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.

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.

And lots more…

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

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.

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

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.

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?)

Thanks!

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.

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!

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.

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