Here's a couple ideas - one big and one small.

Hot water heating system - the kind with a boiler. Cuts waaaay down on dust.

No backsplash on kitchen or bath counters. I always just ask myself, Why? It's just a dust collector. Have the counters butt straight into the back wall or backsplash.

Check out the book "Make your house do the housework" by Don Aslett. He was a janitor for years and has some great (and some outlandish) suggestions. You may find some very useful info there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Amazon link to book

Love how easy to clean our stained concrete floors are and how much it minimizes the dust in our home. We chose not to score the floor for the purposes of easy cleaning. This way, a quick swipe of the floor with a dust mop keeps the floor clean. I regret only installing one vac pan and wish I would have done more because the dust mop and vac pan combo makes a quick clean up so incredibly easy. Also, same dust mop stick has a mop pad with which I use the method brand floor cleaner. Just squirt and wipe. No buckets of water and a wet mop to deal with afterward. The mop pad goes right into the washer. For real floor cleaning, my steam mop does more thorough jobs, with the same 'toss the pad into the washer' result.

Had to laugh at the no backsplash comment. I was sure thankful I had a backsplash when my kid draped a washcloth over the faucet and didn't completely turn off the water, causing the water to wick into the washcloth and everywhere behind the sink. I'm not sure the toughest paint would protect against that much water. ;)

Love my central vac and how it vents to the exterior, minimizing dust and allergens. Make sure to stay on top of regular filter changes for the air system. Huge factor in dust trapping.

I would think minimizing fabric furnishings would also cut down on the lint accumulation.

The patterned granite countertops really hide grime, so if you only have time for a quick swipe of the counter, it won't look filthy and you can tackle scrubbing when you have time.

I would think a water softener would be a significant player in keeping the home easy to clean if you live in an area with moderate to hard water. No hard water stains building up and spending time cleaning them off. Along those lines, make sure your faucet finishes don't require special care in cleaning. Sometimes special care takes more time because you can't blast it with something that works fast.

Make sure to plan out organization that keeps things off surfaces. The more you have to pick up to clean, the longer it takes. Good organization = much faster cleaning.

That's all I can think of for now.

You are a person after my own heart. If there was such a thing as a self cleaning house I would have built it. Vac pans and central vac Hide a Hose have been a great help . I traded pantry space for a larger laundry room so I would have more room for folding and hanging clothes and a laundry butler. I planned enough storage space so I could keep multiple sets of cleaning supplies throughout the house . When I'm in a room and see some thing that needs to be cleaned the cleaning supplies are only steps away. We also picked exterior surfaces that are easily cleaned and will never require painting including composite decking.

I would also recommend a well thought out mudroom/ drop zone. It really helps to keep the clutter from finding its way in to the rest of the house.

Have to agree with dannie gal and sidney4 about how a central vac, especially with Hide A Hose, can cut down on dust and take a lot of the drudgery out of cleaning.
A water softener does significantly reduce kitchen and bath cleaning especially if you are in a hard water area as we are.
Good filtration on your HVAC will help a great deal too.
Another small tip is to place smaller items on trays so that they can be quickly lifted for cleaning. I find this especially helpful for toiletries in bathrooms.
Microfiber cloths have simplified cleaning. I now find that I don't need all those cleaning products. Hot soapy water and microfiber cloths take care of most cleaning tasks.

I think you are very wise to think through your choice of surfaces with regard to future cleaning and not just their appearance.

No soft surfaces. Everything concrete, tile or stainless steel and with every room having a floor drain. You can take the pressure washer and wash everything down just like a restaurant.

OK, maybe that's too much. But, if you do the bathrooms with the toilet and shower combined as the wet area and do wall hung toilets, you can blast away with water or steam and wash it all down the drain. The same with a laundry/mud room combo. Floor drains are great things to have. Put one in the garage as well if your code allows it. Nothing like being able to wash off the salty icy grime off of the cars before it starts rust.

Epoxy grout for your tile is a must. It's what they use in commercial situations and it won't stain ever.

Double dishwashers so you never have to have any dirty dishes hanging around in the sink because they won't fit in one load.

The central vaccum has already been mentioned, but be sure and put a vac pan in every room with a hard surface and two in the kitchen.

Slab front kitchen cabinet doors won't have any details on which dust can perch.

Sleek and modern doors and trim. Either drywall around the window only or plain 1x material.

Metal roofing and integral color cement board siding for the exterior.

Xeriscaping with low water use plants for your landscaping and minimize any lawn areas or investigate lawn alternatives.

