A three-car garage is the smallest practical storage unit for unused and miscellaneous winter gear, for which one is willing to build and finance with a 30-year mortgage, instead of any other storage alternative. And for which family and work vehicles are left in the driveway or at curbside in all weather conditions.

Half of that double-door entry to your master bedroom will never be used, except by the cats taking turns rattling it in the middle of the night.

Arg! Wish I would have thought about that one! DW and I will need to discuss more while there is still time. Thanks.

That large door that leads from the bathroom to the walk in closet is nice and pretty and big enough for a possible wheelchair if needed in the future, but it is in the way when you have to open it and then walk around it within the closet to get to the lovely built in shelving on the other side of it. Bifold or pocket door would have been better ideas.

The tower on the master bath counter was a great idea to solve a storage dilemma, but we should have made sure there was a drawer or false drawer beneath the door. As it is the door swing knocks everything off the counter. It makes us diligent in keeping the counter tidy, but it's a pain that I can't take off my glasses and place them there, and then open the tower to get my moisturizer, or allow my hot hair dryer to cool while getting out my hair spray.

Turning otherwise hidden spaces into nifty closets isn't as smart an idea as it may sound. Especially when they take attention away from what were supposed to be the home's eyecatching luxury features.

Lots of counter space in the laundry room just becomes lots of space to fill with clothes awaiting folding, allowing extra procrastination.

Beautiful built-in storage in the playroom is a waste. While it looks lovely, storage needs change as kiddos grow, and the beautiful storage doesn't fit their latest toy passion. I wish we'd done an empty room and Ikea bookshelves/storage that I could change out easily without feeling guilty.

French doors to patio, like the double doors to the master that mrrogerscardigan describes, just become a single narrow door since we never open the second side. One larger door would have made a lot more sense.

Don't put exterior doors where you don't need them. We put in an extra set of french doors to the patio in the playroom (which is right next to the dining room with french doors). We never use them and regret the cost (and fact its one more set of doors to worry about security-wise).

Ahhh, the step down living room. In my previous home the large foyer/entry was raised and stepped down to the living room on one side and the family room on the other (at an angle!). I can't tell you how many people tripped and stumbled in my house over the years. NO steps anywhere inside the the new house except for the stairs to the basement. :-)

Corrected everything we could have done better than in our previous home. Yeah sure had a step down in the living room in our previous home, though no one tripped, I lost a foot of ceiling height in the basement shop area and that was a bummer. In the new home being built, except steps leading up to the media/gym there are zero steps in the house. No narrow doors any more, at least 32 -36" wide depending on access needs. No tight or dark WICs; when our home was being packed prior to our move, I saw brand new clothes in my WIC I never knew I had. The list is long and won't bore readers with more here.

If you are petite, and it's 1970, designing custom lower cabinets an inch or two lower than standard. Everything works out just fine, but what about the dishwasher? See my thread "a moment of silence" in Appliances. Thank goodness for ADA and DishDrawers, not available in 1970.

Not in our new house yet, but I'm already regretting how small our linen closet is in our master bath. I honestly think it was framed wrong because it looked bigger on the plan. We will have to creatively fold our towels so they fit!

In our current house, our long narrow laundry room is awful to navigate with baskets done or waiting clothes.

gthigpen Most new master bath's I've seen in new homes in this area seem to have linen closet depth extending past the vanity; in my design I've opted for 22" depth to match vanity cabinets though it will be 24" wide; still trying to decide if single or double doors and hoping it will suffice. I may need to look into the bath forum.

Should have had a bit more tenacity about that laundry chute I wanted when we remodeled 33 years ago. Surely, it could have been done...

Pinebaron... I'd lean towards single door (Its what we have).... My reasoning is that if you have a few towels in your hands, who wants to open two doors. similarly if you want to get something out that is small, its always behind the door you didn't open. And, getting linens out will also require opening both doors. Not a ton of effort, but I like simple.

Ledges...no ledges. Who's going to clean up there?

Side doors to nowhere.

Flat roof sections...nice in photos.

How many cans in the dining room? Eight? Really?

Oversize shower. That's a crapton of grout.

SHIPLAP!!!!

Arrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhh gah!

