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Has anyone actually ever used a pot-filler over the stove in a home?
I would LOVE one. I cook very often and have a massive extended family though so it makes sense for us. I would not, however, pay to install one. My arms have great muscles probably due to carrying 6-12qt pots back and forth.
We bought this house 34 years ago. On our wish list was a fireplace in the living room or family room. This house had a LR fireplace but none in the family room, which was downstairs. That's where we put the TV, and over time we *really* wished the family room had the fireplace. So after 10 years, we did a major addition, and the family room is now on the same level as the LR, DR, and kitchen. It has a beautiful stone fireplace that we use nearly every night for five months of the year. Real wood, mostly from downed trees on our property. But it also has a "heatilator" fan system, which we had to have. Stopped using it after about a week because it was SO noisy!
NOT on our wish list were two features that partially sold us on the house: a spiral staircase and a sunken tub in the master bath. I LOVED both of them -- so cool!!
By the time we did our addition, I could not WAIT to get rid of that spiral staircase! It was SO inconvenient! Once, when I had a broken ankle, I never saw the downstairs for six weeks -- could not negotiate the stairs with crutches and felt too unsafe to do it on my butt. The sunken tub lasted a little longer -- mostly because kiddos loved it -- but when we remodeled the bathroom a few years ago, the tub disappeared completely, replaced by a 4' x 8' shower.
I was completely neutral on laundry location, and for many years it was downstairs off the family room. Now we have two, one just off the master bedroom. I use that one, DH washes his grubby gardening clothes downstairs, and we're very happy with the arrangement.
Uncle built a 7 million dollar place, here were 3 mistakes:
1. Home theater was a bust, never used as it was on the other side of the house from the kitchen.
2. Did a 3 car garage, needed to be 4+. Driveway was angled too high (house was built at a high elevation for flooding concerns) but the driveway was too steep for sportscars.
3. Fish tank- huge (8X10 ft) behind a bar. Spent 100K on the tank, then $800 a month to maintain it. Buyer didn't even want it.....
My house, new construction but I didn't build it:
1. Huge corner tub in master bath, NO JETS! So WTF do you do with this jumbo tub that takes forever to fill and ends up luke warm by the end! Waste of space!
2. Master bath and closets are over 20% of the 2nd floor. One closet is 9X14. While it was impressive as a buyer to see, it really is a ton of wasted space. Master bedroom is equally big and not really used.
Neighbor has a similar home built by the same builder, he cut the master down and made it a separate office with a killer view of the waterway. Problem is, the office entrance is through the master bedroom so you really wouldn't invite people into your office.
3. I really should have gotten a 3rd car garage. 2 is ok but 3 would have been ideal.
All this big-tub talk has me green with envy! I don't even need a HUGE tub, just a long and deep one for my 6' tall self. As others have said, it's great when you're sick. It's only half-great for me. Either I sit up and fill the length or I lay down and my legs are going up the surround's wall; I have hardly any room to even put my feet down from that position, to scooch back to sitting. It's the only time I don't like being tall.
Our current home came with a hot tub on the patio- at 1st we thought we may use it but was the first thing we removed. Didn't even try it out, the amount of water it took and amount of time it took to heat-all I saw was money flying out the window. Sold it cheap to a couple who wanted one. We built a fire pit but haven't used it much, only when we have company over which is rare.
I was going to say nothing but then I remembered that I had them install an outlet to wall mount the TV in my very small loft. They put it on the opposite wall from where I had wanted it, and it's much too high - the TV would be as high up as if it were over a fireplace but there's no fireplace! Plus the room is so small, it would be totally unwatchable to have it up that high. So that never got used.
Other than that, it's all pretty much what I wanted from when I built new 3 years ago. Didn't get a fireplace because I knew I wouldn't use it enough to bother, I had a nice bigger (but not huge) shower in the master bath in lieu of a tub. I have a double sink in the master which is not terribly useful for me personally since I'm the only adult in the house, but I know buyers down the road will want it (and contrary to what someone said up thread, the point of double sinks is not so that 2 people can get ready side by side, it's so they can each have their own area with their own stuff and not have to fight for the counter space with another person).
The main thing I regret is something I didn't get, which was adding a door from the garage into the yard. You have to open up the main garage door and then go into the yard through the gate if you want to go in through the outside. There are sliders from the living room though so it's not a huge deal, it would just be a little more convenient to have the additional door.
I enjoyed this thread just like I enjoy House Hunters....it's interesting to me to see how other people live.
Exactly--and I get a kick of seeing how everyone has different tastes. A good reminder before you spend too much effort decorating a house a certain way before selling it. For example, some people had no use for tubs or fireplaces. We, on the other hand, use both those things all the time. Love our double sided fireplace. And the jacuzzi has been a godsend in the winter time. Different strokes, as they say.
As for the OP's question: We've always been a family opf crafters. So when we bought a house with a bonus room, we were thrilled to finally get a craft room so that we wouldn't need to use the dining room table all the time. Turned out we like working on crafts in the dining room, with or without a dedicated craft room. The craft room seemed too isolated, and we only used it a few times.
In the new house we set up a home office but it was rarely used. While we were waiting to figure out what to do with the room, the kids set up a board over the desk and started making puzzles. Now we've just made it our official puzzle making room. Someone always seems to be in there now, LOL. Who knew we needed a house with a puzzle room?
Re: rooms that came with the house that we didn't think we'd use, but ended up using all the time. One house we owned had a greenhouse. I thought it was a useless extra, but turned out we LOVED it, and used it all the time. I miss having one now.
The only thing I can think of is I had an electric plug put up on the eves with its own light switch so I could have Christmas lights and not leave then on all the time. Maybe turn them on at dusk and off about 9:30.
I never got any Christmas lights put up, so never used that feature.
The house I just moved into has plugs above the kitchen cabinets. My cleaners found them. I can't imagine what they are for.
The microwave has its own plug, there are nine ceiling lights, and all the cabinets have under the cabinet lights. You can't even reach those plugs without a ladder. What would they be used for?
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