9ft foundation walls instead of 8ft, better for finishing the basement someday.
Conduit under driveway so I can run sprinkler system or electrical later.
Pre-wired for whole-house audio during framing.
Had all subfloors screwed down, not simply nailed.
3 outside hose-bibs instead of standard 2.
Center fixture in almost every room (we like ceiling fans).
'Panic' switch in master bedroom that turns on all exterior lights.
Outlets in front soffits that have a special light switch in entry closet. This allows you to turn on/off your Christmas lights without going outside in the cold.
Power strip inside drawer where we dump all of our cell phones/keys/etc when we come in the house. Cell phones are not out on the counter while charging!
Extra outlets in the garage (standard is very low). Who knows if we will have electric cars someday!
Exterior outlets.
Both kitchen range and clothes dryer have electric and natural gas hook-ups, easy to change types later when replacing.
Central vac -- love it!

WOW....So Many things I haven't even thought of! Love the idea about the cell phone drawer, I hate those things on my counters! We have a central Vac in our plans. What brand did you go with?
Thanks for sharing your ideas!

What about a deep drawer in the bathroom with an outlet for blowdryers, flat irons and other hair tools?

Outlet on the back wall of the inside of the vanity for charging electric toothbrushes.

What a great thread!

Barbara

oooooh, good idea. I would really like to be able to put my electric toothbrush out of sight. I'm putting that one on my list!

We've had threads on this before. Something like, "What do you like best about your house?"

Multiple hose bibs and dedicated elec outlets outside.

Three foot minimum doorways w/out thresholds.

MDF doors if you're painting; use savings for hardware.

Wide casings are permanent; can sub for fragile window 'treatments'.

Medicine cabinets made 4" deep w/elec outlets -- easier to access than drawers or doors in a vanity.

My favorite: A real 'back hall' with closets, laundry, powder room, 'staging' area for things going out/coming in, deep sink to clean the dog.

Airtubs.

Nu-Heat under tile floors.

Circulating pump for hot water everywhere in two seconds.

Dishdrawers.

Garbage/Recycling pullout beside the sink.

Granite that doesn't require sealing.

Covered entry doors -- don't get wet; don't fade.

Paver terraces are permanent; wood decks require upkeep.

Gravel-chip driveways are permeable and less expensive. (Think twice if you don't have a good snowplow person.)

There is a great thread - about a month ago - something about what is unique about your house.

I am a "back hall" person like Chisue. We have a mudroom and a large "clutter room". It has more cabinets than my kitchen.

I also put a washer and dryer on every floor. In the clutter room on the main floor, the basement next to my dog tub and our bedroom closet.

We have at least 4 outdoor spigots and our plumber but in extra water lines- seperate valves to each barn and pasture we can control from the basement. Hot and cold water in the garage. I think we have 6 outlets in the garage.

We went for broke on windows, our heating and cooling (geothermal), siding ( hardie plank) and our porches (Ipe). All worth it.

Whole house audio should be nice - will find out when we move in. Also central vac. We put speakers on the porches also.

We also put a big spotlight on the back corner of the house we can control from our bedroom. Same with security system controls- control pad in our room.

I am sure I will think of something else- and think of something I wish I would have done.

PD

We did the outlet under the vanity for the electric toothbrush.
We also had an outlet placed under all of the front windows and wired to a switch. Through out the year it stays in the on position for whatever we happen to plug into it. At Christmas, when we have candles in the windows, one flick of the switch and I can turn off all of them!

I did outlets in a cabinet in the kitchen for cell phones, but discovered we prefer to have them in the Master bedroom so we can hear them if someone calls during the night.

Am I the only one that never even considered an electric toothbrush? LOL

I also don't own a blow dryer. Well I do but it "lives" in the horse trailer and has never been used on human hair.

i too have the vanity drawers that offer outlets for hair dryers and irons (picked that idea up in a hotel room).
outlets inside kitchen cabinets...
we are putting a cable hookup in the laundry room as we intend to have a wireless printer there so as not to have the teens rummaging through the office and to prevent buying multiple printers.
one word (and this isnt a new idea just an underused one) DIMMERS!!!!!!!
switches by the bed that turn on the hall light to the bathroom
whole house audio is a must - dont forget outside speakers, and a system that allows you to choose what rooms project sound and shut off others

This was a good thread with similar subject.

