I wish I had an art studio/ craft/sewing rm.
Laundry Room
Decorator/ Butler pantry

and crazy as it sounds:

An observatory on the tippy top of our house.

Real Library -- we have tons of books and have never been able to have them all out. I really think having as many books out as possible is a great atmosphere in which to have kids grow up--I know I plundered my parents' library constantly...I want DD to have the same opportunity. To be semi-realistic for a moment, wouldn't mind if the piano and some audience seating were in there too. We just wouldn't use them for both purposes at the same time.

Real dedicated mosaic/craft room -- with lots of open table space I can walk fully around, good lighting, and lots of storage.

Finally: soundproof room with sound/recording system for the drum set I wish I had! :)

I live in a basic 1980 ranchburger but am fortunate to have three bathrooms, a large walk-in pantry, a laundry room, a computer room, a TV room and a foyer that is actually a furnished room. We even have a separate 900 square foot house that we call the studio but will be turned into a man cave. What we don't have is a garage and enough closet space. One of the bedrooms doesn't have a closet at all but just a door that leads to the master bedroom closet (which isn't very large). I suspect that the en suite bathroom in the guest bedroom might have been a closet, and a pretty large one at that, at one time. The foyer room, computer room and TV room were a garage at one time but I'll glady forego the garage for the extra room, which makes the house feel really spacious.

So my wish areas are a 2-car garage and a big walk-in closet.

My biggest wish now is a mud room. Living in Wisconsin with four kids (even though two are at college now) we need space for shoes, backpacks, boots, coats, etc. Our foyer is not big and I hate all that clutter.

Another wish is an exercise room. Right now our treadmill is in our family room. Doesn't look great and it is hard to use if someone else wants to watch tv or play with friends in there.

Other dream areas are
linen closet - none in this house, we miss that
sewing/craft room
large front porch
big deck or patio (we have a small one of each - not too functional)
formal dining room - used to have one, didn't use much but nice to have

A large, formal dining room. What is labeled "dining room" at our house is actually the eat in kitchen area.

A library and sun room would also be nice. Heck, I'd like to have another living room/great room, whatever you want to call it upstairs. It would be fun to create another CL room! There will be another one in the basement but it's will be DH's man room.

I would love to have a potting room. Not just any potting room...I want Bunny Williams' potting room. And, I'd take her conservatory, while we're at it. Kind of can't have one without the other, right?

I seriously need a second formal dining room. Mine always ends up being used for my piano. (I can't stand my piano in the great room) A real dining table would make me feel so grown up! LOL Can you believe I have never (in my married life) had a dining table?!

We both have our own offices, but I am starting to see that a workout room off of my husband's would be such a bonus. On his list would be a larger barn.

Also, gotta have an outdoor shower. Is that a room? How romantic!

Next time we build, I am SO putting in a second laundry connection in the master suite, either in the closet or hidden behind cabinetry in the bath. It makes no sense to have our washer and dryer in the laundry room when we are the only two people who generate laundry. The laundry room would be for resale, the extra hookups would be for us.

Okay, that is my list. :D

I'd love a craft room, a small exercise room, a mudroom & a foyer. And it would be really nice if our sunroom was in the back of the house instead of the front (prior owners enclosed the front porch to create it).

A screened porch. I'm not sure that's really a room, but I feel that my house is otherwise complete (not perfect, mind, but sufficient to my needs). But a screened porch would let me be outside all summer long without needing to combat the voracious mosquito.

I wish I had a music room adjacent to the living room that could be closed off for practice and to keep the piano at the correct temp/humidity but that could be opened up for house concerts. I'd prefer the room to be bright and cheerful, too.

Since I live in one big room, (3000 sq ft loft), I'd be glad of any rooms! Seriously, this is the first place I've lived that didn't have a separate pantry, and I wish I had one. My old 1898 4-square had two--a butler's pantry for all dishes, and then a food storage one. I miss them both so much.

Oh, brother! Don't get me started.

A library dining room, with a china closet incorporated into the shelves and a big bay window on one end with a platform two steps up to a pair of smooshy reading chairs.

A package room (also used for wrapping presents).

A linen room.

A laundry, ironing, and sewing room with a mangle, and a TV and DVD player.

A mud room.

An "estate manager's office" between the porte cochere at the side and the big square entrance hall.

The aforementioned porte cochere and entrance hall...

A butler's pantry and a walk-in kitchen pantry.

A conservatory.

A sleeping porch.

A modest outdoor kitchen (not one of those currently fashionable things that looks like something from the country club).

A walled kitchen garden.

A guest house or wing.

A resident housekeeper, one housemaid, and a gardener. Oh, wait, that wasn't the question. But I'd need them if I had all those other things.

Ah, well. Wrong parents...and I married for love. Silly me.

