What do you love about your house?

[EMama]

We're just beginning to search for a house to buy, and I'm trying to narrow the search. Tell me about the style and features of your house that you love (and don't love).

[amydawn]

I love my big, extra wide staircase. And my main floor laundry right off the kitchen. And my central vac.

I don't think there's anything I don't like honestly. DH doesn't like that the garage is only a single and not a double. I don't care because I'm the one who gets to park in it:giggle


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rosie]

The backyard!!! I love almost everything about our house, but something I don't like is having the laundry room in the entrance between the kitchen and garage...

[LadybugSam]

I love:
*that we don't have an open kitchen. it doesn't make my entire house look messy if i forget to do dishes right away.
*That the kids bedrooms are pretty closed off from the main living area, so if we are up late at night, it doesn't keep them up.
*bigger bedrooms. We are a house full of introverts and spend a lot of time in the bedrooms.
*covered patio on the back porch
*good sunny area for a garden
*big windows looking out to the backyard from the livingroom so i can keep and eye on the kids
*no HOA :shifty
*built in sprinklers :rockon
*newer air conditioning unit :yes
*everything all on one level
*an extra room. I looked for one with either 2 livingrooms, or a dining room. Right now its where we keep the computer desks.

I don't like:
*we don't have any windows facing the front of the house except for the bedroom. When somebody knocks on the door, we have no idea who it is.
*that the front yard is bigger than the back. We use the backyard. The front is just decoration/yard care
*corner fireplace & sliding glass door combo They take up way too much wallspace and really limit the way i can arrange the furniture in the livingroom
*lack of trees (actually they planted a dwarf tree in the middle of the yard, i can't plant a good shade tree there because everywhere else is too close to a sidewalk/house)

[twentysixcats]

I can give a lot more don'ts than do's. ;)

I love, love, love the location. That's the #1 thing I love about this house, and the biggest reason we're still here.

I love that we have a long driveway. My daughter rides her tricycle up and down and I don't have to worry as much about her going into the street.

I love that there's no HOA, but it's an established neighborhood.

I love the den - the extra living space for toys.

I love our hardwoods - original to the house (1960).

I love the bay window in our living room. Lets in so much light and looks so nice with a plant sitting there.

I don't like that we're a corner lot. People cut across our yard (walking - adults mostly, a few kids). Also, you can see right into our backyard.

I don't like that our house is angled on the lot - it faces the corner so we have this super huge side yard that is kinda wasted space, and a fairly small backyard.

I don't like all the issues our house has due to age mostly. :sigh I wish we could move but we really are stuck, stuck.

I don't like our small 1960s kitchen. I would love to open it up. I wish I could keep an eye on the kids while cooking, and I wish I had a way to visit with people while in the kitchen. I think I feel crowded easily so I don't like people in our current kitchen at the same time as me.

I don't like the lack of electrical outlets. We don't have any in any hallway or in the bathrooms. The rooms only have a couple. Also, many are only two prong (not grounded) which is annoying. (A previous owner updated some of the outlets but not all.)


Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2

[2sunshines]

I love the main floor laundry. :yes I love the big backyard and the fact that we're on a quiet dead end court so the kids can play outside without me worrying about traffic.

[Aerynne]

love: main living areas face south- lots of light
I designed my kitchen- lots of cool, custom features like
a shallow cabinet the kids can reach on the end of my island
an upright cabinet for cookie sheets and cutting boards
spice cabinets installed on the inside of upper cabinets
drawers on the bottom instead of cabinets- easier to get stuff
lots of closets
covered deck on the back
no HOA
few stairs to get into house, both front and back
extra deep garage
all the bedrooms are close together

don't like: corner lot (more snow shoveling)
kitchen tile (it's cold, everything that falls on it breaks)
master bath/walk-in closet- too much wasted space
lots of grass- wastes water, expensive to water
no real front porch

[twoplustwo]

Location is my favorite part. Walking distance to a lot of stuff. Lots of bike trails that go everywhere.
Love the "bonus" room. Its a huge room between the kitchen & garage with vaulted ceilings. We installed floor to ceiling shelves (with a library ladder to reach the top shelves) along one wall and use it as our play room.
Under the stairs storage.
Large yard
Love having a guest bedroom - more for storage than guests.
HUGE kitchen.

