Day 15

Your dream house:

I don't have a picture or a floor plan of my dream house, but I do have a list of things I would love for my dream house to include.

• as far as the style, right now I love craftsman style homes. I think they are timeless and so welcoming.
  
• Not too big. Somewhere around 3500 square ft. is as large as I'd ever want to go. Bigger than that is useless and it can be too easy for your family to get spread out and be alone at home.
• lots of windows
• a big solid wood front door
• family room, kitchen and dinning in the same area.
• I could make a whole list on just the kitchen. I love hoods over the stove, not a stainless steal sink, and a big pantry. Oh, and the fridge has to have water and ice in the door! Plenty of counter and cabinet space.
  
• hardwood floors, a medium to dark color of wood. Not too dark, not too light.
• carpet that doesn't look matted down right after it's been vacuumed.
• 4 bedrooms
• I used to think I wanted all the bedrooms together on the same side of the house so that the master was close to the kids room, but since we've moved into the house we're in now I think I like that the master is alone on the main floor and all the other bedrooms are upstairs. I like that I don't have to worry about waking up the baby once he's in bed.
• I love when the doors and windows are cased out in thick white trim
• lots of lights
• high counter-tops
  
• a good sized laundry room with a folding table and a place to leave my sewing machine up all the time.
  
• a big shower in the master that seals off all the way so it gets nice and steamy. I hate when I can feel a breeze in the shower!
• a good sized master closet so clothes aren't cramped, and a place to keep lots of shoes organized.
  
• a 3 car garage. Beau has too much stuff already and dreams of having more things like boats and four-wheelers, and dirt bikes. We will NEED a 3 car garage if his dreams come true.
• somewhere for a baby grand piano
• a cold storage
  
• I would prefer not to have a basement, but if we needed one it would have to be a walk-out (hey if it's my dream house I can say whatever I want. If this was reality I would be more practical and less demanding). I'm really not a fan of basements in general. I think they are dark, cold, and claustrophobic no matter what you do, but walk-outs are ok.
• The most important thing I learned while I was designing houses for 3 years and dealing with lots of different clients was that you can have a house with tons of awesome features and the top of the line everything, but if the house is not laid out correctly, it will just be an odd/confusing house with nice stuff in it, not necessarily a nice home. The floor plan/layout is the most important thing to me. It has to flow and just make sense. I don't know how else to describe it.
  
• Also important to me, but not everyone, is that there be no wasted space! Obviously it depends on your lifestyle, some people like formal living rooms or dinning rooms that are only used a couple times a year, but I will not include those in my dream house. My dream house only has rooms that are used daily, minimal hallways, lots of open space, lots of storage so things stay organized, and is welcoming and comfortable for everyone.