Sometimes we just have to learn by experience what works in houses and what doesn't. We learned that wallpaper behind a sink in a bathroom that is used frequently isn't a good idea. I actually filled three posts up about things we wish we would have thought about when building a home.
Well, here is another to add the house lessons: mdf baseboards next to showers with shower curtains that don't always get closed all the way is not a great idea. I didn't think to take a picture until after we removed it but you can see the water damage:
I’ve had some requests to do an updated outdoor lighting post! I guess the old one is 4 years old and many aren’t available anymore -- I can’t believe it’s been that long! Anyway, twist my arm twice – you know I love stuff like this. And half of them are even under $50! Here you go:
2. Hardware House LED Lantern $38
4. Heath Zenith Motion Lantern $79
5. Kichler Barrington Wood Base $69
6. Y Decor Lora Outdoor Light $36
7. Globe Electric Morrissey $38
8. Altair Coach LED Lantern $19.99 << can’t believe this price, go Costco!!
9. Hardware House Dusk to Dawn LED Lantern $43
10. Hardware House Large Square Dusk to Dawn LED Lantern $54
Do you have a favorite or another that you’ve seen somewhere else? I really, really love #3 but we also have #4 on our back doors and they are really fantastic – kept their black color really well, go on automatically at night, they have been great. Feel free to share in the comments ~
Oh goodness. I’m back – thoughts just keep coming and your helpful comments in the previous posts have also reminded me! If you need to catch up:
Part 1 – Features to Consider When Building a Home // Click Here
Part 2 – What to Know Before Building a House // Click Here
Some more tips on building a house:
* I want to curse the grout on the floor in our master bathroom. More grout = more cleaning. I adore the hex tiles but they are my cleaning enemy #1. I would go with bigger tiles, less grout.
* Allow for your fridge to be pushed back so it is flush with the cabinets. Our laundry room is behind the kitchen so it would have totally worked, darn it! One of the most popular pictures on 320 Sycamore is from a Parade of Homes ^^^ where they did this and those two long cabinet doors past the fridge are actually a door to the pantry where the wall does go back behind the fridge to allow it to be even with the ovens and other cabinets.
* outlets on the floor are an awesome idea ^^^ so you can have a lamp by a sofa or between 2 chairs in the middle of the room. But they put in these raised ones and now we have moved the sofa and everyone trips over them. If you put them in, make sure they are level with the floor.
* Wallpaper in the bathroom is so cute, right? But those watermarks behind the sink aren’t so hot – what was I thinking? Save the wallpaper for walls where water isn’t close. Here is more on that removal process.
* Really think about window placement in bedrooms. If you have someone who loves a completely dark room (my husband!!), has to sleep during the day, etc. you’ll want to think about window placement and how you’ll cover those windows. If I had to do it again, I would have taken out the windows next to the bed and just had one big window on the wall across from the door. We have blackout curtains on the windows next to the bed and we hardly ever open them. I would rather just throw open the curtains each morning on one main window.
* My sister-in-law Natalie reminded me of this one: If you do a pantry, make sure you leave room for a place to hang brooms, mops, hang aprons, grocery bags, etc. We just had them end our shelves early to leave the space. ^^^
* Master closet: I could have eat least cleaned it out or organized it but this is to be helpful not to show something that never happens!! I would have done less open shelves and made room for 2 wide dressers – like the Ikea Hemnes ones. I don’t love clothes just folded (a very loose term for my closet) in the open, I still like drawers but they are expensive for built-ins so I would have just designed my closet around two dressers – one on each side, with hanging above and on the sides.
If you have bathrooms with a tub that has a shower curtain you may want to consider tiling the wall on either side to prevent water damage to MDF baseboards. Behind a toilet with boys is an excellent idea as well. More on that here!
Ok, what else would you add? Thanks for stopping by --
The most important features that I would want in a house if I built again is still a mudroom, a pantry, and closets. I really think these spaces give things a home and allow the rest of the house to be uncluttered.
* Mudroom: a drop place for everyone – shoes, coats, hats, keys, backpacks, sports gear, snow gear. With the 7 of us I would probably have made ours bigger and put doors on the lockers to contain the clutter. You can also click here to see some of my favorite mudrooms.
* Pantry: I love pantries! You can see more about ours here but the counter with plugs to put all of the small appliances, including the microwave is my #1 favorite thing so they don’t have to be out on the kitchen counter. Here are some more favorite pantries and also some from the Parade of Homes.
* Closets & Storage – closets don’t have to be huge but think about placement:
- off of the front door for coats for guests/store off season coats
- where will you put cleaning items vacuums and brooms?
- where will toys be stored?
- what about extra blankets, pillows, sleeping bags?
- do you have a good spot for suitcases/luggage?
- I would have a linen closet for every bathroom, even if they are small! For towels, toilet tissue, soap, toothpaste, sunscreen, bug spray, medications, beach towels, etc.
