I began making a list of the things we wish we did differently and came up with some additional things we did "right". These are definitely things to consider if you are building so I didn't want to leave them out!
Though they may seem like minor things, they are small things that we feel make a big difference!
Now, had our budget been unlimited....all of these lists would be different! Hahaha!
However, these are great lists for anyone building a home on a tight budget like we did. (Of course some of these are great for our family and may not be for every family)
Doggie door in laundry room-- If you have a dog, it is always a good plan to PLAN for that dog in your home! We wanted our small dog to be able to go outside on her own, but also wanted a place to put her when we left for several hours. We chose the laundry room so we could shut the door and she would have a sheltered space while we were gone. It is much simpler to put one in during the building process then doing it after the fact. We bought one at Lowe's and our builder installed it for free. Never hurts to ask! It is a simple request so the builder probably won't even charge you for it!
Nursery/bedroom adjacent to Master bedroom-- When we built our home we were in the process of growing our family, so we planned our house for more babies! In our old home the Master was downstairs and all additional rooms were all upstairs. That seemed great until we had our first baby and her nursery was upstairs. Those night wakings were a mini midnight-workout! For that reason, we wanted this house to have one bedroom RIGHT beside the master to be used for the nursery. We moved baby #2 out when we had baby #3 so she could be right by us, and it has been AWESOME. It gives us our room to ourselves at night with also having the baby only STEPS from our room.
Playroom by the kitchen-- Our playroom is right by the kitchen meaning that you can see into the playroom while standing at the kitchen sink doing dishes. This is GOLDEN in the state of life we are in right now! Later on down the road we will change the room to a study or library.
Two living spaces-- We have a formal living room downstairs and a family living room upstairs. We have loved this so that we have a "cozy" living area for family time upstairs that is carpeted (and covered with toys), and a formal living room downstairs for when we have guests. Later on we will have one for the kids and their friends to use and one for us adults.
Plugs for TVs-- We went room by room and decided where we would put TVs with our builder. We put electrical outsets up high on those walls so we could mount our TVs with no cords showing. This was no additional charge, just planning.
Space(square footage) distribution-- We chose to do smaller bedrooms and larger family spaces. We want to encourage lots of family time so we chose to put the money(square footage) into those spaces. Our bedrooms aren't tiny, but also they don't have unnecessary space. We made the common spaces (kitchen, living, dining, etc.) larger with more square footage devoted to those.
Christmas tree closet-- We put a closet right under our stairs that is for our Christmas tree! We take all the ornaments off each year but we do not collapse the tree and put it into a box (because I loathe fluffing the tree). We just put the assembled tree in that closet and take the top piece off so it will fit (height-wise). You may not care about fluffing a tree, but you should definitely plan where you will store decor in your home if you like to have seasonal decor.
Large storage closet-- If you have kids, this is SO nice to have! We have a 10x8 storage closet upstairs for all the things. It has been great for luggage, ski gear, baby clothes, etc. and I know it will always be useful!
Coffee Bar-- We extended our kitchen cabinetry to the dining area for a coffee bar. It was not very expensive to add this, anf it was money well spent! It added a great deal of storage for things used less often (like serving dishes, cake stand, etc.) and a dedicated place for coffee and drink preparation.
Master Bathroom and Closets -- We have two closets in our master bathroom (necessity), but the actual bathroom itself is pretty small. It has all the necessary stuff (like a toilet closet, freestanding tub, and shower), but it is not super spacious. For that reason, we planned to put a makeup vanity and chair in my closet. To plan for that, we just had our builder put an outlet in the closet so I could plug in my hair dryer, curling iron, etc. Once we moved it, we installed an IKEA vanity on one of the walls. It's been perfect and I love having the dedicated space so our counter top is (mostly) clutter-free. I think it is always a good idea to have an outlet in both master closets to use for lots of things (chargers, clothes steamer, etc.).
Claw-foot tub-- We ordered our tub on Wayfair for a great deal! We didn't like the price-tag of the Jacuzzi tub and didn't want to have to deal with the maintenance on it. The claw-foot tub was inexpensive, makes a big impact, and is awesome for soaking since it is SO deep!!
Fingerprint-resistant appliances-- If you have kids....then you know why! Frigidaire makes a series called "gallery" that is fingerprint resistant. The appliances are affordable and the stainless stays looking nice even with little fingers all over them!
Dedicated trashcan drawer in kitchen-- We put a trashcan drawer in our island right by the kitchen sink. It is in a perfect place for use and it gets the trashcan out of sight. win-win!!!
I'm sure I'll think of some more I missed! If I do, I will go back and add them :)
