One of the things I dream and fantasize the most about is my future home. A farmhouse in the country, to be exact. I dream about it so much that I spend hours poring through listings on Zillow, just for fun. I save pictures to my phone for inspiration, and plan out exactly how I’ll decorate and where. It’s not that there’s anything WRONG with our current home. In fact, there are many things I love about it. We’ve made a lot of memories in this house, our first. We even built an incredible barn door wall that I’ll cry over leaving behind one day. But the fact of the matter is, my dream home and our current “starter” home that was built by family (my great grandparents!) are worlds apart. Here’s what I really, really want in our next home.
A Better Kitchen
The number one issue I have with our current house is the kitchen. It’s teeny tiny and very ugly (we’re talking 1980’s style). Because of how bad our current kitchen is, the kitchen is probably the first thing I look at when I’m looking at listings. I’d really love a larger space so that we aren’t always bumping into each other when we’re in there. I also really want either an island or a peninsula. I love the way they look, that they’re great for entertaining and decorating, and that they provide more workspace. We also need a lot more cabinets and counter space. Our kitchen right now only has one wall of counters and cabinets, and we have no room to store anything. I’ve had to get creative about it.
I’d love some nice granite counters, a stylish backsplash, and new cupboards (I’m thinking maybe white). While we’re at it, I’d also love a farmhouse sink and stainless steel appliances. One thing that’s a necessity though is an icemaker. When we bought our current refrigerator, that was our requirement, and now I could never live without one! Perhaps we will save our black appliances if they’re still working fine when it’s time to move.
A Country / Rural Setting
I live and grew up in a very large suburb which is adjacent to a very large city. A busy suburban life is pretty much all I know, but I know that it’s not really for me. I am a quiet person and I really want and need a quiet place to live with lots more personal space. Our neighbors are fine, but I’d really like more distance between them and us. What I really want is a small town feeling out in the country. Things are always go, go, go out here, and I really don’t like it. There are several rural or at least rural-ISH towns that are in our county, and several that I would definitely consider moving to. Though it will be a change from the only home and town I’ve ever lived in, it’s a change I look forward to. It’ll mean our commutes will be longer, but I definitely believe it will be worth it.
Two Stories
Right now, we live in a raised ranch and I really do not like this layout at all. We have a ground floor (which is slightly submerged) and a top floor. The top floor contains basically all of our living space: bedrooms, kitchen, living room, etc. The ground floor contains the laundry room, an extra bathroom, and some additional rooms that contain our treadmill and my books. We really don’t use the ground floor at all. I would love to have a real two story house next, where our bedrooms are upstairs, and our living space is downstairs. I really hate having our bedrooms in such close quarters to the kitchen, living room, etc. I really think they ought to be separate.
More Square Footage
Depending on the listing you look at, our house is somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 feet. I think this is probably because some listings count the ground floor and some don’t. If you look at our upstairs, where we spend all of our time, we’re probably talking about 1,200 feet, which is way too small for a family of four. Every single room in our house is tiny and it feels like we are bursting at the seams. I’d like 1,700 square feet or more, ideally 2,000. I pretty much won’t even look at a listing if it’s under 1,600, truth be told. We all need some space to spread out instead of living in such close quarters.
Farmhouse, Victorian, or Colonial Style
My big dream is a farmhouse, but if I had to settle for a Victorian or colonial style, I suppose I would not be heartbroken. As long as it’s large and has two stories, I’d be pretty happy!
A Basement
Another raised ranch problem is the lack of a basement! Our laundry room has a small bit of storage space, and that’s it. That section is completely stuffed full, and our garage has become a storage space now too. Because I love to collect decor and books, I am in desperate need of more storage space, and a basement would fit the bill. I’m envisioning large metal shelves, with all of my decor sorted by seasons and labeled appropriately. Ah, big dreams!
A Bigger Master Bedroom
Our house really doesn’t have a master bedroom. All of our bedrooms are just small. When we bought this house, we upgraded to a king size bed, and we would honestly never go back down in size now. I toss and turn, we both get overheated, and we have blanket sharing issues. Having a king size bed is a necessity for sleep in this marriage. However, because our room is so small, it looks pretty stupid and has to be pushed up against a wall. I’d really love to have space on both sides of the bed, and maybe some additional furniture, like a chair. It’d be nice to not trip over our own feet when we’re trying to navigate around the bed.
A New Matching Bed Set
Speaking of our bedroom, it’s basically a hodgepodge of hand-me-downs and thrifted furniture. Now you KNOW I love me some thrift store shopping, but I would really love a nice, matching bed set, including a headboard, footboard, and some nice nightstands. Matching dressers sure wouldn’t hurt either. Our current “bed set” is this ugly, huge, outdated wooden monstrosity and it’s so big that we don’t have space for nightstands. The back of it has a shelf and a mirror, and it’s just plain ugly. A barnwood style or rustic set would be ideal!
Central Air
My current house already has central air, but any future house of mine also needs it. I don't do well in the heat and honestly don’t think I could do without it now. Call me spoiled, but I’ve always had it (even growing up), and like I mentioned, I really struggle with heat. If a house I was looking at didn’t have it, that could potentially be a dealbreaker!
An Open Floor Plan
Our house is pretty closed and sectioned off, and I don’t love it. Our dining room kind of opens up to the living room, but the kitchen is super closed off to everything. I’d love an open floor plan with the kitchen, living room, and dining room. I just think it makes a house look so much more cohesive and spacious. It flows better and people can communicate easier throughout the house. This is where an island or peninsula would come in handy, because it would allow for a defined kitchen area without having to completely close it off.
A Mantel
Because I have such an interest in home decor, I feel like I’m majorly missing out by not having a mantel to decorate. It’s kind of a strange “want,” but I feel like a mantel is prime real estate in the home decor world, and I have so many ideas that I can’t execute without one! Oddly enough, we have a fireplace on our ground floor, but it doesn’t have a mantel. Need one STAT.
Alright, so I know that my wishlist is pretty long, but I’m talking about my dream house here, so let me dream! We certainly don’t have oodles of money, so while I HOPE we can get all of these things, I understand that realistically we may not get them all. That won’t keep me from trying though! I am nothing if not stubborn and persistent, am I right?
Later this week, I’m going to talk about what I want for the outside of our home! More wishes!
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