Don't love:
I would like a laundry room rather than a laundry closet.
Smallish closets (older home)

Both love & dont love at the same time:
Very treed lot. I love it in the summer because it keeps our home cool. Dont love that I have no sun for a garden (but joined a community garden this year). And in the falls the leaves have to be removed by truck - you could never bag them all.

[MegMarch]

Lots of sunshine :D

A galley kitchen that is quite wide and has a bay at one end. It keeps it from feeling overwhelming but there's room to work.

Mostly smooth flooring. So much easier to clean than carpet.

I dislike how far we are from most things but I really like that this means we have a really pretty drive and a good yard.

Woodburning fireplace. S'mores, baby.

Shed and attic and garage. I like stuff.

It's not old and interesting with "good bones." I have no interest in projects. I just like living in a place that's comfortable and pleasant.

[MaybeGracie]

We have a very large kitchen with lots of open counter space. It's my favourite thing about our home. It makes cooking and baking far more enjoyable, and it's perfect for including the kids in what I'm doing. I also do my sewing (cutting out patterns, ironing) on the counter that doesn't have overhanging cupboards.

I also love our fireplace.


I don't like that we live on a steep hill. It seems like such a non-issue but it just makes everything so much harder. I'm forever chasing balls and hula hoops and dump trucks down the hill, and for the most part I've had to forbid things like soccer. So they can't do it inside the house and they can't do it outside either unless one of us is available to take them to the park. And then when it's time to walk home from said park, it's a major hike back up the hill, which is most unpleasant in the hot summer sun. I haven't bought Jacob a bike because we'd have to haul it to the park for him to use it, and I just don't think it would happen often enough to make it worth it. It's just a big hassle.

I also don't like that we don't have a backyard. I'm perfectly fine with my kids playing in the front yard on their own, but I rarely let them because some well-meaning neighbour is likely to call the police about unsupervised children. :rolleyes

[backtobasicsmum]

Love:
How bright the main living areas are. I am completely solar powered.
Laundry on the main living area.
Lots of closet space
Decent sized kitchen
TONS of storage space in the furnace room


Things I wished were different:
All the windows to be opening.
No more carpet.
A second bathroom. Attached to master bedroom would be a dream.
A second oven.

[LovelyGourmet]

We live in a cheap rental so the hate list is going to be a lot longer

Love

-the view, we live on a hill overlooking town.
-playroom space
-buddies for my kids live just upstairs (although this is bad sometimes too)
-big deck
-no front door for us :shifty can you tell I'm an introvert?
-no carpet in the main living space
-across the street from a small park

Don't like

-no storage
-tile floor, like someone else said - it's cold and everything breaks when you drop it. I would love to have wood with in floor heating
-speaking of heating, old electric heating ugh!
-only one bathroom and it's tiny
-no man cave, dh drives me crazy with his video games in the main living space
- no office
-too open, everyone can see every mess as soon as they walk in the door
- the front door is in a really awkward spot for arranging furniture
-the back yard is impossible to fence in
-diwasher is in an awkward spot
-the electrical was done wrong and the lights burn out all. the. time.
-other shoddy workmanship around the house
-slopped driveway nearly impossible to get out of in winter
-terrible thorny bushes taking over the yard

[Jessica]

I love:
-big, open windows in the living room and stairwell
-having a stair landing, which breaks up the stairs. If the kids fall, they don't fall far.
-covered back patio with fan
-sprinkler system
-having 3 bathrooms

I don't love:
-having a small laundry room
-small kitchen without a lot of counter space
-only one oven

[shekinah]

Love:

- designated entry way with large closet.
- full length mirrors on the one living room wall, makes it feel larger.
- very little carpet, much easier to clean.
- an actual pantry rather than having to use up cupboard space for food.
- two sinks in our bathroom, so DH and I each have our own space.

