Urinal in the master. So sad.

We gave up on the dog shower. We just couldn't make it work.

Andy!!! snort!

We gave up a walk out basement. It could be done, but would have required enormous changes to the grade which is a very gradual slope from the house to the creek. Huge expense to alter a beautiful feature of the land that was in itself a big selling feature for us because we didn't want a house perched on a cliff the way so many here are. I'm sad about it because my husband really wanted a daylight filled home gym in our basement and he won't have it.

Laundry chute and Jack & Jill Bathroom.

LOL Andy! (My 4 year old son has urinals all over our property - except he calls them trees!)

Man, I would've loved a urinal in the master....NOT!

Actually, as much as we tried to configure our bathroom upstairs, we had to settle for the toilet being just inside the entrance so you can actually see it from the hallway, Gawd!! So tacky but hey, I tried!

We had a large, self-standing tub that f-ed-up our arrangements for this bathroom.

Oh well, at least guests have no difficulty in finding the bathroom!

Small.

Oak - as in you wanted a smaller house and it kept growing?

Jack and Jill bathroom. Needed to keep a house for 6 under 2100 sq feet. I needed at least 2 baths (2 kids per bathroom before school), but we couldn't "lose" the sq footage of having the hallway adjecent the bathroom.

stephja007, yes, I personally wanted a smaller house but the larger house is a concession to the other 6 people (well, really the other 3 adults) living here. Ultimately the house is about our family's happiness, so I don't regret "giving it up."

Well unless I had an extra million to spend or wanted to be far from downtown, I had to give up the idea of having a house right on the Gulf. Instead it's a 3 block walk to the water. (I know, I know. Tough life.)

Because our lot is small, I gave up the idea of having a 1 story house. Yes for those who know my saga, even after acquiring the extra land, it was still impossible to get the house to work on one level. I did try. :)

Because it's 1 1/2 x the cost, I chose flat cement tile over a metal roof.

Instead of shakes on the second floor I'm doing lap siding because the shakes are almost double the price.

Wanted a gable roof instead of a hipped roof but that would more than double our insurance premiums here in FL.

I wanted truly craftsman style windows with a dark red exterior. Can't do it again because of cost but also because of wind impact here in FL.

Lastly I would have loved all the trim inside to be natural douglas fir or white oak trim, but that's more than paint grade so I'm going with paint grade.

Overall though, I really don't feel like I'm making lots of compromises on our home. I feel quite fortunate to be able to build this home.

We designers have that tormented dilemma all the time. Sometimes we have to give up our favorite part for the whole.

And the good designer isn't afraid to throw away what once seemed like a great idea.

Having the guest bedroom be a guest suite...entrance to the bath from bedroom. It is just next door across a short hall and there is a pocket door that can close off the hall but still. I wanted a suite and then a separate guest powder room. We don't have that much company anyway.

You always give things up. More if you have unrealistic expectations for the budget.

Some things I can add later. I gave up the outdoor shower. Not too hard to get back. I gave up the 1/2 in the 2 1/2 car garage. I might build a nice shed next year.

Gave up the open staircase. That's not coming back. The powder room. The steam shower.

I downgraded some stuff. 36" Thermador range became a 30" Bosch slide in. Custom site built cabinet work in the LR and DR became semi-custom shop built. Some fixtures went from Grohe to Delta when a communication issue resulted in installation of a tub costing over 2400 bucks.

It's all relative. I'm sure some ppl are upset they couldn't get onyx toilets or malachite counter tops.

I am not building new but doing a complete rehab. I gave up square footage for quality of craftsmanship.

I had originally designed a cross-gable house that would have been really cute, but it was a lot more expensive and complex, and would have been less energy efficient. We went with a plain rectangle instead. Inside, we couldn't find a spot for a walk-in pantry, but we somehow manage without. We also wanted soapstone counters, but they didn't pass the budget.

At one time, we planned to build a free-standing screen porch (gazebo?), but I doubt we'll do it now. I'm tired of building stuff!

I am giving up the cable rail system for our front porch and stairs - that stuff is crazy expensive. We also gave up having all PVC exterior trim which is also crazy expensive.

Gave up the porch that would have wrapped around the entire house and settled for just a nice sized front porch. I decided I wanted the space on the inside of the house where it's more useable in extra space in each room. I haven't regretted it a bit. Gave up a private balcony attached to the master suite and moved the master to the first floor to gain a bigger bedroom sitting area and huge walk-in closet. Smart move - I might have used the balcony a few months out of the year for a couple of hours a day tops, but I use my bedroom sitting area and closet every day. Wanted an outdoor swimming pool as part of my landscape plan, but I'm glad now we didn't do it because in Ohio it probably could be used about 5 or 6 months of the year and would take a lot of maintenance daily or weekly. We still plan to do a pool eventually, but it will probably be inside a stand-alone building and usable all year. We live on 8 acres, so we have plenty of really good spots to put a building like that that can be used as a party house too.

flush baseboards or reveals.

