5 things I like, but won’t be using in our dream house

Second stories

I grew up in a house with a foyer and stairs that led up to a balcony (and two extra bedrooms). I love the look of a taller house, and the second story really creates that. We’re planning our dream house to be our forever home, so with that in mind, it makes the most sense to plan for aging in place. We’ll keep the primary suite, laundry, guest bedroom, and office on the main level. We’ll also utilize our sloped lot and keep the kids’ bedrooms in the walkout basement.

Side facing garages

I love the look of houses that don’t show the garage head on! I feel like this design choice is reserved for either new, large homes or older homes that didn’t have attached garages. Our floorplan and lot likely won’t allow for it without making some compromises, so we’ll keep our front facing garage for now.

Checkered Tile

I’m not a big fan of the black/white contrast, but I love what people are doing with gray and white tiles. I think it’s very possible that I could get bored of this style since it’s more trendy (or timeless if it’s back?), so we won’t be using this design.

These dreamy tubs

I tried so hard to make this happen! I had it in my SketchUp rendering for quite some time, but the more I thought about it, it just wasn’t working. In order to have a corner bathroom in our plan, we had to put the closet/workout room in between the bathroom and the bedroom. For weeks, I convinced myself I would be willing to walk down a long hallway to use the bathroom at night. However, that’s just not realistic. Plus when I’m old, a walk that far down a hallway could be a whole event! I actually scrapped the idea of having a tub in the primary suite altogether, since I liked the look more than the function. Removing it just made our whole bathroom layout flow better!

Bedroom sitting areas

I love this look, but I don’t think we’ll have the square footage to make it happen. Plus, if my fiancé and I are both up, we’re usually out in the living room. If it’s only me awake, I can be content with just a chair in the corner while reading or writing!