great blog, by the way. I found it just recently.

37. Posted by Stephan F- - 10/09/2007

    My wife and I are foodies and we always are bring lots of food in. I need to have a garage entrance to the kitchen with a big pantry and landing zone for all of our regular daily stuff. I would also put the refrigerator near the entrance because that is where all the stuff comes in from. I definitely want the dishwasher and sink near the table so we are not shuttling plates and flatware across the kitchen.

38. Posted by Andamom - 10/10/2007

    If you’d really like to know — I’d like to try a few options out — such as a bed that is cut into the floor (meaning that the top of the mattress and the floor are the same height). This would enable me to close up the bed when I am not using it and not take up extra space (like a Murphy bed).

    I’d also like shelving that closes up and only allows for the basics.

    My end goal would be rooms that are multi-functional — I could have a dance studio / bedroom.

    I’d also love to have a patio/garden in the center. All rooms would have windows on two sides (one on the outside and one on the inside facing the garden).

    If you’re trying to ascertain what I am going for — it is a combo Japanese + Spanish Villa.

39. Posted by Jerri Lyn - 10/11/2007

    After watching my mom remodel her kitchen without having a CLUE about what she really wanted, I decided to be prepared when it’s time to remodel my home.

    Since then, I’ve started a binder that has ideas ripped from magazines and catalogs. I make notes saying what I like about it (ie, “I like that the shower has no door and the tiles are 12×12″)

    I expect it will be a dream-come-true for an architect or interior designer so he or she doesn’t have to read my mind!

40. Posted by Sophia - 10/11/2007

    @Lisa

    We have that in our flats in Singapore. It’s called a Rubbish Chute
    In old flats, it is in the kitchen, you open it, dump your rubbish in, and it falls downstairs into the Rubbish Bin.
    Although you are supposed to tie up your rubbish before throwing it in, because it is quite disgusting to be collecting soiled sanitory napkins or fish bones or soup the next day. Especially in a tropical environment where everything goes bad quickly.

41. Posted by Sophia - 10/11/2007

    @Erin:
    Great post and many interesting ideas in the comments, and lots of things I’ve not heard of and will now google

    Thanks!

42. Posted by Fred - 10/13/2007

    Such awesome ideas!
    I’m working on a drop and go “entry station” like Kristi mentioned, as we speak. There are so many great ideas here. Designing homes on a actions approach as discussed here really would be interesting to see. It’s funny to me how clever can look like lazy, makes me giggle.

    The washer dryer in the bedroom idea I’ve loved for a while, also, the floor level bed idea is terrific! (jus trying to figure out how to do the sheets and does it raise or lower?)

43. Posted by TallDave - 10/13/2007

    I want the master bedroom closet(s), the master bath, and the laundry room all together in the same area. And, not in the master bedroom.

44. Posted by MRacine - 10/13/2007

    Just picked up the October Family Handyman Magazine (highly recommended if you do your own home repairs/upgrades). I bought it for the nice plans for an attractive wooden charging station.

    In their New Products section, they have the kitchen dust vacuum unit Anonymous wanted. It’s not a hole in the floor, but a slot in the toekick, with a vacuum motor unit in the cabinet above. There is also an available hose unit for vacuuming the counters. I’d love it, but I don’t have the cabinet space to surrender. The website is http://www.galaxie-vac.com.

45. Posted by Marina @ Sufficient Thrust - 10/13/2007

    Built-in bookshelves. I have two right now, but they’re already at capacity.

    The more things attached/built in to the wall, the better! I hate things touching the floor.

46. Posted by adora - 10/14/2007

    This is very an interesting post.

    I’m an architect and always want to know how people really want to live their lives. One request that I often hear is “laundry room on same floor as master bedroom”. (often from women) When it is designed as such, people see how much space and view is sacrificed and will ask to move the laundry room back to the dungeon. Some people worry it will lower the resale value because it is “not normal”.

    There is always a gap between what we want, and what we really buy.

    For myself, I want shallower kitchen cabinet with upward swinging doors. It is really time consuming to dig through other stuff in a 12″ deep cabinet to find a mug at the back. 8″ deep should be enough, don’t you think? I also like those IKEA kitchen drawers for the bottom. I really want direct access to everything I need.

47. Posted by kLAcK - 10/16/2007

    How about a washer and dyer in one unit. First it washes, then it drys. You could have 2 units, one for colors and one for whites.

48. Posted by Leigh - 10/17/2007

    We incorporated a lot of these ideas when designing our dream house:

    Laundry room connects through the master bath to the master bedroom. Love it.

    Diaper-changing station just inside master bedroom (very convenient). Space will become a dresser area or built-in bookcases later.

    Pocket doors wherever possible (FABULOUS space-saver)

    Place just inside entry for coat hooks, bench, etc. Now we just have to build the built-ins.

    Raised dishwasher 6″, makes loading and unloading much easier. Dish storage in drawers next to the dishwasher and a few steps away from the table.