Busybee - we made our own many years ago with the help of a sailboat rigging company and got some UV coated cables, swayed threaded ends on them and hid the fasteners. Outside they have lasted 19 years and inside they are still perfect...

Is "budget" a design feature?

We're about like CPartist, that our trade-offs began with the lot. As we looked and looked, graudually we came to realize that there would never be the perfect lot -- at any price. The "perfect" lot would be large, but low maintenance; out in the country, but within walking/ biking (think cruisers, not mountain bikes) distance to grocery stores, restaurants, and all the resort has to offer; isolated, but in a nice neighborhood; on a mountainside with 360 degree views, but no steep roads; and it would be nice if a river ran through it. It also must be a place where we can age in place and the price must be right. Not happening! Not happening at any price!

The lot we purchased is near the base of the ski mountain near the valley floor, but on a beautiful little year round creek. In the middle of everything, but still with a secluded feel becasue of the creek and green space. The city is extending the core trail system to our subdivision, which means an easy walk (5-10 min) to neighborhood groceries and restaurants and about a 30 min walk/15 minute bike ride to downtown with more restauarants and entertainment. The only downside is the lot is a bit small at about 15,300 square feet. We will have a nice fenced back yard for the dogs, our back yard will be fenced, but it will be smaller than we would prefer.

We couldn't do full one story living and, in fact are three stories, but everything DH and I need -- garage, living, dining, kitchen, laundry, pantry, master bed and bath and office/small spare bedroom and deck are on the main floor barrier free. Just the primary guest room/bath and closet are up and we have plans drawn for a rec room and two more bedrooms/baths in the walk out basement, if we ever decide to finish it (and we probably will -- it will already be heated, plumbing stubbed, and partially framed with windows and doors.)

We're going to have to be careful on finishes, but we have some room for nice touches -- custom cabs, granite, vaults ceiling with nice beam work with uplighting light strips. Mid-range appliances.

I gave up my tub, in favor of a larger shower and central vac will be piped but not installed. We may wait on backsplashes, depending in where we are on budget at the time.

Several of our sacrifices/trade offs come from adding a high end radiant heating system using Warmboard on the top floors and installing radiant in the slab and garage. We're really focused on the infrastructure, knowing we can add design details later.

Oh, and we creased our budget by almost 70% incuding contingencies. Mark, while buget isn't truly a design feature, it sure impacts design features!

So far open eaves, metal roof, walk in pantry, built ins, inset cabinets and four car garage. We are in pricing phase right now. So the list may grow. But hoping by giving up those right off the bat we are good.

Metal roof and 72' porch across the entire front of the home.... I think the plan now has a 24' porch. I know .. I know... we would never use the entire 72'.. however it should would look awesome.

Steam shower and radiant heat in the entire house. Ended up with just radiant in the bathrooms.

we also put a pin in renovating our shed when the DOB told us we would have to tear it down and rebuild it to current code if we touched it (which is substantially smaller.) We will do it in he future with no permits

Metal roof, loft, 2-car garage, roomier space for laundry. 36 inch range. Hardwood oak floors instead of pine. Quartz counters in the bathrooms. Water jets all over the master shower. (Okay, I was never serious about this last, well, kinda sorta...)

Some other things I've now forgotten because they weren't really important after all.

Things I gave up on back when I originally bought this land, with the notion to build: Close access to good supermarkets, and ethnic (other than Italian, which I can take or leave) restaurants and groceries. Public transportation. Amazingly, there's a great-quality seafood retailer within reasonable distance.

But, hey, there's a reason this property was affordable... and there's a reason for the large pantry, generator, and spare freezer...

Artemis_ma

Where are you building?

I gave up granite counter tops and high end appliances so that I could have upscale cabinetry with built in bookcases and real antique brick walls in the kitchen. I'm so glad I did, because 12 years later, I still love my cabinetry, the brick still wows, the appliances have already been replaced, and counter tops can be replaced pretty easily, and I don't want granite anymore anyway.

Zorroslw - western MA.

Current house:

What we got: Large size, perfect location, and no mortgage. When we bought this house, our children were just starting school, and this house has been good for them -- we're in ideal school districts, we're near work for both of us, and it's been a worthwhile trade-off.

What we didn't get: Overall style we would've preferred. And function such as laundry near the bedrooms, though I didn't realize that at the time.