* A storage room is so nice for holiday decorations, camping and outdoor gear, luggage, extra chairs and tables, etc.
And just some general building tips – I went back and added some more to wiring and electrical that we thought of as well.
* make sure your garage is deep enough if you want a work space and wide enough for 2 cars to open doors and with space to walk around and get babies out of carseats and unload groceries. We would have added another garage as well – they don’t cost that much more but by the time you have lawn equipment, bikes, tools, and teenage drivers they fill up quickly!
* make hallways and stairs wider than normal. We had friends suggest to go by ADA standards for wheelchairs which prepares for anything in the future and makes plenty of room for furniture moving.
* Porches: I would have made our walkway and stairs wider. Also, you’ll want to make sure your porch is deep enough if you are putting rockers or other furniture. I love to have enough room to decorate for the seasons so I made ours bigger than normal. ;)
* Landscaping – this is a HUGE one. Make sure you know what (if anything) is included with your builder for landscaping. Sprinkler systems, trees, sod, bushes, curbing all cost A LOT and after you do some upgrades you may not have anything left if you have not budgeted for it in the beginning. More on landscaping here.
* water heaters – this was a number one thing people advised us to go bigger one and we have never regretted having two 50 gallon water heaters for our family of 7. With families visiting often, dishwasher and washing machine running constantly -- I don’t think we have ever run out?
* another top tip from friends was get the thickest padding you can for carpet! Even if the carpet isn’t the greatest the padding makes all the difference.
* if you have an attic, get the pull-down ladder for easy access.
* Wire now for features you may want in the future, or at least put the conduit to add it later. Think solar panels, hot tub, generators, surround sound or theater, lighting for backyard sports court, etc.
* automatic lights! Think about which lights you will want to come on automatically and work with your electrician to choose auto timers – probably Christmas lights and any front light fixtures and motion sensors are nice for security on back porches and entrances.
* make sure you know your builder’s warranties. You will be so ready to sign the papers and move in but take the time to double and triple check before you sign to make sure everything was finished the way you agreed to because it’s usually a pain to get them to come back after you have moved in! Check grout, baseboards, flooring, paint and make sure doors, windows, cabinets, and locks are working properly and don’t stick.
* sub-contractors will take the road of least resistance so make sure you communicate about EVERYTHING and bring pictures of what you want to leave with them so there is no confusion. Think direction of flooring and tile, grout and mortar spacing and color, crown moulding placement and style, directions you want doors to swing, outlet placement, cabinet handle placement, etc.
I would have gone with thinner grout lines on my kitchen backsplash but I never mentioned it so they just went with standard. I would have gone with white mortar on my brick but they went with gray because I didn’t discuss that with them. As with any relationship communication is everything.
* You will be amazed at how quickly upgrades add up. There will be things you don’t think about but decide would be good to upgrade now and all of a sudden you are at your budget limit. Here are some things we did ourselves to save some money: if you have laid flooring before, consider doing some yourself on the weekend. We also chose to not have them finish our garage (painting, baseboards, door moulding, etc.) I had them prime but not paint three bedrooms. This saved money and gave me time to figure out paint colors, decor, etc. We also choose to hydro seed our lawn instead of sod which saved thousands and we did most of our own landscaping.
I hope this helps! It sounds overwhelming but it’s actually kind of fun at the same time. Click here to read Part 3 of Building a Home Tips! I would love to hear if you would add anything or give any tips to home builders!
Hello! So, I have a sister and sister-in-law building homes and so I have been brought back to the home building process as we’ve looked at plans and lighting and flooring and paint colors! I have kept a list of things that I wish we had done differently or things I wish we would have considered and I hope it helps if you are building, re-modeling, finishing a space.
First, I need to say without reserve that I *love* our home. It is perfect for our family. I try to give thanks whenever I can for the blessing of living where we do in with such incredible neighbors and beautiful mountains in our backyard. In all of our moves, from apartments to rentals to fixer uppers, I have come to know that you can make any house into a home because of the people and attitudes inside of it. So, I hope this comes in the spirit of giving pointers to a sister or a good friend, not with dissatisfaction or ungratitude.
I think I’ve mentioned before that we weren’t planning on building! But we fell in love with a lot and area and it just turned out that way. There are many lessons that you can only learn by building. So… if you can build a practice house and then build your final house!! Haha. Here we go:
* Floor Plan: take the time to get your floor plan right. Anything you change after you submit final plans to the builder will cost you much more money in change orders.
* Invest now in features that would be difficult to change later: heating/cooling systems, insulation, cabinets, flooring, tile etc. Things like light fixtures, paint, closet systems, and furniture aren’t hard to change or upgrade later.
* If you have an upstairs or downstairs use a high quality insulation so you don’t hear every step upstairs (especially on hardwoods)! We invested in using the Roxul Soundproof Insulation between our upstairs floor and the basement ceiling and it would also be good for rooms that are next to a bathroom.