Where the hell is the guest linen closet!! How did I miss that? I will someday take a foot Or so from the backside wall of the hall coat closet that faces the guest room, we only use it for our coat storage anyway. Guests usually flop their coats on the decon's bench inside the foyer.

Sacrificing much needed upper cabinet space to have a beautiful oversized mantel hood in the kitchen...been there, done that. Not doing it again.

Separate, beautiful "cubbies". In my family, they didn't work. No one bothered to keep their stuff separate and it was just a cluttered mess most of the time. So this time the mess will be behind closed doors.

If you are building and have young children but no pets....for the love of God..,please consult with your pet-owning friends about what features would make pet ownership easier & happier in your home!! Even if you think you never will (I have allergies and am a complete clean freak) your children will have other ideas. :) What I wouldn't give for 3 more feet in my mudroom, doggie bath, and hot water tap outside for giving baths outdoors. Plus built-in beds in mudroom....ah, the list goes on and on...

I loved my oversize shower and we're building another one :-)

However, as pretty as the 36" cooktop was, I really didn't need one that big.

I'd pay more attention to the height of door openings compared to ceiling height.

I'd look at built-in hutches as opposed to closets (esp the one I did in the eating area).

I do love closets :-)

- Live in a house for awhile before jumping into remodeling it. If you dont, you might end up tearing out the things you remodeled when you realize other options are better after living in it.

- If you want a minimalist look without baseboards and door frames, remove them BEFORE laying out the new floor. Also, if you want in floor outlets, consider that before laying out the floor.

- Don't buy expensive European cooking appliances if you dont cook. They will just depreciate and age in place, unused.

House isn't finished, but just realized I could have used some of my garage space to create a larger pantry/coffee station. Sigh.

Letting my client talk me into the "Greco Roman" style

Architectrunnerguy for a moment I thought you were serious and I thought 'What?' until I scrolled below. Phew!

Yeah PineBaron, if this was actually designed by me I would have insisted on MORE statues in the front! You know, go big or not at all!

Architectrunnerguy: Tell me about it, I went a little overboard myself.

Please turn the construction documents around the other way...

Presently building but in previous house-masterbath above garage with large doorless shower. Brrrrrrrrr!!!! We should have done the heated floors we originally wanted. Jacuzzi tub not supported by water heater and only used twice in the 14 years we lived there.

vinmarks - interesting. We are repeating the large doorless shower. Different climate probably. Couldn't get my wife to drop that tub - 1 use 8 years and we have the water heater for it. But as least we are dropping the jets. Also dropping the heated tile floor - energy waste - going with hardwoods. Being in the shower is never an issue for us and that is tile.

I'll never make THAT mistake again:(1) sprinkler system for back yard - waste of water and high bills

(2) using builder grade HVAC thank you carrier for leaking internal coils

(2) using sliding patio door

(2) including appliances into a morgage

(3) purchasing LibertyMutual crooks/liars/cheats/scumbags policy

(4) 30" cooktop for large kitchen

(5) two story opening foyer, with a chandelier that could only be reached by scaffolding.

(6) not using bottom trim on wall kitchen cabinets

(7) using marble countertops

(8) not using composites as a exterior trim

(9) using large wood decks that require every 2 year staining.

(3) formal dining room

(4) not making sure garage door installer - used two springs, and instead installed single.

(5) exterior window trim should have been upsized more.

(6) Installing heated tile floors

(7) Using nice looking shower faucets, that were not Moen or Kohler. Now can not get new trim.

(8) Not specifying taller elongated toilets.

(9) Using cherry cabinets, or not realizing that the vendor did not put enough polyurethane coats finish

(10) Not going with LED landscape lighting, and instead using "high end fixtures and bulbs" and massive transformers instead of MR16 LED light bulbs.

(11) Not Raising the house foundation sufficiently. Current house done correctly, the prior was not.

(12) Trusting the landscape designer - we got all common crap "plant material" you could buy from lowes, all was removed the following year.

(13) Not allocating more space for water purification equipment.

....

We custom built 17 years ago, overall, we are still very pleased with our house and it still works for us. We went from our late 20s to our mid 40's, had a child, dealt with aging and sick parents, etc. We spent nearly a year with an architect designing the home yet there are some things I would have done differently...

