nota wrote:
What I like and dislike about current home building and design practices.
Likes: (in no special order)
*Style. Styles are varied from house to house, area to area, town to town.
Modern materials such as windows, plumbing, electrical, roofing, siding among others are used in new construction no matter the style or design.
Agreed. I'm all for more efficient building materials and those that aren't toxic to inhabitants (like abestos, preservatives, formaldahyde, etc.). I also prefer a well-insulated house with recirculating air. Not a big fan of the vinyl siding though. I'd rather see people resurface with concrete-composite siding, or just repaint the house. I understand a lot of people do it because of the insulation value though.
*Closet and storage space. Not to be confused with filling up your garage with toys, etc. I’m speaking about having enough room in your closet for both of your clothes rather than having to use other closets or portable solutions.
Big agreement here. Can never have too much closet and storage space. Wish the attic would make a comeback too. Just because I loved picking through attic artifacts as a kid. It was sort of a playland.
*High ceilings. Not the soaring high ones, but 9 to 12 feet is good for me.
I've always like Victorian houses for this reason. I've always liked English houses where they hang framed pictures clear to the ceiling.
*Modern conveniences are built into homes like computer and cable wiring and sound systems-heated ceramic tile floors, dishwashers, enough hot water for the whole family, etc.
My life without a dishwasher would be too dismal to contemplate. I served enough time washing dishes by hand in this lifetime. I just wish home builders would install about three times the number of electrical outlets than they seem to do today. I hate stringing extension cords and using strip outlets everywhere.
*Open floor plans so that everyone can be a part of the family activities no matter what they are doing. I had too many years of being the kitchen drudge while the rest of the family was having fun in the other room.
I can understand why you like that Nota. I, however, prefer a closed off kitchen just because I often have dishes in the sink, and haven't kept my stove-top cleaned. If I could afford a maid and cook, I'd be all for the open kitchen.
*Efficient furnaces, air conditioning, water heating, etc.
Life without air conditioning and hot water would be dismal. :( During heatwaves, I feel real compassion for people who can't afford it. Seems almost third-world not to have it nowadays. Heating and cooling systems are so much more efficient that those tremendous old oil-burning power plants that used to be in everyone's basements.
Dislikes:
*...I don’t want to know that my neighbor John is walking through the house in his underwear while I’m looking out the kitchen window while washing dishes.
A bit too intimate for Nota I take it. What if said neighbor was a ripped hottie?
![Wink ;-)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Reminds me of an old episode of
Roseanne when they had elderly, nudist neighborhoods.
*Privacy fences. I hate them, hate them, hate them. In fact, I hate fences in general. I prefer natural barriers like trees and shrubs or just space so you aren’t right on top of each other. They seem so much more friendly.
I share your views here too. The thing with fences is that they often are neglected and start to look bad. Even when it's not your fence, you have to endure it.
*Ceilings lower than 9 feet seem claustrophobic to me.
Nota, you sound like my mother. Are you sisters? Seriously, you have mentioned claustrophobia twice in your posts on this thread. I think they have therapies for overcoming that nowadays. My mother used to hate riding in elevators, so I always had to distract her with conversations like "So, what middle name would you have rather had?" or "Are you a cat or dog person?"
*Small rooms. IMHO no bedroom should have a dimension smaller than 12 feet. A kitchen should be large enough for 2 or 3 cooks and some kibitzers as well and have eat in capabilities. Hallways and stairways should be at least 4 feet wide for accessibility.
Mommy? Is that you? :P
*Dining rooms. Other than giving you a place to put the dining room furniture, what good are they? We eat in the kitchen or outside unless we have more than 6 or 7. Use the dining room maybe 4 or 5 times a year. The cat uses the dining room more than anyone else as she sleeps on the table daily so she can watch the birds in the dogwood tree outside the dining room window.
Agreed. Biggest waste of space since Siberia. The other example is the old fashioned "living rooms" of my youth where people had pristine, fancy furniture covered in clear vinyl and fitted, arm covers under the vinyl (a bit redundant). The room that no one ever used except when one was receiving the vacuum cleaner salesman, or for guests after a funeral. Even then, everyone felt uncomfortable in them.
*Narrow steps-(narrow from front to back) Steps should be at least 10 inches both for comfort in using and for safety.
You should have seen the stairs in my great-aunt Orphie's farmhouse. It was like climbing a ladder. Fun as a kid; hell as an adult.