* I would have gone with lighter floors! (^^ too dark!) Ours show everything and scratch easily– I would go lighter (like the color of dirt!) with some variation.
* We would have done separate HVAC for upstairs and the basement so that each could have their own thermostat and controls. The basement stays much cooler than the rest of the house and it would make much more sense to give it more heat in the winter and not as much as the rest of the house in the summer.
* 9 ft ceilings in the basement and 10 ft ceilings upstairs can make the whole house seem bigger and more open.
* Laundry room! Near the kitchen or near the bedrooms? I like mine by the kitchen because it is right where I work so I can switch loads and then my kids take them to their rooms to fold and put away (well…that is what is supposed to happen, right?) but I have friends that swear by having it by the upstairs (or downstairs bedrooms). I bring my laundry out to the kitchen table to fold with the TV on or while kids are practicing or doing homework so a big laundry room that I can fold all the clothes in doesn’t make sense for me. A trend right now is to do a stackable washer and dryer in the master closet and the plumbing isn’t that much more expensive – it may be something to consider. I do love a hanging rod, a sink to rinse, a counter to put laundry on, and cabinets to store laundry detergent, etc. in
* Outlet and light switch placement! ^^ Here is an example where I ruined a perfect good wall with light switches – I could have just had them go on the the other side of the wall in the mudroom. Places to consider putting outlets:
-on top of the fireplace mantel – think lighted Christmas garland.
- by the top or bottom of stair railings (also for lighted Christmas garland)
- the front porch – for Christmas decor or lights.
- on the outside eaves for Christmas lights so you don’t have cords hanging down.
- inside of cabinets with glass doors and a few in the built ins – this is mostly for our Christmas village.
- a light switch by the master bed so you don’t have to get out of bed to turn off lights.
- on the back patio for hanging patio lights and plugging in power washers, heaters, etc.
- double outlets where girls get ready – hairdryers, straightener, curling irons, etc.
- night lights along stairs for kids that get up at night
- if you have a Roomba – where do you want it to dock?
- in the pantry for small appliances
- on the side of the kitchen island
- where do you want your charging station for phones? In the mudroom, a cabinet, or in your room if you have kids turn in devices at night.
* Kitchen: I wish we would have done soft close cabinets! I know I can switch the hinges out, but I wish I would have done it in the first place. Also, you should know that white cabinets will yellow if they are exposed to sun.
I would have gotten window coverings or shades (on the outside or inside) right away for where the sun hits my cabinets – can you see how the top drawer is more yellow than the bottom? Or, talk to your cabinet maker about non-yellowing paint options. Other favorite features in my kitchen are here.
I had much more to say on this than I was anticipating! To read more tips
click here for Part #2
and click here for Part #3
What would be your #1 advice for building a home?
I completely cleaned out my pantry this week – it was so gross from the summer and felt good to de-junk and clean it out. This is the season in Utah when the stores have their case lot sales where they sell a lot of bulk pantry items so it’s a good time to clear out and take inventory. I had been thinking of ways to make my pantry cute – maybe some Pinterest worthy photos. What could I do: Buy a bunch of baskets? Make cute can covers?? Wrap the boxes in burlap? But that just made me tired and seemed a little ridiculous and so it’s not really cute, but it is functional for our family. It is about 7.5 ft wide X 10 ft long and that is a perfect size for our family of seven.
I do think pantries look so much better without anything in them, one of my most popular posts is this one when I shared some favorite pantries for ideas. And here is my pantry without anything in it when we first moved in. So pretty and bare and clean!
But we eat, so it’s not bare and pretty. My very favorite thing in the pantry is this counter! It is just a basic white laminate and holds the microwave, blender, crock post, mixer, rice cooker and they all are plugged in to an outlet so they can be used in there. The upper shelves are great for paper products, coolers, big drink containers, canning supplies, Torani flavored syrups 
etc.
The floor is great for storing bulk items in buckets – do you know what gamma lids are?? I didn’t until a few years ago. They are lids for food grade buckets that you snap on top and then the lid can easily be twisted on and off for easy access and airtight storage. They are about $12 on Amazon but if you are visiting Utah, buy some here for about $8 each. They are perfect for storing bulk pet food, rice, oats, flour, beans, etc. and come in different colors.
The door is a pocket door – do you remember when I painted it yellow? But I forget that it’s painted because I think it’s been closed maybe 5 times since we’ve lived here, this is probably one of the most used rooms in the house. We left a spot for brooms and mops there by the door and hooks for aprons and a grocery bag holder.
And that is our non-pretty pantry. Maybe it gave you some ideas if you are building or remodeling – I shared a sketch of our floorplan here if you want to see how it comes off the kitchen. I’m telling you – mudrooms and pantries are my favorite features in a home. Let me know if you have questions!
Remember how I used to do the build me a home edition with different sources on home items we were picking out? We’re obviously not building anymore, so I’m living vicariously through Chip & Joanna on Fixer Upper
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