What I will say is this. It makes zero economic sense to build. Especially in this market, I think it costs a lot more to build then to buy.

As long as you are okay with that, have fun! Research it to death, make sure you think through how you live and what you want. Document every detail with your GC even if you trust them. Oh and dont trust them. : )

And if "taking twice as long and costing twice as much" would place a real burden on you, don't do it. Because that will happen.

We built our previous house and one thing I'm glad we did was the square living room. It seems like a square is such a pleasing shape for that room.

Also liked the spacious laundry room. The master bath was too big, a lot of wasted space. Also had some pocket doors and built in window seats- those I really liked. Also nice was a wall of french doors in the family room. Skylights are good too.

Good luck with your project! I would be overwhelmed, too, if I were making such a big change!

The best advice I can give you is to visit the Building a Home forum as often as you can! You will find SO much great information there!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Building a Home forum

"What I will say is this. It makes zero economic sense to build. Especially in this market, I think it costs a lot more to build then to buy."

This is not true everywhere. It isn't true where I live since homes have appreciated every year, even in this economy. So, just make sure you know your local market dynamics.

The things I love about my home, more than my last home:

* The master closet is huge (yay!) and has a door to the laundry room....which has a door to the garage. For my family this makes sense since we are on different schedules. I get showered/dressed and leave, without going back into the bedroom and waking DH. Day to day, this is one of my favorite features about the house.

* Walk-in pantry. It's not huge, but it's nice to be able to see everything, have flexible space and take an instant inventory.

* Our master bathroom is large. I hated when my last master bathroom steamed up and got very hot. I couldn't get ready as quickly because it was too hot in there to blow dry my hair on top of the heat from the shower. The new master bathroom is roomy enough that this doesn't happen.

* cabinets to the ceiling..... I appreciate that the space is maximized without any dust collection area.

What I would change:

* Master bedroom is probably too big. I would also have sound-proofed it more.

* We need a bigger covered patio area. The house gets too much sun during the middle of summer. Make sure you think about the orientation of the house as it relates to sun, wind, rain, etc.

* I would have continued the hardwood into our bedrooms. DH didn't want it, but I have dust/pollen allergies and I should have insisted. I know I can always do this later, but it is inconvenient with all our furniture (and lives) in place.

* We probably didn't need a dining room....

"What I will say is this. It makes zero economic sense to build. Especially in this market, I think it costs a lot more to build then to buy. "

Not in my area! Real estate did not tank in my area.

OP - don't go by generalizations...YOU know YOUR market.

Even without tanking real estate markets, it often costs more to build than to buy. Try to get a sense by asking around people you know to see if they feel they spend more per square foot to build then an equivalent "used" home (albeit not something many freely admit, and a little tricky to measure, since few homes are identical).

And while not all markets "tanked", I would be curious to know of a market where, based on published repeat-sales indices, real estate has gone up every year. I look at the data for top 400 or so U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and I do not recall seeing that.

I'm still planning a remodel, but the one thing everyone has told me is to plan on LOTS of storage. Also, think about flexible spaces. Maybe you don't use a formal dining room everyday, but really want one for holidays and family dinners. So, what can it be the rest of the time? A craft room? Office? Again, well planned storage will let you change functions, to suit your lifestyle.

Really think about what spaces you use now and what spaces you wish you had. Would you like a mudroom or screened porch? Do you need more closet space? Also, plan where you want to put your furniture, especially in the living or family rooms. Will it fit and where do you want to put the TV? Much easier to plan for wiring, electronics, Internet, etc. in your new space, before you start building :)

I do have one thing I learned that should have been obvious (duh).

And that is, whichever trade you are talking too, they will often advise you to do much more than you need. This may be calculated, or it may be guileless ... they are in love with what they do and think you should have more of it / the best of it.

I learned this with built ins. It seemed there was no function too small, no whim too minor, that a custom carpentry built-in was not just the thing! But built ins cost an awful lot (if done right) and limit future flexibility. For the cost of built ins, you can buy very fine furniture.

mtnredux: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/09/10/1820933/tri-cities-comes-in-second-for.html

We can build here for the same as buying an old home.... there isn't a big advantage to buying old, except it's ready to move in (with trees.) :) This is true except for the short sales that exist...

