Things I'm glad we're doing (new tract/production home):
200 amp electrical service in our 2000 sqft house. For a larger home, depending on electricity needs, 320 amp may be more appropriate.
Extra exterior outlets on the perimeter.
Dedicated outlet in garage for refrigerator/freezer.
Outlets in hall closet and pantry. I basically keep the vacuum plugged in all the time, and wanted it plugged into its "home base" closet.
Minimal recessed lighting. Ceiling lighting, in general, just isn't my cup of tea.
Ceiling fan in laundry room to assist in hang-drying clothes.
Carpet in non-wet, non-eating, areas. I hate carpet, absolutely despise the stuff. But I don't like little ones falling off of things and busting their heads/faces open on hard floors, either (too much of that going on in the current house we're in). So carpet now, hard floor later, unfortunately.
A nice kitchen, with a decent pantry, and at least one window. We always seem to splurge in the kitchen and never regret it. We cook everything from scratch, and have 5 homeschooled kids, so we spend a lot of time in the kitchen and need great storage. Now, "nice" doesn't have to mean "enormous," but it definitely means "efficient" and "really darn pretty to look at."
Gas range. Electric oven.
Counter height island seating.
Bathrooms with double-wide countertop vanities, but only a single sink.
Laundry room, not a laundry closet. You can imagine how much laundry I have, lol.
Not going through the laundry room to get into the house -- from any entry point. I disliked this even before we had kids. Now it's just a deal breaker.
Not going through the kitchen to get to anywhere/anything else in the house.
No front street-facing bedrooms. I prefer backyard access only for bedrooms.
All living areas have gorgeous southern exposure, with the bedrooms all blissfully along the cold northern side. The short sides of the house are east-west, with the backyard facing east, so we can actually enjoy it (we have a western backyard now, and it's awful). We have a front-facing garage (I strongly prefer detached), so it absorbs most of the western heat of the sun, along with the foyer and one small room in the front that we'll use as a mudroom/away space/nighttime movie watching room.
Coming into the foyer from either the front door or the garage. Since we had to have an attached garage, I wanted to come home and be dumped into the foyer.
Mail drop zone outside the kitchen.
Consistent, single-material siding/masonry/whatever around the entire house. We have variegated red/black brick.
Doggie turf patch in backyard, surrounded by boxwood hedge on three sides, for pup(s) to do their business without me searching the entire yard for messes. (I don't plan on having a grassy yard for very long -- I prefer garden-like spaces over golf-course-like spaces.)
In-ground tornado shelter out back.
Decent sight-lines throughout.
Things I wish we could've/would've done ("saving for the custom"):
Heavily wooded 1+ acre.
Historically-inspired architectural style.
1-room deep house. Maybe stretch to 1.5 or 2 rooms deep in certain areas.
An extra bedroom or two. (Have 3 now, will have 3 in the new house, want 4-5 in the custom.)
Powder room.
Kids' bath with 2 toilets, 1 tub/shower, 2 sinks.
Zero recessed can lighting and nearly non-existent ceiling-mounted lighting.
Tile & wood everywhere, without transition strips.
Wall niches for art/photos/pottery.
Built-in gas range and electric wall oven.
Recessed, dedicated fridge/dedicated freezer set.
Windows flanking the range.
Zero upper cabinets.
Larger dining space.
Bar in family/away room.
More/slightly larger closets.
More windows. Pretty much everywhere, lol.
In-swing casement windows.
True divided lite or simulated divided lite windows. I dislike grills between the glass.
Stained glass accent windows.
Window seats. Lots of 'em.
Dutch doors for laundry room and backyard doors.
Frosted doors for bathrooms/water closets.
Laundry room on exterior wall, so that it can have a window, and the dryer can vent directly to the outside.
Sink in laundry room.
Detached garage with utility sink.
Additional hose bibs along each side of the house.
Water softener and reverse osmosis system.
Zero glass in the shower. I prefer 360* fabric shower curtains over glass or tile, functionally as well as aesthetically.
Freestanding tubs. In copper. ;-)
Backyard access from master suite.
Tornado safe room.
Wrought iron fencing.
Awesome sight-lines throughout.
I'll shut up now, lol. :-D
Q
This is exactly what I want with the backsplash.
Q