We carved a separate 8' x 8' laundry room out of our so-called joke of a "garage". It's entered through the large-ish walk-in closet of our MBR. Best decision we have ever made for any of the houses we have ever owned.

I would love to have a greenhouse-sitting room-potting shed next to our MBR. In my dreams!

Other than that, if I had any extra rooms to care for in this 1550 sq.ft. house, I would cry.

It's not a room, per se, but I've always wanted a big front porch. A wrap-around would be even better.

I'd like to have a deck on the back of our house, out of the wind. DD and I are going to try to build one ourselves this summer, which should give the neighbors a good laugh :-)

I would love to have a back door. We have a side door to the kitchen but nobody uses it; all the kids come through the front door, through the entry and into the living room.

My laundry room is of the cinder-block wall, junk room variety. I do have plans to pretty it up, but oh, what a big job!

What do I wish for?? Well....

1 LESS bedroom, possibly 2
no formal dining room (but would want a large alcove area off the kitchen)
no formal living room (but a small den or library alcove with french doors would do)

if my porch/3 season room was larger that would be lovely for entertaining

Obviously I'm in a different phase of my life than many of you and acquiring more only means I have to take care of more! My mantra is divest divest divest!!

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a master ensuite - we moved our bedroom to a larger bedroom in the house but in turn lost my master bathroom and I miss it soooo much.

I would also love a walk in closet - that would be heavenly I am sure.

OK, well if we're thinking really big, then I also want:

an indoor swimming pool
an aviary

i'd probably make your room a library office that you don't know what to do with.

I also have every room i really need..i have a library/living room that is MY room..a formal dining room with a computer hutch in a corner off of the living room..so that is also MY room..

I have a huge kitchen with an eating area with walkout to my rear porch..so that is fine..and i have a huge family room which is the MANS room..I have a huge master bedroom with a roll top desk for another office area..and I have a huge master bath with a huge laundry room off of that..and another deck..including a front porch that is enclosed off of the living room/library.

i have a guest room which we seldom have guests..so this also is a library with a wall of bookcases, and there is an entertainment center and satellite t v in there which is nice as it also has my sewing hutch so i can watch t v in there and sew or work on crafts..and then we converted another room into a home gym..so i don't need that area.

the one thing i would add on to this house if money and brains were no object..were a glassed in conservatory with a heated lap pool (which is great if you live in rural michigan and never get a chance to swim)

A real honest to goodness library would be a dream. I've always wanted one.

A hot yoga room so I wouldn't have to trek to the yoga studio to get my fix. Or at the very least a bathroom big enough to practice yoga in. Bikram yoga is practiced in a room that is heated around 104 degrees with very high humidity so proper ventilation afterwards is necessary.

uxorial, indoor pools are a hassle. A friend has one and it needs a completely separate hvac system for the room because of the humidity it kicks out.

We downsized from 1950sf to 1250sf a couple of years ago. I miss having a first-floor bedroom, a second full bathroom (I got very spoiled with that, I admit), a big pantry closet (my "pantry" is now a 72x30" prefab bookshelf in my very sad excuse for a mudroom), oversized two-car garage and a proper basement instead of the ScaryCellar.

We use our extra bedroom (out of 3 total), which is small, dim, and badly laid-out for the library. Someday we'll have some decent shelves built instead of just a slew of melamine bookshelves lined up side by side. I theoretically have a walk-in closet but it's both above the stairs and under the eaves so to access almost all of it I have to double over like Quasimodo :-) only about 3' is tall enough for hanging clothes. It would be nice to have a place for my craft projects - there's nowhere I could put fresh soap to cure or lay out a beading project without having to pack it all up every time I stop for more than a few minutes as I have to do now since the only places I have to work are the coffee table or kitchen counter, so I haven't done any crafting since we moved.

We did just buy a near-new retractable awning from a neighbor who is moving, which will make the little 8x10' rear deck usable in the summer. We haven't used it for more than just cooking on the grill because it's completely unshaded and gets viciously hot. The wraparound front/side porch is only 6' wide and so not really usable for more than a passageway, shading a bit of the house, decorative element and thing requiring much maintenance. ;-)

A totally separate laundry room instead of one wall of the mudroom (hey, at least I changed the builder's plans to put the W/D in a closet - that just didn't work in my old house).

An aviary so my Gray isn't stuck in the laundry room next to the utility sink (I didn't plan a space for her, she had her own room in old house but DH really wanted an office in new house. Plus she makes a mess of the carpet.).

A big walk-in pantry - big enough for all my baking pans and decorating stuff, and a MW and my KA mixer on a counter.

A TV/media room so the kids aren't jumping around in my formal LR while watching TV after school. Silly me, I thought have the TV in a room with doors (which I haven't yet stained and hung) instead of in the FR off the kitchen would make them less likely to watch.