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/09/10/1820933/tri-cities-comes-in-second-for.html

Lolauren,

I don't know your market, of course. And certainly Texas is one of the least volatile, not having risen much or fallen much. Less onerous zoning and less home equity lending really helped temper the boom.

The link you sent though, would indicate that prices did fall (albeit Texas certainly did not tank), since it says "the area second in the nation for best recovery in the housing market." If it is recovering, it must have fallen? But again, far less than the nation, totally agree.

I didn't actually read this article, but when i was looking around trying to find out exactly what market the tri cities are in LoLauren's link, I saw the article below, ironically.

I know I probably sound like a wet blanket, but for most people a home is your biggest expenditure, and so I just want to be honest. It doesn't mean no one should build or gut renovate. It can be very rewarding and a lot of fun and you can get exactly what you want. But my own conclusion is that you pay a lot for that satisfaction, so you just want to have your eyes open.

Here is a link that might be useful: You'll get more value if you buy older home Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/23/1596058/youll-get-more-value-if-you-buy.html#ixzz1YSSEoTAc

We were our own general contractor, but worked with a company that helps one do that. As far as I can tell they no longer exist. Sad because they were an awesome company. We saved at least a few hundred thousand dollars in doing so much of the work ourselves. Ofcourse almost eight years later and we're not quite finished too.
Things we didn't do that I wish we had:
1. Build a real stairway to the attic. It would have been easy enough since we have two stacked already. Even in a one story home if you can build one above the stairway to the basement it would be so much better than a pull down stairway/ladder.
2. Though we have loads of outlets there's two place we missed. On the opposite walls from the vanity and a couple more places in the upstairs hallway.
3. Light switch for the light over the island at both entrances to the kitchen.

I don't think we did anything that I wish we wouldn't have, but there are things we did that I'd never want a home without again.
1. Pantry. Whether walk in or large shallow closet. As mentioned above it makes it much easier to do a quick inventory before grocery shopping and if you're on a budget it can save you a thousand or more compared to kitchen cabinets. If you're shy on space then a shallow closet style pantry works best.
2. Laundry room near the bedrooms.
3. Walk in closets and bathrooms for each teen child.
4. Screened in porch.
5. If you're avid readers than an library is wonderful.

Granted many of what we have are luxuries that we'd not have been able to afford had we not done so much of the work ourselves.

My wish lists: electrical outlets near the roof and ON the mantle - for Christmas lights, enough outdoor lights to see in the back yard at night, more accessible closets in the kids bedrooms - (small door in the middle makes access very difficult.) No popcorn ceilings. I also hate scrubbing grout in the shower.
When we remodel I hope to find some kind of solid surface that doesn't look too cheap. Last one. I LOVE my new hardwood floors, but hickory glued onto concrete slab is pretty hard on feet. I'm no longer a barefoot girl. Ouch.

I wish that all of my doorways were wide enough for wheelchair access and the easy movement of furniture and appliances.

You've gotten plenty of good advice here. I agree about accessing all the great advice over on the Building a House Forum. I wish it had been there before we started this place 19 years ago!

My advice is more towards the actual building/planning process.
* do your research first and do it thoroughly. Really think about what you need in a house now and take into account what you will may need in the future as you age., especially if you're in your forties or older and this may be your retirement home. Think about how you will be able access cabinets as you age. I'm thinking about my 80 y/o parents and their winter home in Florida. They wish they'd had lower drawers put in their kitchen instead of cabs. At 80 y/o they're definitely having a hard time getting down to reach things in those lower cabs . . . and getting back up again! Think accessibility in your bathrooms, especially the shower and tub areas. Anyhoo, I'm glad that DH & I thought ahead and made this home of ours (inside, at least) aging-friendly for our future years.

* think long and hard about what you really need now, storage-wise. Personally, I wish we had more walk-in closets and a walk-in pantry.

