My father designed their garage to have extra space. You can open car doors without dinging anything, and it allows space for a raised area on the back and side for walking, as well as for storage, so it is out of the way of raining dripping and snow melting off the cars. Excellent splurge.

Having spent most of our lives owning 2-story homes with basements and the extra storage they can provide, when we built in FL it was a single story house on a slab which can have very little storage. Also with the FL heat and humidity, garage and attic storage are not suitable for many things you might want to store. We designed 3 large walk-in storage closets with high ceilings, which provides lots of storage space. We also put the attic access panels in two of the closets, so they didn't have to be in the hallway ceilings. One of the closets became the media closet with all the power and automation for audio, video, lights, blinds, etc. Very few houses here have dedicated inside storage space. I think it will be a positive when we sell the house someday.

It's interesting, I was going to say garage too. My parents' house they made the garage wide enough that you could open the car doors, and that there was a reasonable walkway around the front and back of the cars (1960s-70s cars). Now it would probably need to have taller doors. The other thing that was nice was that it was fully finished, plastered like the rest of the house, had an entire wall of deep floor to ceiling cabinets, and it had a storage room underneath it as well.

I'll say the 29x40 great room. This allows space between the kitchen dining and living areas to give enough of a separation feeling. It also included 12" pantry storage and bookcase built in along one length and built in bookcase along one width.

Great thread! I enjoy a big laundry room with storage and a sink. So great if there's room for handling our dogs, for example if I need to put a couple of them in there while a repairperson does their work, it's very convenient that that room has plenty of room for a dog bed or two.

I also love our big kitchen. I know kitchens can be TOO big, but ours is a great size, with 2 sinks, a double oven, big pantry.

Love the idea of the big garage. Got to have a place to store bikes! We store a lot in our garages, and the 2nd garage is a workout room. (We are in SoCal where space is a premium and a garage is a great place to workout, especially during a pandemic ;) ).

I will also add that a wide hallway really adds to the sense of space. I'd make hallways wider than the standard, if that were possible.

The mud room at my place is a necessity, so not a splurge. I would love a bigger shower so I can avoid having to clean glass doors.

Mrs S, YES about the hallways. I have always had a thing about narrow halls, and when we have house-hunted I really disliked the hallways that are the width of a door. Our last two have had a nice sized landing with the bedrooms and a bath off of it. I really don’t want to have to squeeze past people, even my family! (although, in the house I grew up in, the long narrow hall was perfect for our toy bowling set.)

A nice sized utility room or laundry room is always a plus.

Larger garage, a dish pantry with a good size sink and second dishwasher, and my utility room - has enough space for washer, dryer, sink, hanging space, spare refrigerator, and a broom closet!

Nice to see I'm not the only one that values a larger garage.

On wider hallways, what width feels good to you? Ours are 42-48" and I sometimes regret not going wider (it would have been minimal cost).

I also like chispa's extra interior storage. You can never have too much storage space.

Our upstairs hall in the last house was about 7’ wide, which was a bit big! but it also had the stairs, a closet, four bedrooms, and a bath coming off it. When I was doing a project at home in the bedroom we used as an office, my toddler turned the wide hall/landing into his play area, which worked out great for both of us. That might be a bit extreme for a hall, 5’ is probably just fine. But, hopefully there is good natural light, whether window, skylight, or solar tube.

Not my house, but one I visited: they took a traditional square ranch where the front door opens to the living room, and added a 10’ square entry, with closets across from the living room doorway and floor-to-ceiling windows on the sides. It is amazing what a difference it made in how the house looked, felt, and lived.

Truth is, the whole things is a splurge! Large rooms in a large house for just two of us. The house could easily work for a family of 5. We are homebodies that like having space, so we are grateful that we could build the type of spaces that we enjoy living in.

Art room with utility sink. (Some might call it a bonus room) We made sure we had plenty of natural light there, and plumbed it for paint brushes, etc. so I wasn't carrying that off to laundry or bathroom, etc. like in old house.

Yes...useful, plentiful storage that, like Chispa's, tucked into nooks and crannies, or in our larger pantry. And though our home is only 3 bedrooms, the rooms are spacious enough that nothing is cramped.

I do have to counter the huge, doorless shower love. Not being snarky, I want to really know: How do you keep it warm? I've used them in a friend's home and hotels, and I spent all my time making sure I was always completely under the water, avoiding the drafts.

@chispa nothing wrong with having a large house with spaces you enjoy! We recently met a couple who are building a larger house now after their kids are all out of the house (he finally gets the 6 car garage he wanted).

@Keen B, for the walk in shower, we do have to stay under the water for the first minute or so as it warms up, but it doesn't get too chilly or drafty overall. Compared to hotels, the walls are floor to ceiling so you don't get as much heat escaping out of the top. Additionally, the ventilation fan is placed a bit further from the entrance so it doesn't pull a strong draft. The instant tankless water also allows setting the water warmer if needed. The space is so freeing, it's hard to explain. But after coming home from staying in hotels, the extra space to move around is one of the nicest feelings about being back home.

Also, I should clarify that the actual shower is a little over 30 sq ft, but the dedicated square footage is closer to 50 sq ft to allow a "wet" walkway that is waterproofed so we don't have to worry about splashes and not having any threshold.

Another garage vote: at my old house we made the garage extra deep so that we could have a real staircase (not a pull down) to the upper level, which we used for storage.

In terms of size but not space, in my current house we replaced one window with two larger windows for about 11’ of glass. I love sitting here with a big view of our yard.

We haven't built a house, but I've lived in a few. I'll add my vote to bigger garage! Our last house had a 22'x22' garage, which was a tight squeeze for 2 full-size vehicles, lawn mower, bikes, etc. Our current garage is 24'x24', which feels SO much more spacious!

I think another place to add space is bathrooms. I like plenty of counter space and drawers, and a linen closet either in the bathroom or just outside. Every "linen" closet I've had is also home to things like extra hair products, cleaning supplies, light bulbs, in addition to sheets and towels.

I don’t need a huge bathroom, but something bigger than my 5x8 would be nice! Not so big as to be drafty or cold, but would like to be able to turn around in the shower without bumping the doors so often. We rented a house in Aruba that had a huge bathroom with one of those showers with multiple heads and jets. Never did figure it out and flooded the bathroom every time we showered since theshower had no walls.🤗