Then I could turn my LR into a library - or maybe we'll do that with the office since it has fewer windows? But DH doesn't want anyone in there while he's working from home - guess I can live w/o it 1 day a week.

A *finished* master bath with a WIC off it - oh well, the room's there, just need to finish it. Maybe in a few more years.

A bigger powder room with a door that people will actually keep closed when not in use - I knew the coat closet and PR door would hit if one wasn't a pocket door, but I chose the wrong one.

If it's considered a room, I'd like a deck or even better granite steps leading down to a flagstone patio with an outdoor kitchen, surrounded by flowers and shade trees, opening into a lush lawn...well, I can dream, can't I?

Maybe we should screen the front porch - or add curtains to hide the view of all the branches left from clearing the land 2 years ago (trunks went as firewood). We have a porch rocker, but a couple of tables, maybe a swing, some lighting (besides the coach lights on either side of the front door)? Just the curtains would hide the sunset, so maybe screen after all and just have a big bonfire - DH took 12 (small) wagonloads of brush and broken limbs out of the hayfield today, hope he can haul the stuff near the house out to the bare spot (all ledge, no topsoil) and have a big bonfire this week after a couple days of rain?

servants quarters!

Ahhhhhh, it's fun just thinking about it!
For me, I'd love:

~ a game room so that my family could have a pool table and a tv where they could entertain friends . . . away from the family room & kitchen.

~ a larger library. Ours is a study/library combination, but too small for all our books, storage for all our study needs and our elliptical.

~ a holiday closet. Our friends have one in their home. It's right around the corner from their great room. After Christmas is over, all they do is slide their fully decorated tree into the closet and close the door. There are shelves to hold clear plastic boxes filled with holiday decs and, towards the front, a wrapping center with rods to hold various wrapping paper rolls. It's incredible! I have to keep myself from drooling every time I think about that room.

~ a butler's pantry. I'd love to have one with a second fridge and tall cabs to store and display all my serving pieces, small appliances, etc.

~ a dedicated sewing & craft room. I use our guest room now, so I really can't complain, but it would be wonderful to have my fabrics, paints, etc. out in the open and ready to use whenever I had a bit of spare time.
Fun question, Uxorial!
Lynn

I would like a breakfast nook and covered deck. The deck is next on our to do list.

uxorial, our house had a strange little room when we bought it. It was a 7x7' room off the entry hall between the living room and garage. The floor plan showed it to be a mudroom, but the previous owners used it as a bedroom I suppose, because they left a trundle bed in it. lol We took part of it to expand the entry hall and made the rest of it a closet.

postum, we didn't have a back door either and after 13 years here, we finally put one in. It's nice to finally be able to walk out into the backyard. Wish we had done it when the kids were little. Now all we need is a big deck in front of it!

I guess I'm in the same situation as dlm2000, I really want less instead of more, even though our house is small. I need one less living room and one less bathroom to clean. Instead of downsizing, I need resizing.

You hit it , marti8a - even though our house isn't huge I don't want more space, that's for sure. But I'd love to reconfigure the space we have so that it works better for our lifestyle. Not that it's going to happen, though!

Gosh, I must need a break from my family because my first immediate thought was: a padded room to bang my head against. (I have two boys, need I say more?)

I am going to work on organizing all of our spaces better. I don't want more to take care of, just more efficient space. I plan to check out the link to the organized basement (bronwyn's mom?).

(I really do love my boys...)

Fun to read everyone's wish lists.

Oh Gracie01 - I want those too..... if they come with the servents

I also would like a messy husband room. One where I could put all the piles of stuff he leaves around and sometimes push him in too.

For myself, I am in the processes of making a library. Still planning it but trying to figure out if i can have one of those rolling ladder thingys. Wheeeee!!!

I have a large walk-in pantry. I love to just go in and look at how nice a neat everything is, finger my cook book collection, etc.

I also have a walk in linen closet and wished that I had made it bigger. Still trying to organize it better.

I would love to have a craft/sewing room. Of course I don't know how do to any crafts but I do really want to learn..... something. I have ordered my first sewing machine in the last 25 years to would like a room for it. I guess the dining room table will become my sewing room.

I haven't read everyone's responses but I'm assuming my wishes aren't that unique.

I have a mudroom, but I want a BIGGER mudroom! Big enough so people can put their shoes on IN it. My kids get their shoes out of the mudroom, then walk over to the RUG in the family room to put them on. Makes me crazy, but there's no space in the mudroom to sit down and put on shoes.

I have a laundry room, but it is teeny-tiny and it's in the basement. I want a big one with a counter for folding, cabinets for storage, a big sink, and a window.

Again, I have a dining room, but it's very small. I have always wanted a dining room large enough to do double duty as a library.