* as someone already mentioned, think about dual purpose rooms: guest rooms/ dens; guest room/craft room; dining room/study-library; etc.

* If you do commit to building, buy yourselves a BIG ring binder to use for the duration. Outfit it with dividers, lots of paper and lots of clear plastic sleeve pages. In it, keep every receipt, every change order; every estimate; every pic you take during the building process. It's a good place to store your brochures and photos of possible tile, hardware, appliance, etc. choices, along with $ estimates, dimensions, etc. Another section in your binder for actual room and window dimensions, or even better, photocopied parts of the builders house plan with dimensions already on it . And, keep another section right in the front for your on-going To-Do Lists. Trust me, it'll help keep you sane and let you sleep better at night. Been there, done that!

*And finally, I mentioned taking pics during each important stage of building. What I mean, is take pics of the electrical wiring, the heating ducts, the plumbing pipes before the wallboard goes up, and label what wall and in what room they are for future reference. DH did this when our current home was being built and we've used those pics so many times in the ensuing 18 years! It was great having them to show repair people, reno people and just when DH needed to refresh his memory before starting a home-improvement project.

the thing that i REALLY wish we had done was bump out our kitchen abit to add some extra cabinets and a fireplace... i really would LOVE having a fireplace in my kitchen...

We have small children and moved to a four-season (+ mud season!) climate from a temperate climate. We jumped right into a nearly whole-house remodel but you know what we didn't do because we didn't know we'd want / need it? We didn't make a mudroom.

And now that we've done so much, spent so much, it's not gonna happen. But I wish we had one. I wish we had a mudroom with tons of hooks and a bench on which to sit to remove boots and shoes. I wish we had cubbies for storing backpacks and hats, mittens.

I think so much of what will make your next home ideal for YOU is YOUR dynamic, your family, your lifestyle, the climate, etc.

I try so hard to not play the "if I knew then what I know now" game because it only ends in frustration (ahem), but if I knew how our lives would change upon and after moving here, we should've built anew. We have spent w-a-y too much money remodeling this house and we could've spent approximately the same building and, in our area (Boulder, CO) it would've appreciated more.

So I try to dwell on the positives of our awesome neighborhood (and it is fab!) and let go of the rest.

I am v. excited for you! Have much fun.

We have spent w-a-y too much money remodeling this house and we could've spent approximately the same building

I think that's often the case. In a perfect world you could find an existing house that fits your needs without requiring extensive renovating, but we don't live in a perfect world.

We started out with a contractor and ended up contracting the last third or so of the project ourselves. We had a parting of the ways over the budget. I would do it again. I think we came out ahead on costs over what we would have gotten if we bought outright. We did do some things on our own, not alot, but it all helps. With the exception of a couple, we had excellent subcontractors and were able to stay on schedule.

Storage was a big issue for us. We have an attic, basement, 4+ car garage. Good amount/size of closets inside the house. A pantry was a must. Choosing how many and where we placed outlets, light switches, etc. was definitely a plus. Little things such as wiring for outdoor lights and alarm panel wired into our mb closet. Another biggie for us was insulation - hubby really researched that and as a result, our house is easy to cool and heat and it energy efficient. Things I might change - I'd probably enlarge my laundry room, kitchen and dining room a bit. Well kitchen, overall size is fine, but appliance/work area (leading into nook) I would widen. I would have started out with all hard floors, but we later took out carpet and added hardwood in those rooms. We also learned we should have done heat and ac in the oversized garage/work room - but again, it was something we could add. Don't forget to pay attention to the outside living areas too.

tina

We could have bought a 2000sf home for what we paid to add on and remodel. But at least I got to keep my 30 year old Oak trees!

The one thing we did, and I'm proud to say I designed it myself at the last minute, was bump out half of the LR wall onto a large front porch we built.

2/3rd's of the wall is a book nook, built in bookcases with a window on the short wall.

The other side of the BN is an entryway, which leads to the LR. Of course the room is very big so we had space to do it.