Dislike:

- the laundry is in a closet in the bathroom. makes it difficult to drag everything around for folding or ironing, and lint flies all over the bathroom, meaning I have to clean it up more frequently.
- it's a tub/shower combo, and then if I want to have a bath, I usually don't because that means I have to clean the tub out first from showering in there before I can sit in it.
- kitchen is galley style, and DH and I bump into each other if we're in there together. It feels super crowded and small to me. I'm used to big, open, L-shaped kitchens.
- the other two walls of the living room are giant floor to ceiling windows. Would be nice, but we live in a trailer park where are neighbours are 5 feet away, and we're situated right next to the visitor parking. Even if the blinds are open during the day, I feel like everyone out there can see in, and it's all guys sitting in their trucks with music blaring and partying, so it makes me uncomfortable. So then the blinds stay shut all day, which is a waste of wall space.
- being a trailer, it's soooo looooong. It makes the main living area feel short and limited when the rest of the trailer is just a long skinny hallway with the rooms off of it. I don't feel like I can use our extra bedrooms for anything other than storage because they are such a pain to get to and then have to go around the side to backtrack into the room. I am putting all our baby stuff out in the living room rather than the spare room just to make it all accessible, and it's cramped.
- no over head lights in the living room. Makes it very dark, especially when 3/4 of the year the sun goes down around 4pm it seems. You can only put in so many lamps, and it sucks turning them individually on and off all the time. They never make enough light.

I could probably go on about my dislikes! haha. But I'll stop there. ;)

[EMama]

We live in a cheap rental so the hate list is going to be a lot longer



I totally understand b/c we live in a cheap rental right now too. It's been helpful for knowing what we want different in the house we buy.

[shekinah]

-only one oven

Do people normally have two?! I have never heard of having more than one before. That would be SO handy.

[treehugginmama]

We live in a ranch style home with an open floor plan. I LOVE it. I can see or hear the kids easily unless they are in their rooms. I always feel like we are together.

[mummy2boys]

I love that we have lots of kitchen cupboards and bench space

[Teacher Mom]

all the windows and natural sunlight!!! I too run on solar power!!!

It's an old farmhouse. I love the character.
Love the wood floors, big open dining room.
Love the big bathroom (but wish there were two!)
Love the 70 acres
Lots of frontage
Big lake/pond that I can see from the sunroom that opens into the house (and my computer is in there)
Love that we are able to have horses here for my horse crazy dd
Love the close bedrooms, but wish they were a little bigger.
Love my big old kitchen stove, but wish instead of the drawer on one side, that it had two ovens too!!!!
Love my cozy kitchen now that it is redone...(hated the layout when we bought house!!!)
Love my soon to be patio that I am doing outside that will run all along the back of the house........so I can sit outside and see the pond and have company over just chilling..... now we just sit at the picnic table - and I hate it cause it's SO HEAVY and hard to move for mowing and never looks nice!!!!


things I don't like????

I wish we had a big basement!!!!!! It's an old farmhouse 3/4th basement/dungeon!!!! If I could afford it, I would have the house raised and a new 13 course basement put in. :tu

Hate the steep stairs (our other old house didn't have them and I'm still confused on why this one does :think)

Hate that it is not all the way done being remodeled. But we are almost there and that is a good thing :tu

But for the most part, I love this house :heart

[librarianjojo]

:shifty Am I the only one who wants to see pics of all these lovely houses? :heart

[jandjmommy]

I love the neighbors! Our last home had horrible neighbors on all sides for 7 years and we truly understood the saying, "Good fences make good neighbors". It is amazing the difference it has made in our entire family's outlook that we are now able to greet and talk to and play with and watch out for our immediate community!

[LadybugSam]

oh i forgot one of my favorite things: TONS of built in storage.

I have a utility closet, a and 2 linen closets in my hallway. Tons of cabinets in the bathrooms, a coat closet near the door, and built in shelves in the garage. I love it!

[L-Boogie]

*Super well insulated. With dual pane windows, etc.
* original, restored hardwoods
* laundry closet in the kitchen with a stackable and enough space for a laundry sorting system - so perfect!
* Lots of large windows/natural light
* Positioned on a long lot, far back from the street, so we can really enjoy our front yard, let the kids ride bikes down the driveway, etc.
* It's CUTE! I didn't choose the yellow exterior paint and white trim, but it's super cheery and I love it.
* Kids have a walk-in closet. (they have more stuff than I do!)
* The house was built in the 30's and has lots of charm and character.
* The landscaping is easy to take care of
* The living space us huge - perfect for a family of extraverts :)
* Less than a block from the elementary school
* Really great, walkable, family-filled neighborhood

[silverlining]

Lots of windows, letting in lots of natural light
Wood floors
Open floor plan, so even though the house is small, it doesn't feel cramped

[Jessica]

Do people normally have two?! I have never heard of having more than one before. That would be SO handy.

A lot of my friends do, and I find myself jealous of theirs! There are so many times 2 would be handy.