And I hate to start the perennial debate, but make your home a no shoes zone. That means making a good bench area by every entrance with good storage for shoes. It also means having the "crime scene booties" available in a basket by the doors for those who might not feel comfortable taking off their shoes.

And finally, build a not so big house. 3000 square feet is a large house. Build smaller, with multi use rooms that allow more versatility in living. Partition your space and into distinct zones that can be closed off when not used. Make sure you plan the HVAC zoned to work with that as well. Who needs to heat and cool and clean an entire upstairs after the kids are gone?

MJ, I know what you mean about the dust that accumulates on top of the back splash, that gave me an idea though, just round over the tops and make them 1-2" higher than normal.

Danniegal, I think we are going to be without a central vac system as the floor plan is single story and really spread out. I have a dyson ball and steam vac "I have been usign the steam vac like a mop" that I use a lot, may incorporate that dust broom idea, thank you.

Live Wire, I am not planning on using any tile, anywhere, I hate the stuff "grout". Stained concrete, and wall shower backer board "not the cheap plastic stuff" it actually looks pretty decent "and is insanely easy to clean just spray and squeegee periodically".

Great idea about the no shoes zone, really awesome. I was thinking that, but I do amateur woodworking and can easily build a shoe rack just off the mudroom or garage.

3k SF "2900+some change" is a large house, 3 kids, family over frequently etc 3k will actually get used up in our family. 5br, 3 1/2 bath "1/2bth outdoors if we do pool", with library "CPU room" It is a single story. Sister in law is an architect :)

We have been thinking about shutters and found the coolest ones recently when looking, they are roll up but not cloth, semi transparent but of high quality "polyester"?. They are black and come in a myriad of sizes, figure this would be 10x easier than cleaning plantation shutters "not to mention lifting for light while allowing more light into the room".

I plan on having a pretty intricate landscaping as thats what I do. That said, I have learned a lot over the years "even though I am 30". Its semi country, slightly wooded between us and the huge home "est 4ksf" behind us. I plan on doing mostly native bushes, with hardy tress and perennials. I already have a couple of red buds on the back. I am thinking evergreens around the walkways so you don't have the mad leaf drop "maybe a couple of little gem magnolias" I already have about 15 Japanese maples ready to go in pots and will really have to think out where I want them. I see people all the time with high maintenance landscaping, flowering trees "like the camillas we have in our rental house constantly dropping blooms all winter over the drive/walkways", small leave deciduous around a pool, or row after row of boxwood/hedges that have to be pruned a minimum of twice a year "not a lot for a guy my age, but try it at 70"...

We will have about 1/3 of an acre of raised beds for vegetables in the back, near the well. The well is because of the insane cost of water, it averages nearly 150 a month in the neighborhood. Should take about 7 years to repay, must faster if we do a pool/jacuzzi. I have an RO unit for our small SW aquarium and am going to tie that into drinking/fridge and possibly the sink/cooking. The RO waste line will either go to a pool or some other use. Not only trying to make energy efficient/save $, but save a ton of time cleaning as well. The house will be 80-85% brick 15%ish stone exterior.

I am hoping I can get our builder to put down some 1/2 ply as the ceiling line will be fairly level and its only one giant attic so I can get up top. I would like to do a cheap permanent staircase to the attic from the garage. This should make it easier to clean out the attic every couple of years, something I don't think 90% people do at all.

I guess I just want this house to last, there is a decent chance we will be in it for a long time, and if not I want whoever lives in it to be able to enjoy it. Thank you for all the helpful insight, I will definitely be checking out that book.

If yall have any more ideas hit me with them, I would love to hear them.

No plant ledges, make your cabinets go to the ceiling, if you use window grids get the ones that go between the glass, no window treatments or use woven wooden shades and NOT blinds, no glass tables, and no two story rooms.

Reading this thread has made me realize how difficult my new house is going to be to clean :-) Thankfully, I'm not OCD about it and "clean enough" is usually good enough for me.

"I think we are going to be without a central vac system as the floor plan is single story and really spread out."

I am going to strongly suggest you reconsider. Other than the hard surface flooring in my house, the hide-a-hose central vac is the best way to keep my house clean. We are 2600 sq ft, one level. I'm not sure why you think it isn't good for your plan? We have only one 60 ft hose and it reaches everything with room to spare (I use it outside on our patio as well as in our garage.) I imagine you would need one vacuum system and plumbing to two hoses (instead of our one.) It is hard to know how wonderful HAH is without living with it, but it does an amazing job of picking up dust from our floors. I have had great vacuums, but it really doesn't compare.