2.) I would have added a half bath on the first floor. We have a full bath on this floor but it is more formal. Our architect had originally recommended adding a half bath near our mudroom but we nixed the idea since the house already has 4 full bathrooms.

3.) I would have designed the laundry room to have counter space. This is a dream of mine, to actually have space to fold laundry! Right now it is a combination mud room / laundry room and it is a bit cramped although it is a good sized room.

4.) I would have added french doors to my formal living room and used it as a 2nd office. I did not forsee that both my husband and I would need separate office space and would work from home as often as we do. Right now he shares my office space and it is not ideal.

5.) I would not have put a Jaccuzzi tub in. We have only used it a handful of times. We have an outdoor hottub that is rarely used also.

6.) I would have installed a chandelier lift which our electrician recommended. We have a Schonbek crystal chandelier in an 18 ft. foyer. It is a hassle to properly clean it.

7.) I would have nixed the master sitting room since the master suite already has an exercise / man cave room and extended the hallway to make an additional bedroom upstairs. Although we already have 4 bedrooms upstairs and only one child we frequently have guests staying with us (the curse of having a large home, every event is at your house, lol). The extra bedroom would have come in handy. We could have used it as a an extra bedroom / son's game room.

Some things I actually like that it seems most people here do not: the double door entry into my master foyer, no walk in pantry (I have one with pull out shelves and it is more than sufficient), 2 story foyer / family room, 2 staircases, downstairs laundry, upstairs master, no prep sink.

In the middle of the build but if ever there is another build in future I will make sure that everything we are planning to do or what we have discussed with designer/draftsman/architect gets put on the plan and on the spec document. No assumptions. I have an awesome builder who honors those discussions but some of the things were not discussed with him and they are increased cost now. ‍♂️

Putting our 4 year old daughter's room right next to ours. Great when she was 6...not so great when she was 16. Kid's need their own zone. No matter how young they are. They do grow up!

I don't know, having the bedrooms right next to each other may help them to move out sooner.

Entryways without coat closets or shoe and purse storage for guests. It doesn't have to be big, but it does have to exist!

Not having linen closets. There needs to be at least one per floor of house.

Summit Studio Architects

Putting our 4 year old daughter's room right next to ours. Great when she was 6...not so great when she was 16. Kid's need their own zone. No matter how young they are. They do grow up!

Mark Bischak, Architect

I don't know, having the bedrooms right next to each other may help them to move out sooner.

Or, the parents will move out sooner? Or is that whom you were referring to?

21 hours ago

This is such small potatoes in the scheme of things.

So far, 6 months in our new house and my *regret* is my kitchen hood. Sigh..... I had a vision of what I wanted, had inspiration photos, too. That look was not offered by our cabinet company and would have required a custom hood which my DH is more than capable of making. But he was so busy with all the other aspects of our build that I just picked one of their available designs. Don't get me wrong, it is very nice looking but it's far more traditional than what I wanted.

My son has been in the room next to ours since he was born. He is now 12 1/2. I have always liked it. For obvious reasons when he was younger and needed more care. But now that he is a tween I like it too. Esp. when I can hear he is still on his ipad when he was supposed to go to bed. ;) That being said our rooms are separated by a closet and bathroom so not truly right next to each other, but we always leave our doors open.

This was a mistake my husband made, but I had to share for anyone else that thinks this would ever be a good idea. He still likes it, too.

5"x5" not smooth tiles with 1/2" grout... FOR KITCHEN COUNTER TOPS.

If I had it to do over, the major thing I would do next time is hire a talented architect. And not even necessarily one in my neighborhood as it's been shown on these boards that it can be done remotely.

Not hiring an interior decorator to help with the finish selections. Even if only to say "no, no, yes, no, darker, no..." How much would that be? $5k? Less? Worth it, imo. I did ok, but I was a little hesitant, and could be talked into things I didn't want.

Not doing the landscaping as part of the total package. I'm now paying for "design services" and the bidding rigamarole all over again.

Trying to save a little money *at the end.* I was so determined to hit the budget number that I allowed some compromises. Save money at the front, then give yourself a healthy contingency.