What Would You Change???

[Marilyn]

1. I'd definitely get rid of the carpet on the first floor!!!!! I was supposed to get a new floor in the master bedroom a while back, but sadly it never happened.

2. Our lot was too small to build all one story and get all the rooms that we wanted, but I'd have a one story. It was nice having the girls upstairs when they were in high school. The separation was nice, but now with Emma and Karen having to carry her up and down our very tall stairs it's not good. I just want everything on the same level.

3. Rex is having trouble sleeping without background noise like the TV on all the time. I need quiet, and he claims that I snore. Of course he doesn't. He's up and down all night, too. So though I really hate the idea, I guess we need to master bedrooms. If we build again, which we are planning, I will be in the master and he will have another smaller bedroom connected somehow to the master bath so we are together but in separate bedrooms.

That's about it. Overall, I do love our current house, it's my favorite of anywhere we've lived, but for functionality as we move forward in life, the above changes will work much better.

[2tiredmom]

We have lived here for 10 years. The only thing I would change is the carpets and put jets in the masterbath garden tub.

[Janet]

There are really alot more things I would change if I could but they really aren't needed, just wanted.

[DianaB]

Marilyn, one of my Aunts and Uncles stayed in two separate bedrooms. My Uncle moved all night long and she hated it. When they built their last house they had a connecting bathroom. It was very nice.

When we built our house we tried to think of things to help us stay here even when we're a lot older. We have some doorways that are wider for wheelchairs. My kitchen cabinets have shelves that pull out so you don't have to bend down and search for things on your hands and knees. Even though we have a basement you don't have to go down there. We put everythng on one level......and if you do need to go down you can drive if you can't walk down the stairs. Actually the stairs don't go down straight....they turn back on themselves.......so an elevator could always be added if we had the money and needed it. We have a walk in shower with a seat in it. I'm sure that as we get older we'll find things that we missed but at least we were trying to think ahead. We won't be building again......this is it.

[Marilyn]

Our main floor is pretty user friendly with wide doors and lower cabinets, big open master shower, but that is just how Rex builds. We thought as we got older that we wouldn't need to go up on the second floor much, but since we are on a city lot with no real attachment and we can move, why not build what we want. Plus we hope to be able to make some money off the deal, have a more energy efficient home. Use construction techniques and materials that will save on property taxes, and hopefully find a larger wooded lot. We'll see...

[Lindsey]

There are two things we wanted that we didn't get in this house... a nice main entrance, and an ensuite bathroom.

Our front door opens directly into our dining room. We have a little bench at the door but there is nowhere to hang coats so they just lay on the bench, and when we have company there are shoes everywhere, right beside the dining room table. BUT, we don't have company very often and we rarely use the front door ourselves - we always use the back door to the garage.

The ensuite bathroom isn't a big deal right now because it's just the two of us living here, but I think it would be nice in the future instead of sharing a bathroom with children too. If we ever transform our top half-story into a master suite, I would like to put in a small bathroom with a toilet, sink, and clawfoot bathtub

Since we've moved in, there are tons of things I want to change! First- the kitchen. We have FOUR SINKS AND THAT IS RIDICULOUS. I want to put in new countertops - maybe granite or quartz, and take out the little bar sink and the stainless steel sink beside the double bowl kitchen sink (really, are three full sized sinks in a row needed???) I want to replace our current kitchen sink with a white double bowl farmhouse sink.

The other thing I want to do, which is started, is build a laundry room. We sold our indoor hot tub last week so we are going to build a laundry room in its place. We will have the washer, dryer, and wash basin down one wall, and some rods for hanging clothes to dry down the other wall. There will also be storage for the ironing board, iron, and laundry supplies. I am so excited for it! Then where the laundry is currently at the garage door, Scott is going to build a bench with storage and some hooks to hang things on.

With all these changes in the back of the house, we also want to change the flooring, doors, and trim to look more like the rest of the house. It was a new addition built on in the 90's and it is so obvious. It does not seem like the same house at all. We go from beautiful old hardwood floors to cold white tile... from beautiful solid wood doors to white doors. I have heard dozens of times that if you can't match hardwood exactly, go completely opposite. We obviously can't match these 100 year old floors. The colors are already different in every room and even in parts of the same room! They are worn and discolored and stained and honestly, to me, just perfect. There is so much character. So in this case, I don't know if it would make a huge difference if we did a wood or wood-look floor and it didn't look exactly the same. The house is old!

[Marilyn]

Lindsey, you have a good eye fee design. Sounds like you have some good projects ahead!!