Ditto with outlets on the mantel, they've really come in handy. Outlets in the middle of floor, and if you have a hutch built in, an outlet there also.

Kitchen shelves around the window, very few people do this anymore, nor do they have a kitchen window!

This is just a little thing, but a small window in the master closet is nice. (To air it out).

I'm curious, how do you feel (besides overwhelmed) about such a big change? I have always wanted to live in a victorian (or other) old house, a new ranch will be so different for you! Many, many pluses to a new house though!

Assuming this isn't a "money is no object" thread, because I could really go crazy with that.

Things I love:

*Walk-in pantry (and its pocket door)
walk-in closets (although I wish they had outlets so I could iron there)
*balcony off the bedroom (the view is good; not sure I'd use this if it wasn't, or if we had no privacy)
*laundry on the second floor, near the bedrooms. This is HUGE in my house full of kids.

My only big regret:

I wish we had put a beam in the basement instead of having those stupid posts in the way every 20 feet. We just didn't realize that's how it was in the layout and now that we're trying to finish the basement....grrr

This past year we sold our 6500' 1916 Arts and Crafts home and built a smaller (5200') ranch with the master on the main level, and 3 guest rooms and 2 additional baths in the lower level. Miss the big ole place, but sure is nice to have less to clean.

Here are things I'm very happy with:
- Geothermal, super insulation and sealing. I was so surprised how nice and cool our house was this summer with no A/C except from the geothermal.
- Small master bedroom, but HUGE closet/dressing room. No dressers in the bedroom. Love it.
- Big laundry/multi-purpose room. This is where I have my office area (DH has the big study), and the freezer is here, too. Lots of cabinets with sink. It's right next to the kitchen and the mud room area. Very convenient!!
- Big walk-in closet by garage/family entrance. Lots of hanging space and big deep storage shelves with baskets.
- Siding. I initially said "NO VINYL - HATE VINYL SIDING"! Builder said he'd had issues with warranties on Hardie, so I was looking for an alternative. After ALOT of research, we decided on Certainteed Impressions, color Cedar Blend, in 7" straight shake. We get tons of compliments.
- Craftsman style fireplace surround and build-ins in the great room.
- Natural character hickory flooring with matte finish. Gorgeous.
- Premium hickory kitchen cabinets!!
- Big Sink in garage with hot and cold running water.
- Loft areas in garage for tons of storage. Wow!
- At first the kitchen seemed way too big, but I'm learning that the work areas are so convenient. When we had a houseful of company for almost a month this summer, the kitchen was fabulous!! And love all the big drawers.
- Big dining area off kitchen, no formal dining room.
- Armstrong Alterna vinyl tiles in the laundry. Great stuff. Installed without grout. Looks fab.
- A guest entrance (front door), and a family entrance.
- Stairs from garage to basement.
- Stained birch ceiling in great room.
- No posts in basement. Nice!
- Conveniently placed outlets inside and out.

Things I'm a bit disappointed in:
- Granite counters. Although beautiful, wish I had gone with Zodiac Bianco Carrera. I had Silestone quartz in our last home, and it was much easier to take care of. I know I'm the only one with this opinion.
- Wish I had bigger windows over the kitchen sink.
- Wish the range hood was a bit more powerful.
- Electric hot water heater. Despite the reduced rate of electricity, this is an energy hog.
- Not totally impressed with the stained/stamped concrete on the front porch and sidewalks. Could have used that $$ somewhere else. However, everyone else loves it.

Joyce, 6500 down to 5200 would still be massive to most. My house would fit in yours 3 times including the large screened porch, lol.

Did you consider tankless water heaters? I'd never go back to tank.

WOW! I'm so grateful for all of your thoughtful answers! Now, can you all please come over here? I'll make sure there's enough coffee and doughnuts to go around!

I've got to go back and read everything again in detail. LOL, Lori316, this is definitely NOT a money-is-no-object kind of project :).

Thank you, thank you everyone!

Folkvictorian: Good luck. Please remember that these opinions, are just that...personal opinions. You ultimately must do what fits your budget and your family.