A guest room. Have never had enough bedrooms to designate one for guests!

I'd like a basement, or a partial basement, for extra storage, mechanicals, and maybe room for an exercise bike and wine storage. A separate, dedicated dining room would be nice. I think the bird would veto an aviary... he wants to be where the action is.

I would love to have a gardening house with cupola on top, and a breeze-way or screened in porch off the back of the house.

A secret vault stocked with gold bullion.

The observatory/crow's nest idea sounds good too!

-Lena

Lynn, that holiday closet sounds cool, but I think it would make me sad to be able to peek in at my tree during the year. I thought decorating was the fun of decorations. (But look where I hang out!)

: )

An in-laws room (with padlock on the outside) so I can lock mine up when they visit us. LOL :-D

J/K :-D

I would love a tiny little laundry room on my 2nd floor so I wouldn't have to carry laundry up and down 2 flights of stairs to the basement. A play room for my kids, so toys wouldn't always be on the floor in the living room. I would love a conservatory room made of all glass overlooking my garden.

hey this was a wish..sure it would be difficult to heat a glass conservatory with a lap pool..but if i could afford to have it..i could afford to have it maintained..

doesn't mean I don't WISH it..

A huge master closet. My SIL built a new master bedroom, bath, and closet and put her washer and dryer in the huge closet. I think that is a great idea. A walk in pantry. A basement would be good for the treadmill and storage. I love to WISH!!!!!

I wish I had a reading room. I am trying to fix one in my spare bedroom but no inspiration as of yet. I know in my head how I want it to look but getting it from head to room is difficult.

Great question though

A room with an indoor pool! That would be the ultimate luxury for me.

What a fun question!

I'm content with the number of rooms and types of rooms that we have, but like several other posters, I would love to reconfigure my house.

If I could design and build my dream house, I would have a combination library/dining room. I saw one in a magazine once and fell in love. I would also have a potting shed in the backyard and maybe a big sunroom. But most importantly, I would have a secret room or hidden passage or maybe bookshelves that function as double doors. DH and I have both always wanted a house with "secrets".

Nin

When we built in 2001, we couldn't do some rooms we wanted because of lot size . . . when all kids and grandkids were there it was very crowded. The house we're building now started out to be all on one floor . . . then we got talked into adding a walkout lower level, and now I have all the rooms we wanted last time and more -- including laundry room off the master suite, formal dining room, kitchenette downstairs, and craft room -- where grandkids can finger paint or whatever and I can start messy projects and leave them out till they're finished!! The house is too big, but we're planning to enjoy every inch of it!!

What I'd love would be a glass greenhouse -- not just a lean-to on the side of the house but a fancy, elegant one, where I could do seed-starting and grow tropicals!!

But I'm not complaining!!

A basement. A garage.

Are you sure tmkb? ;-) One of my childhood friends lived in a penthouse suite and I remember they had an indoor pool room. But I never liked it, the fumes from the chlorine had no place to evaporte so it smelled really strong in there and we never wanted to play in that pool. It was also really humid. Eventually they emptied the pool since no one liked swimming in there and closed up the room.

Since my house is less than 1500 sq ft I could use just about anything as long as it adds more space...laundry room, game room, attic, walk-in pantry.

A real, honest-to-goodness big old dining room that I could fit the entire family in. Big enough to seat 16.

I'd love to have my own workshop (I gave it up to DH so I could gain space in the garage for a laundry room). Speaking of that, I really want a nice big laundry room that fits more than one person.

Oh, I know...I want a room dedicated to just the cats and another for the dogs. I love our pets, but not their STUFF.

If I had a large butler's pantry off of the kitchen and a walk-in coat closet off of the entry, I'd be thrilled.

Hmmm If I was just adding on to this house?

* a cat room. My last house had extra bedrooms and I miss having one room dedicated to them with all their litter boxes and food in it. If contractors or a lot of visitors came over it was easy to lock them up in the room for safety as well.

* one/possibly two more bedrooms

*laundry room

and for the wouldnt make sense but would love to have it category -

* as others have mentioned would love to redo the pool and have an indoor pool instead. Not just the convenience of being able to use it year round, but I do try to stay out of the sun due to skin cancer as well. ALmost bought a house that had one but the had not taken care of it or used the HVAC system set up for the room (cost too much to run) so who knows what shape the structure was in.

LOL @ krissd!

An observatory at the top of the house.

A huge outdoors cat room, with grass and trees, accessible from the house via secret cat door.

I'm intrigued with basements. I've never been in one and have only seen them on TV and the internet. I believe my husband would enjoy it much more than his present space...the garage.

A dining room...nothing big, just roomy enough to fit a table for 8-10 and a buffet.

A small mudroom/entryway with storage for coats, shoe, boots, umbrellas, etc.

That's it.