I love my loft apartment, mostly. But I can’t help thinking ‘one day’, I’ll move and these are the things I wish my house to have
- lots of natural sunlight: a loft with a single double height window doesn’t allow a lot of light, and given the orientation of my place, and the garden beds, I don’t get a lot of light, and only for an hour or two in the morning.
- a fireplace: Sydney gets cold! And I love the smell of other people’s fires in winter. And it’s a great way to dispose of paper/tissues/wood
-
In a modern home
source:eliteproductionsintl.blogspot.com
In a more traditonal house
source:www.bluboxfireplaces.com.au - a garden: even with a bigger, sunnier balcony I could go back to growing things, I loved growing sweet peas (the flowers and the vegetable!), and keep seeing awesome little ways to grow other things I’d love to have on hand
- gas: for both cooking as well as heating/water heating. Currently I only have it for water heating.
- natural ventilation: firstly a bathroom window! The style of my loft makes that impossible. It was on my wish list when I was househunting, but some things you have concede. My next place will hopefully have more than just a bathroom window, but windows everywhere!
And hopefully it’ll have things I already have in my little loft
- a good sized pantry
- a linen cloest
- an entry area – with places to store ‘grab and go’ items (umbrellas, name badges, coffee cup), somewhere to process mail, dump handbags, put things for delivery when next out etc.
What do you have on your future home’s wish list? What did you used to wish for, and no longer need/want/wish for?
We moved here 2 years ago, and I really wanted a hallway with doors to each room opening off it; something neither of my previous properties had, but I’d wanted. In both of those I had to walk through the lounge into the kitchen, and the way that the doors were positioned meant that the lounge always felt like a corridor. Here, I have my hallway ( I waited 27 years to get one!) and after nearly 2 years I still love it. We have no plans to move again.
I can imagine a corridor also helps with efficient heating and cooling! It would be annoying shuttling through your lounge all the time. It must be great to finally something you’ve longed for that long.
I live on the same block as a high school, which seemed like a good idea when my child was attending, but not so much now! The traffic, parking, and litter are annoying. I had intentionally not lived next to any kind of store or park, but I wish I had thought this through better. On the plus side, the public transit and the road plowing in winter are very good, and we have good neighbours.
Wow that’s interesting you chose to be away from parks and shops – why was that? The snow ploughing would be a nice side bonus! Litter is a bug bear of mine too – though it’s mainly brown paper bags from winos near my place!
I just didn’t want to be on the same block as a convenience store, gas station, or park because of the traffic, parking and loitering at all hours, but ended up with the same problems because of the school.
Oh that’s perfectly logical but weirdly something I’ve never considered! Surely a school is a touch better than a convenience store though.
I have the same problems living so close to the uni – we are not allowed to park on my street during business hours, even if you live there, which involves some creative car-shuffling between me and my landlords. Plus there are quite a few party houses on the street.
Wow that is a pain! I’m pretty sure in Sydney if you have a resident’s permit the time limits for parking don’t apply. However almost all apartment dwellers are not eligible for one of these on street parking permits. Thankfully in my inner city suburb there’s some nearby untimed parking spaces (for when I have more than one car at my place)
Your wish list is identical to mine! I have quite a few “wish list” items in our current house, but I’d love to one day have a fireplace. Also, I would add to the list “6-star energy rating” with solar panels and water tanks.
Oh the energy rating is a good one! I know all commercial buildings now need an energy rating stated when they are leased or sold (but a little part of me wonders if they have quick tricks to up their rating?)
Here in Vic, all newly built homes need a minimum 6-Star Energy Rating, but I think it is a little dicey. I used to work for a building company…the Energy Raters just had to do a short course, then run the plans through a computer program. But the program didn’t take into account significant things like the roof colour! Hopefully it has become more accurate now compared to a few years ago.
Ah confirmed some of my suspicions! It’s a good idea it’s the implementation that’s iffy
My list is very similar to yours. Definitely a proper garden and room for chooks, big windows, a gas stove. I also would like solar panels, especially after friends of mine (who rent) received a negative electricity bill and the company paid them. And that was in Melbourne – no wonder they’re so popular in Queensland.
Your wish list is very similar to mine. I love the modern fireplace, even though I usually prefer the traditional ones, this one is gorgeous. It is too hot here to have one but we built an oven-smoke room to still have the smoke smell and may build a small one in the bedroom. Gas cooking is so much better as well.
I’m curious about these oven-smoke rooms. I’m not sure what they are – are they for smoking food?
Lucky you’re building/modifying your place there – it’s like you can have anything you want. Must be awesome
We are moving in a month and don’t know if we want to rent or attempt to buy a house. My wife wants a lot of sunlight just like you! We would love to garden and minimize daytime electricity usage!
Good luck with finding a place – whether it’s to rent or buy. It’s such a tough thing to fill a wish list, sometimes practicalities like car spaces end up winning out.