Natal: During the build, we met with the geothermal and energy cooperative guys. They both raved about this water heater..105 gal, super insulated, etc. So we did not consider tankless. But I'm wondering if it would be possible to install now. Might be something to look into. They did find an issue with the hookup that was causing a seepage in the recirculating system, got that fixed, and that as helped tremendously. But the thing is still an energy hog in my opinion.

I'll second JOyce on the Certainteed siding. Love it and get tons of compliments on it. Joyce also reminded me that the builder practically insisted on stairs from the basement to the garage and we really like that. Very convenient (don't know if you will even have a garage and or basement)

Joyce, I am of the same opinion on the Silestone and we are definitely not alone.

Tankless is more expensive initially, but you save in the long run because you're not constantly reheating water and with a 105 gallon tank that's a lot of water to keep hot.

I also went with quartz. Put a piece of granite on the hutch, but that's not a working surface. I wanted completely maintenance free.

I'm with Lori316 on pocket doors. I'd put them in every room possible if we were to do it all over again. They have locks for them now too.

I'd not build a house if it didn't include a multi-purpose room off the kitchen for computers, paperwork, menu and grocery planning, sewing, wrapping gifts, filing for paperwork we use periodically - passports, health records, school records, laundry, ironing - WITH room for a very small sitting area for ME with a tv! hehe

And since our family is expanding with grandkids, a bunk room with space for at least six twin beds. :)

One large eating area - at least 15 X 20.

Bird lover: Sounds like your priorities are very similar to mine....the all-purpose room, the bunk room, and the large eating area. Our table opens up to 16 1/2 feet so everyone (kids and grandkids) can sit around the table together when everyone is here.

We did a bunk room for our grandkids in the lower level, and it is working out just great. DH built 4 sets of bunkbeds (so 8 beds total) for the "Bunk House", and all the grandkids love it. Have to say I'm not too crazy about making all those bunk beds everytime they are here, but it doesn't happen but 3 times a year that they are all here at the same time. I'm only 5' tall so it's a struggle. But DH made them a little bit shorter than regular bunk beds, and it's easy to reach in from the side to tuck in the bedding.

I wish I'd known how over budget we'd end up!

I'm very happy with:
Dog room w/ built in crates and commercial grooming tub
Walk-in pantry w/ entrance from kitchen and right next to garage door
Vaulted ceiling library/conservatory with 18 ft. bookshelves to the ceiling
Big kitchen w/ lots of display areas
Deck off master and first floor master bedroom
Laundry room upstairs and secondary laundry in master linen closet area
Big luxurious bathtub and master shower
Big walk in closets w/ custom cabinets made by our cabinet maker
Hardwood and tile throughout, no carpet

I wish we'd looked over and understood our tile and floor quote more closely b/c we got way overcharged. And that we'd made it so we didn't have a step up from garage into house. So far, there is not much else I'd change but we're not done yet.

We've been in our new home for about a year. There are alot of things I like but here are the highlights:

1. Large back hall with office, powder room, lockers, utility closet and extra fridge. Keeps all the mess in one room the rest of the house is neat.

2. Laundry close to the master bedroom. In fact there's a pass through from the master closet to the laundry room.

3. Relative smaller master bedroom with larger bathroom/closet.

4. Everything about my master bathroom. Get heated floors if yo uhave any kind of winter.

5. Large covered patio. We live out there 5 months/year.

6. Open floor plan

7. Flagstone for the front patio-this was a big splurge.

Things I wish I had done differently: you can do alot of woulda/coulda/shoulda and I try not to and just enjoy the house but:

1. remote blower for the kitchen hood. It's loud and especially annoying b/c of the open floor plan

2. tankless water heater. Our water heater makes a faint whistling sound when it's triggered on. Apparantly I'm the only one that can hear it, but it drives me nuts.

3. our secondary bedrooms are too big.

4. Most importantly be prepared. It's a full time job for a year. Visit the site frequently-they will not call you for questions-they will just decide for you unless you are there. Even if you've told them once how you want it done, you still need to be there. Basically, just pitch a tent there. ANd they will try to tell you that in a year you won't care but they're wrong. I still care.