    Two dishwashers–didn’t cost that much more, and is so handy when company is there. Or, for that matter washing the dishes a family of 6 that includes 2 under 2 create.

    Climbable rock chimney inside the house (26′ tall).

    Ash bin built opening into the hearth (empties into the 11×4x6 foot masonry space under the fireplace–should take a while to fill up)

    Wish we’d done:
    -garbage slot to outside garbage bin
    -indoor access to crawlspace under house
    -MORE KITCHEN STORAGE SPACE!!!
    sigh–there are always compromises, I suppose!

    Love the suggestions about the fridge depth and the pantries–good ideas. Bed level with the floor would be hard to get into and out of for older folks, though. Murphy bed kits aren’t that expensive, and you can easily have a “cabinet” built to hide it when it’s in the “up” position.

    Leigh

49. Posted by Shelley - 10/08/2008

    As a college student I worked for a while as a maid in a posh house in Oklahoma City. They had what looked like a toy chest in the children’s play room on the upper floor. It was really a laundry chute down to the laundry room which was next to the kitchen. I think I would have avoided putting that in a child’s room in case they got ideas…

50. Posted by jcard21 - 10/08/2008

    • Underground home (security; safety);
    • longevity: stone & concrete;
    • entrance: classical arches & columns;
    • entrance: no steps!
    • no garage viewable from street;
    • accessibility features;
    • kitchen+bath counters bellybutton-high;
    • pantry (full room) off kitchen for storage;
    • washer/dryer off master bedroom;
    • french/foundation drains;
    • indoor sprinkler system;
    • extra-wide doorways;
    • kitchen: exterior walls: no upper cabinets; horizontal windows for views;
    • Professional kitchen: gas grill; rotisserie; pizza oven to 900F;
    • Large GreatRoom (24′x32′ or bigger) for entertaining with large gas fireplace;
    • Large, rustic, dining room table for 12 people.
    • MasterBath shower: curbless; big enough for 2 people; bench; grab bars;
    • toilets mounted to the wall instead of the floor, making the floor easier to clean.
    • Drain in middle of floor for easier cleaning.

    And lots more…

51. Posted by caffienejunkie - 10/11/2008

    For the men who have posted ideas here – You bring hope to single women!

    My dream home would definitely have to have pull out shelves in the kitchen cabinets, lots of book shelves (ceiling to floor), pocket doors, wall-mounted toilet, and I love the idea of stairwell closets or drawers. I am also a huge fan of the 2-in-1 washer dryer combo – I hang most of my clothes on a couple of drying racks so having a seldom used large appliance would be such a waste for me.

52. Posted by trillie - 10/12/2009

    I just got here via the “One year ago on Unclutterer”-Post, and all these ideas in the comments just AMAZE me. This shows yet again, that often in everyday life, it’s not about pretty design, or status symbols, or tradition, but more about what is convenient and fun (!) to use. Wow )

53. Posted by Trololó Sobre A Organização Da Minha (E Sua) Casa. O Que Falta? « Bicha Fêmea - 10/20/2009

    [...] é, eu estava lendo este post, que fala dos desejos da Erin, que (também) edita o Unclutterer, a respeito do que ela deseja [...]

54. Posted by WM - 10/27/2009

    Now THIS is something to fantasize about:

    1) A big room in the basement with direct outdoor access, concrete floors, and drainage that would have custom hooks to store all of my outdoor gear from floor to ceiling. The concrete floors and drainage would mean that I could put away my wet snowshoes/kayak/whatever with no worries.

    2) I know this is kind of excessive, but I think that spaces in-between walls, under stairs, etc are so wasteful. I’d like to have much of that space turned into built in storage. Not typical built ins that are cabinets that sit in front of the wall – actually built INTO the walls (you see a lot of this in Dwell magazine). I saw this one house in which several of the stairs contain drawers to store shoes. I die.

    3) I only believe in owning three high quality knives (chef, bread, paring) and it’s annoying to have to put them into individual sheaths. For obvious reason a butcher block is out of the question. I’d like to have a custom built wooden insert in my utensil drawer with a slot that each knife blade drops into for easy access and blade protection.

    4) Kitchen cabinets that reach the ceiling

    5) Living area is all one floor (except that lovely basement I mentioned)

    6) Surfaces and materials that are easy to clean. Love the idea of the vacuum groove to eliminate dust pans! Anything that removes a barrier to cleaning makes a big difference for me.

    7) Book shelf in/near kitchen for my cookbooks

    A great room, bedrooms, bathrooms, storage that THAT’S IT! No extra rooms to clean and fill up with junk.

    9) Windows windows windows and great outdoor space for eating/entertaining.

    10) No lawn to care for. I can’t decide which I hate more: spending my precious time caring for a lawn or seeing an unsightly lawn. Let’s scrap the whole debate. Maybe an awesome roof top patio for hosting margarita parties? Yes. In that case we’d better make the roof top patio easily accessible from the kitchen. Might even need a dumb waiter.

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