RE: dust vac pans in every room...... I wouldn't do that if you get a central vac/HAH. I only have one vac pan, but I think it's worthless since the HAH is so handy and close by. It is the same effort to grab the HAH as it is to grab the broom. I suppose it depends on how you live and where your outlets will be, though.

Other comments:
* get cabinets that go to the ceiling in the kitchen (no dust collecting on top)
* If you have storage spaces, like bookcases, make sure they have doors that close in the spaces. My built-ins around the fireplace have doors covering them. Everything inside is beautifully dust free (or mostly? :))

A single story, spread out house with all hard floors is an ideal candidate for a central vac with Hide A Hose! I think you may one day regret not installing one when you had the opportunity although unless you have lived with one you may not fully realize what a boon to cleaning dislikers a CV with HAH can be. Remember that they discharge the fine particles to the outside and that they remove the dust from all surfaces including walls, ceilings and furniture. Our home is in an area of fine coastal sand and surrounded by large oak, pine and cypress trees, we have doors and windows open year round and yet it is ridiculously free of dust, thanks mostly to our CV and good HVAC filtration.

I have lived in two homes with a central vac, dragging the hoses around they have never gotten used much, now that hide a hose thing looks really neat. I would have to end up getting two, but that is better than having 3-4 central vac inlet areas. Are they reliable, in my experience things that recoil like that tend to wear out/break over time.

Here is the link to hide a vac, looks pretty darn cool.
http://www.hideahose.biz/index.html

I plan on vacuuming at least twice a week, I vacuum daily now with 3 kids under 5.

When we built our house, we did a central vac system, and I absolutely love it. Not only does it keep the dust out, but it's quiet to operate. A hide a hose would be even better, if only I knew about it back then. With extensions, it's great to vac and dust up high.

We have a vac pan in the kitchen, but I don't like the vac pan at all. Since it's installed in the toekick of the cabinets, it's not easy to operate or sweep into. And crumbs and junk get stuck around the trim. If I were to do that again, I would have a 15-foot hose in a pantry or tall cabinet that I could just pull out and use whenever.

We also have concrete floors - they're burnished (polished) so they're easy to clean up with water only. But beware, juice, pickles, wine can stain them. My dog got ahold of a bottle of Fuze juice, and spilled it on the floor by the door, and unknowingly it sat there overnight and left a large whitish stain. Once stained, it's permanent. If I were to do it again, I'd just do wood floors. The concrete will crack, echoes sound, and is hard on the feet.

For the epoxy floor, you said you're planning on charcoal color - I wouldn't do any dark colors as dark colors show more dirt than light colors.

My Hide A Hose is now in its 5th year and absolutely nothing has worn out or broken, especially me now that I have this! Like you I would rather spend my time outdoors, cleaning seems a waste of life to me yet I must have a clean home.

We have a 4000 square ft, very long home with 1 HAH outlet on the first floor and two on the second. I also have a van pan in the kitchen but I confess I rarely use it. With the HAH I can clean every part of the house including the far reaches of all the ceilings plus I have a separate hose that I attach for cleaning the garage and pool deck. That extra hose makes me realize what a royal pain it would be to have only a regular CV without Hide A Hose!

I am so glad you are exploring the Hide A Hose option. I have been raving about it ad nauseam for years. It is just sad to think that new home owners have a perfect opportunity to build in a CV with HAH before the walls are closed up and so many are unaware of it until it is too late, or are deterred by their builders who are ignorant of the concept.

I cannot contemplate living in a house without a CV and HAH but I am aware of one, albeit only one, somewhat disappointed HAH owner. She has extensively carpeted floors. It seems that HAH is best for mostly hard floors. We have stone, tile and hardwood floors with many rugs so it works perfectly for us.

Beware of tall/vaulted ceilings, especially with fans. Those are huge dust catchers and often hard to reach. Same thing with the two story windows.

Have blinds installed, between the two panes of glass, in all windows and patio doors. You can still add valances or washable drapes (easy to clean) but you won't have to dust blinds.

Also, cut down on clutter. It's not difficult to dust a display shelf...it takes about 10 seconds. Dusting all the stuff ON the shelf is what takes so long :)

oceandweller- if you search hide-a-hose threads on this forum, you will see countless positive reviews... Most people love their HAH systems.

I agree a plain, old central vacuum can be a pain and annoying. HAH is very different and so much easier (no tangled hoses, no hauling around hoses, no storing them in a closet, etc.) The system I have is exactly like the link you put up. We have had zero problems with HAH. I imagine in ten years, the sock that covers the hose might need to be cleaned or replaced, but that is an easy fix (I think it might take me ten minutes?) You can take the entire hose out of the wall and replace it easily, although I don't expect I will need to.