I think there is a distinction between remodeling and building a new home. Much of what is written above about the escallating costs, etc. can be attributed to remodeling as there can be a lot of hidden costs and problems when updating an existing home. To name a few issues we had were a substandard foundation, termite damage (which BTW, I am very thankful we found and fixed) and then retrofitting walls for earthquakes (as we live in CA). Other costs that didn't really translate to new had to do with moving electrical and plumbing. I would hope that if you get a good contractor and set of plans, you would not have so many "surprises" with everything being brand new.

I agree a lot with rmkitchen about building for how you live your life and the area in which you live. This includes not just things like mudrooms and tankless water heaters, but A/Cs, basements, etc. In one aspect I am glad we do not have a tankless W/H as our teenagers take long showers. Having the hot water run out is sometimes the only way to get them out! It also important to consider the natural geography of your land, the orientation of the sun and sun/shade patterns, views, wind, etc. when planning for your placement of windows. From an interior perspective, do plan for empty wall space to either side of windows to allow for WTs to stack back. Think what your home entertainment needs are, where you'd like your FP, seating needs, etc. when determining the size of rooms. It seems to be a very frequent decor delimna with a FP and TV in same room, which is the focal point and how to arrange for seating. Many architects do not consider interior decorating when coming up with floor plans.

While I didn't following the Home Building forum, I did frequent the kitchens one which I am so glad I did. It's important to do your kitchen design during the home design phase since you'll need to have all your electrical, gas and plumbing brought in. So many contractors think of just a big kitchen with fancy cabinets, but it's important to think about how you plan to use your kitchen, what types of applicances you'd like to have, having hidden outlets to hide wires for electronic devices like laptaps, cellphone chargers, phones, etc.
As we were remodeling we did need to make some compromises to work with the existing footprint. Overall, we were pretty satisfied. A big part of the remodel was swapping the kitchen and family room. Having a big open kitchen in the center of the home is probably the best thing. If doing from scratch I would've scrapped my DR (or converted it to a library/reading/game room and had a big open every day dining area with a table I could expand to seat 12 people at. As is, I have a smaller DR and smaller breakfast room.

I also would've loved to have put in a mudroom and a laundry room.

Good luck, and even if you need to make compromises, it is best to work within your budget and not get carried away with having the best of everything.

Joyce, I would love to see your table that expands to 16ft! I am in the market for a kitchen/great room table that would seat 12 or more when extended. DO you have any pics to share? Also, people talk about granite being hard to care for, and I wonder if I am missing something. I have had Kashmir Gold in my kitchen for 2 years and it looks great. I was so pleased because I didn't have to have any seams. The particular slab was unusually large. I made so may trips to the granite places, because I really wanted marble, but got talked out of it. I do like what I chose, as it is as neutral as I could find.I don't do anything but wipe it. I know I should have done more by now, but I keep forgetting.

Deborah, I looked a long time before I found this table. It's made by Hekman. We got the table with six 18" leaves, 8 chairs, and the storage bench. Shown in these pictures with 3 of the leaves. I like the fact that it's 54" round when all the leaves are removed. The 54" width is great when it's stretched out and I put enough food on the table to serve 20 people. Hekman gets pretty bad ratings on this forum, but it has served our purposes well. I don't need top of the line, and the styling worked well in the room.

Thanks again, everyone! I've just escaped my quagmire of paperwork and made time to re-read all of your replies and make a big list of ideas!

Joyce, LOL, 6,500 square feet is larger than my hometown! I love the blue wall in your dining room and envy the incredibly gatherings you must have at your massive dining table! I imagine happy, loud chaos and I bet your parties are wonderful! Your comments about vinyl siding are funny, too, since I always scoffed at vinyl siding until I was 3 stories up in the air on a ladder, painting siding and trim in 400 degree summer heat. No maintenance vinyl? Bring It ON! :)

OK, down to brass tacks. Please tell me about pocket doors, anyone? I'm picturing the ones of the past that rumble and stick. Are they smoothly gliding wonders these days? Very appealing.

