I am currently in the process of having my house built, with a November possession date. When you start the process you think you'll have so much space to put everything you want, but you quickly learn how fast it disappears. Tough choices need to be made.
The must haves for me were:
-Wine room
-Laundry room upstairs
-Giant fridge
-Pot filler
-Large kitchen island
-Dual ovens
-Wide front door
-Patio doors off the back that slide all the way to the side
-Gas hookup for BBQ on patio
-Air conditioning
The above were non-negotiable. I really wanted to do hardwood floors throughout the entire house, but after some thought I went with a porcelain tile. It took me about a year to find one that I like, and was in my budget. Too many look like fake wood. I chose tile over wood, as I figured I'll drop pots, pans, plates eventually and I don't want to chip or wreck the floor. It happened in my townhome, and I loved the hardwood I had there.
On the upstairs I only went with three bedrooms, where most houses have four. I wanted the bedrooms to be a little bigger, and have full closets. Too many houses I saw had really tiny closets. If the bedrooms shared a wall there would be the builder would only give each room the equivalent of a half closet. They'd do a full closet in the space, and then split it with walls. I also put the laundry room upstairs, with some more cabinets in there and places for hangers. If I'm taking off my clothes upstairs, why would I want to go down to the basement to clean them? I can also have the laundry baskets in there, and I included a sink. There is a main bath, including a bathtub, upstairs, as well as the master bathroom. There is no tub in the master bath, but there are two shower heads. This way I can shower with a friend, and neither of us have to go without water.
My kitchen was very important to me. Here are my appliances from a previous post:
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showpos...5&postcount=48. A pot filler over the stove was extremely important to me. I went with a single, large sink, as I think they work so much better than dual sinks. The island will be clear of any sinks, cook tops, etc.
I declined a central vacuum. I don't like it, and I think getting the Miele vacuum will work better for me. My heating is radiant, infloor heating throughout, and I have air conditioning on the main floor and upstairs.
I wish I had more room in the basement to make a games room or have a bigger media setup, but I went with a 400 SF secondary suite. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. It might be a guest suite, or I might rent it out to a doctor/nurse, as I'm near two hospitals.
My garage is pretty specific. It'll be a two car garage, but I only have one vehicle. It needs to be high enough that I can drive in with my Thule cargo box on top of the roof rack. I like to pack the night before I take ski trips, so this way everything can be locked and ready to go. It also needs to be long enough that the bike rack on the back of my SUV can be carrying my bikes, and the door can still shut. The other half of the garage will be for storage of my bikes, chest freezer, and will likely be a workout area (spin bike, yoga, etc.). I think the bikes will be stored on the wall of the garage, and can be hoisted by pulleys.