I vacuum daily with the HAH because it is so convenient, easy and powerful. (Do I sound like a commercial? :))

How much does each hose cost? Do they come different lengths? My builder said no matter what I decide on CV, he's going to rough it in - for about $400 - so I can decide later. But I'm strongly leaning towards just putting CV with HAH in from the start.

I just googled it.... click the attached link. The largest hose is $167.50 on the first site I went to. That's 60ft, but there are also 30, 40 and 50 that I know of. You would also need the motor portion and the accessories (the attachment arm and heads.)

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.centralvacuumstores.com/central-vacuums/Hose-and-Handles/index.php

I don't have current prices as we installed our HAH 5 years ago but yes, they come in different lengths up to 60 feet. I have a 30 ft hose and two 40 ft hoses.

Installing HAH is somewhat different from installing a regular CV as each hose has its own 'garage' and bends have to be swept rather than sharp. It isn't difficult though, we installed our own. Did you see my caution above about HAH if you intend to have mostly carpeted floors?

I do hope you are able to have a CV with HAH in your new home!

We only have 3 windows on the front of the house facing south, granted a 3 are fairly large, in the back there is one french door, and I have plans for a large accordian door. The house has 9 foot ceilings in the bedrooms, and 10-14 in the main living areas. Hide a hose seems the way to go.

Epoxy garage floor color will probably be closer to dirt grey now with grey with multi color chips.

We were planning on having the stained concrete polished and I think waxed/coated heavy to try and reduce the accidental spill. That said, we don't care that much about stains, as we will have a pool and stains are inevitable with kids to some degree. I figure if it were to get stained bad, that room could always be replaced with carpet or hard wood floors.

HW floors generally run about 2x the cost of stained concrete from what I have seen, and I like the coolness of the stained concrete because the summers here in Texas are hot. We had a cleaning lady before come one day a week for a couple of hours and that was great at our old home, but then we moved. I don't think we will do that again, but its definitely an option. I came up with an idea I have never seen,

Its a power area underneath the center island on a 30mintue cut off switch, tied to a dj control panel, with things like our homemade bread, ice cream, blender, mixer, etc plugged into, and then all I would have to do is flip a switch, that would end clutter in the kitchen :), not to mention be green as there would be no vampire power.

OVERVIEW so far:
Stained concrete
Hide a Hose central vac unit
Stained wood trim with heavy poly
In blind windows
Kitchen cabinets that go to the ceiling
full tub/shower wall panels w no grooves
Mudroom with shoe rack
"Like the book the barefoot home/thats what I am going for"

NO
tile
Vac pan in kitchen
clutter, minimalist quality over quantity
No glass tables

Still trying to find an alternative to stainless steel appliances... possibly built ins "anot

her thing for me to do":(

This is the house plan
http://www.houseplans.com/2927-square-feet-4-bedrooms-3-5-bathroom-french-country-plans-3-garage-23874

before my sister in law "architect" goes to town on it

I assume you will have a self-cleaning, salt water pool with probably a PebbleTec finish for almost no maintenance? The choice of pool deck material is important too as some finishes seem to require an awful lot of cleaning!

Wouldn't you need longer than 30 mins for the bread maker to complete its cycles?

Good call on the bread maker, it takes 3 1/2 hours for a loaf. We don't buy bread, I make it all. That vampire thing allows for certain time frames, but I guess I will end up having to get two, and maybe two 4 channel DJ switches, because the crock pot will need to say on, sometimes I do pulled pork for 15-20 hours Maybe I can relay a manual switch to one.

I have not looked into pebble tech for the finish, was thinking of a off white stained concrete for around the pool and its going to be a saltwater if we do one. I don't know a lot about floor pool finishes but will look into pebble tech.

We have a PebbleTec pool that has an in-floor cleaning system and a salt water generator. PebbleTec is extremely durable, looks beautiful, has an extensive choice of colors and carries a great warranty. Apart from adding a little salt if necessary after an extremely heavy and prolonged rain event (this is Florida) and occasionally a small about of Muriatic acid to balance the PH I really do nothing to maintain the pool. It always looks sparkling clean. Backwashing is very infrequent and I think we have cleaned the DE filter twice in 5 years! I very occasionally brush the pool, more for the exercise and excuse to be outdoors than necessity! Do look into in-floor cleaning systems while you are doing all your research. Not only do they keep your pool clean at all times without the danger and inconvenience of attached pool cleaners, they also circulate the warmed water and chemicals.

I make all our bread too but I ditched the bread maker in favor of my KitchenAid mixer and dough hook.

Can the shower walls be same concrete material that will be used for floors. So, it is all one piece, no grout, no caulking...