Here is a link that might be useful: things you couldn't live without or wish you had added

Just found this thread. Great timing. We are preparing to build our retirement home in North Carolina. We are at work modifying the plans at present. Have owned the lot for seven years. I'm having a ball researching appliances and other great stuff. This thread will be a wonderful help. Our development requires that we either bury or hide our propane tank so your info was of interest.
Margaret

Can light over the tub on a dimmer switch for reading while relaxing.

Pot filler at doggie dish height. Saw that one too late for our house.

Water main cutoff valve inside house (e.g. under bathroom vanity or in garage HVAC closet) so that you don't have to go outside everytime you make plumbing repairs.
Back porch speaker wires also.
Safe room with electric outlet and phone jack. If you don't install a floor safe, affix a cheap safe to the wall of the safe room before the wall on the other side is sheetrocked.
Heated floor in master bathroom.
Use leftover scrap boards and plywood to floor the attic space during construction.
Narrated videos and photos every day or two, especially before major "cover ups" such as slab, insulation, and sheetrock. I am amazed at how many times I have looked at the video to locate studs, wires, pipes etc.
Door activated light stiches on coat closets and pantry (but not main closets).
Prewire for alarm.
Prewire for central vac even if you can't buy equipment now.
Make written record of name/manufacturer/codes of all color-related items (tile, grout, paint, flooring, stains).
If fireplace, plan for the otside vent that runs directly to fireplace and lay a line in the slab for gas/propane even if you plan to burn wood. No real extra cost and you may want to change as you get older.
Consider pre-planning for a mosquito misting system.
Ditto on laying lines under concrete for later electrical and sprinkler but also consider putting a PVC pipe in wall before laying slab that curves and goes through the concrete form below what will be ground level. Will allow for connecting PVC later that will enclose sprinkler valve wires or electrical wire for fountains, trees, etc. Can also run cable and phone lines so that that don't have to be exposes on outside of the house.
Think about your furniture before the slab is poured to allow for electrical outlets and HVAC registers.
We have a larger cabinet (48" doors) with granite top and another capinet over it in the dining room to store the table leaves, table pad, and folding chairs. Twelve inch angled dividers stick down from the top to keep the items from falling on each other. The granite top is obviously higher than a normal counter top but can can be used for the extra holiday items such as tea pitchers or bread baskets.
During construction, look at the areas in attic and consider where you may need to run wires in the future and put some PVC pipe in the tight areas. We had installed soffit outlets for Christmas lights but discovered we were tripping the breakers and needed another circuit. I had placed a 3/4 PVC pile in a second story game room wall and was able to fish the new circuit wire easily. Doubt it would have worked without the pipe.

stackable washer/dryer inside a closet in mudroom; second floor main laundry for where the clothes live.
floor drain and sink in garage before entry to mudroom.
for master bath: paneled beverage fridge to match cabs w/ instant hot. coffee pot inside a counter to upper cabinet.
for dd's room: built in closet with pull out trundle bed below for sleepovers.
ceiling "tunnel" from ds and dd's rooms to the playroom slide. -have to check on this as it may not meet code. we'll see!
hidden stair from my closet to my private "mommy room" in the attic. NO KIDS, DOGS, HUSBANDS allowed.

from one of the old threads, can't remember who's idea it was...
Second floor bedrooms with fire escape ladder cubby, built in below the window.

Kateskouros, that 'tunnel' sounds amazing! I also remember someone else here who put a little secret connecting door between back-to-back closets in the kids' bedrooms...I want to borrow that idea, too!

I blog about our "lessons learned" and our experiences with what worked well. I used this forum so much in 2005 when we were building. I keep coming back now and then with the hope of sharing some of my experience with the new folks now building. It's good to see some of the other alumni here, too!

Cameron
in North Carolina

Here is a link that might be useful: house blog