Cabinets all the way to the ceiling -- I love that idea since I love them in older homes. My current kitchen was added by a previous owner and has the 9" top gap that fills with cobwebs (Cobwebs? In MY house? NO!) and dust.

Our floor plan is limited by budget and by the site. Mtnrdredux, I think you're right that it would be cheaper to buy an existing home than build a new one, especially since we'll need to put in a septic system and fix or replace the existing well. But DH has his heart set on a particular site. It's on a gentle slope and there's already a poured foundation for a garage at the back. A building company that we've talked to gave us a sample house floor plan and we're giving it a shave and a haircut, but it's a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. It's a daunting task to know we'll have to live with our decisions for a long time. We're also planning for the possibility of my mom moving in with us sometime down the road, so that makes a difference when planning layouts.

Lynninnewmexico, the idea for lower cabinets with drawers is an excellent one. My 82-year-old mom has lower cabinets with doors, and with her knee replacements, it's almost impossible for her to fish out the rarely-used items at the backs of lower cabinets. (We've offered to add the roll-out drawers to her shelves but she's resisted so far.) Also, your advice to take photos of everything inside the walls before the wallboard goes up - what an excellent idea!

Now then, all I need to do is get the number for the fine craftsman/builder who did the last-minute bath and hallway touchups in Palimpsest's new place....

Thank you again, you generous, wonderful, GW people! I've written down an entire page of your great ideas and advice!

My friends in Minnesota have a powder room off their kitchen, and next to it is their mud room with washer/dryer, and a large "dog shower". It is basically the size of a standard 30x60 shower, but only has the tile floor and tile up about 2 feet. Obviously good for cleaning up the dog's feet in mud season. But also can be very easily converted to a universal access shower if needed down the road.

What a good way to have a family friendly space now that could be inexpensively converted to for use with an aging parent.

I'll try to remember to take a picture of my pocket doors tonight, but I know I won't be home until late. They glide very easily. It's particularly helpful in a room that's small (such as a pantry, laundry room, mud room). I wish we had them in every room.

I'll take picture of the vinyl siding too. You almost have to touch it so realize it's not individual shingles. It's particularly helpful for us being near the water. The neighbors on either side of us have multi-million dollar homes and they both regret not having it (We're the poor people in the neighborhood lol). There's an ongoing joke with me and my husband: What do the vinyl siding and our DS#5 have in common? No maintenance. Okay, it's really not funny at all. But if you knew them both, you'd agree.

Joyce, you have renewed my quest for a large table. We have 8 kids (6 still @ home) and our holiday gatherings often include well over 40 people for sit-down meals. Love it!

Another vote for the outlet on the mantel, but if you like lights in your windows during the holidays, I would also recommend including a "Christmas switch" located by the front door that is linked to the outlets near each window throughout the house. I love flipping one switch instead of running around and turning on all those lights!

Ditto the binder with ideas/receipts and I would add that you should take pictures before they sheetrock. I've referred to ours many times when there has been a question about what might be behind a wall.

For laundry, my personal preference is to have it on the main floor -- in mudroom, directly off of garage -- since I can pop muddy clothes in as they enter the house and also throw a load in at anytime, even in the midst of meal prep and homework -- and then fold the clothes in the evening while "relaxing" with the family. I was also able to include a laundry chute that dumps the clothes into a basket directly above my washer/dryer. This feature is definitely on my top ten favorites of our build.

Overall, after the build was completed, we found that it's the small details (for which we often had to stick to our guns--even in a custom build) that make us love our house.

Regarding pocket doors, I love the funtionality of them...not having a swinging door. We have several. The only advise I would offer is take a look at the hardware, specifically the edge pull. Ours has these tiny little round metal things that you have to push in, and they pop out so you can pull the door open. They are really small and I find them quite sharp. I'd prefer the lever kind where you push in on the bottom and the level pops up to grab. Hope that makes sense.

Here's a link to the picture to the ones we have.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kwik Set Pocket Door Pull