I am considering that for my home but haven't explored it yet. We plan to go to a concrete place tomorrow...

The 'no shoe zone' is very popular in Alaska. You can bring in lots of snow, mud, rain, rocks, dirt, etc., etc. in from the outside. A mud room or what some call an 'Arctic Entry' is quite common.

Going shoeless is quite common inside - my solution: I have a pair of Crocs right by the door that I slip into after I take off my outside shoes/boots. I even take the same Crocs with me if I know I'm going to a friend's house.

I second Don Aslett's book as well...he also has a website that is very helpful.

If you're doing a pool in Texas, make sure you do a 'cool' concrete deck around it or else you'll scorch your feet.

Slip on shoes is a pretty good idea for the inside.

Sis3, I really like what you have been saying I checked out pebble tech and it looks really nice. We have installers in our area, hopefully it won't be a ton more. A self cleaning saltwater pool is definiatly the way to go, along with no small leaf decidous plants/trees nearby, I guess thats why so many do palms with pools.

Thanks fotomatt, I was planning on a off white around the pool, maybe with some home brick or stone from the house set in areas around the stain.

Any storage ideas? I was also thinking of cutting maintenance down by possibly adding two dishwashers that are around 400 vs 1 800$ one, maybe also adding another washer and dryer.

I am thinking of doing a heavy gloss poly stained wood on all shelves in all the closets "will be doing them myself, I think this will save some time cleaning and should look nice/will never have to be painted or replaced".

Any ideas on easiest cleaning for the sinks? I don't like the stainless sink we have, its shows water streaks all the time.

What about copper, concrete, porcelain?

What about two urinals in the main and guest/hall bath that go all the way to the floor?

Sink = silgranit

Do a search on silgranit from the kitchen forum ..... people, myself included, love them. They are relatively indestructible.

Oceandweller, I'm intrigued by your appliance idea with the plug on a timer, I've never heard of this.

Two questions, first do you have any information/links on how this works? I don't even know what a remote dj panel is?

Second, where are you storing these appliances for easy access but out of site?

One other thing off topic, I love your floor plan, I actually considered a similar one. You may already know this, but there are more than a dozen versions of that plan that may be helpful to look at for inspiration.

Great ideas in this thread - thanks for starting this off. Our mudroom is at basement level (as our garage is at the basement level too). Tell me more about how a floor drain will help in the mudroom - this is an intriguing idea. Our mudroom will have wood lockers so I can't hose down the room (not to mention I would soak the items stored in an adjoining closet). Any ideas for making the lockers themselves easy to keep clean? Can you get a vac pan at the basement level for easy sweeping or just vacuum with the central vac?

Carol

Laura12, I have looked heavily at many of the floorplans, our builder we will likely go with already has it and lucky us my really cool sister in law is an architect. We plan on trying for a solid LEED certification as well "sola tubes, green foam, new roof sealing technology, stained concrete etc" I am stoked about adding the folding rear doors to the pool, think it will make the house.

A floor drain is a pretty cool idea for the mudroom. You could almost have a "Italian style" shower drain if you have the room to wash off boots etc, people with reef saltwater aquariums use these a lot and plumb skimmers directly to them.

I want to have a large cabinet under the center island for all of the appliances, the only caveat I will have to add is a way to run the cables up the top and close the door still for things like a crockpot or breadmaker.

This is a basic DJ control panel, would create stickers for the switches to label them, and probably wire a manual switch underneath to turn the unit on, so two switches and go.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Pc-100A-Mount-Power-Switcher/dp/B0002GL50Q

Cheap vampire timer
http://cableorganizer.com/belkin/conserve-socket/

http://www.igo.com/other-power/power-smart-tower-with-igo-greenr-technology/invt/pm000110004/?source=165_75

Things like this should in theory allow me to plug in nearly all my appliances and just about cut vampire wattage.

Thank you for the option on the sinks, I am checking them out vs dark copper.

I am thinking of the eletrostatic non replaceable air filters that are washable, any thoughts? If so I could wash it monthly and that would cut down on dust etc. I am also thinking green foam insulation and ceiling up the attic totally, as we have more of a heat issue and leaving the attic floor wo insulation resulting in heat rising "all our cost are in cooling here in Texas". Have talked to an owner that did that and his attic is amazingly cool/home.

http://www.earthtechproducts.com/tricklestar-smart-power-6-outlet.html?utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=broi&gdftrk=gdfV21172_a_7c1174_a_7c4776_a_7c180SS_d_US_d_6XX

Might work better than a DJ control panel.

Also tubs vs showers, I am thinking showers would be much easier to clean.