I’ve always been interested in home design programmes. Imagine being able to design your own home. What kind of design would you go for? What features would your house have? Would you be minimalistic or go for the cosy, lived in look? Would you have a mansion or a cottage?
In my mind I have my dream home. It would have a long drive up to it, columns either side of the door, a very grand entrance hall with a sweeping staircase. It would be bright and airy and definitely lived in.There would be a huge kitchen diner with patio doors overlooking the garden.
Outside I would have decking with a hot tub, a well manicured garden with a pond and a fountain and a summer house…I don’t want much do I? I’d also love solar panels and possibly a wind turbine!
Upstairs I would have several huge bedrooms with balconies, walk in wardrobes and en-suite bathrooms. In our house at the moment we had VELUX® windows and blinds installed and I’m delighted with them. In my ‘dream house’ I would lots of VELUX windows to give a bright and airy feeling, I’d also have one right over my jacuzzi bath so I could while away the hours looking at the stars at night. Or look out from my warm bath while the snow is falling. I’ve just been looking at the VELUX website and have got loads of inspiration from their for my dream home. So when the time comes I know who to call 
Ahhhh….my dream house…it’d be a cottage. By the sea. Maybe in a fishing village, like Mousehole in Cornwall (one of my favourite places in the world), or maybe right on the water, like in Venice (another favourite place). Or Malahide or Killiney or Howth (I can dream, can’t I? lol) Or maybe Bray….right near the promenade. Or Strandhill. I love Strandhill! Right near the beach (and near Shells! lol) Or Carrick on Shannon. Or Bundoran. I love Bundoran. Or maybe even a tiny but beautiful little area like Rathmullan. Or Tory Island. So many beautiful places in Ireland that I’d love to live near to, that it’s difficult to choose (unless I could have more than one dream house, maybe? lol)
It’d be a cottage, but definitely two storeys. Maybe even a renovated old school or a small church that could be converted (ha! I just realised the pun there!), or a railway cottage.
Yes…lots of Velux and solar panels. Double glazed windows, with beautiful wooden frames. All natural wooden flooring (no laminate, no linoleum and no carpeting anywhere). And wood burning stoves or full hearths / fireplaces. And the windows would be mostly bay windows, where you could sit on them and read or look out over the harbour or the dock or the sea or the river or the lake…that’d be heavenly. it’d be all natural, too. Wood, stone, slate. Oh! And those beautiful French doors, too. The living room would be comfy and cozy, with lots of plenty of natural light, and the walls would be lined with bookshelves.
Definitely more than one bathroom. And a big enough kitchen to have a proper kitchen table in it, with lots and lots of cabinets and shelves (I like shelves!), with a mini herb garden container on the windowsill. And hanging plants by the kitchen window, too. That is, until the cats start getting curious and probably pull them down from where they’re hanging, lol.
And we’d have a garden…a proper garden, with enough room to plant lots of veggies and fruit trees. And I’d have a proper studio to work on my crafts, instead of the dining room that I’m using now. And my hubby would have his own studio, too.
Oh! And definitely away from any main road and any car traffic – miles away from it, if possible, so our cats would be able to play and roam safely outside, without me worrying about them (they’re all indoor cats now, because we live way too close to the main road).And enough room to also have chickens, goats and a couple of donkeys from the Sai Sanctuary (I’d love to be able to do that).
I don’t want much, do I? If you’re gonna dream, you might as well dream big and have fun with it, right? This was definitely fun. I really enjoyed daydreaming, Val. I guess If we can’t buy Oyster Island or Coney Island, then a dream home like the one I’ve just fantasized about would do me quite nicely.
Thanks, Val. This cheered me up, big time (this, and watching ‘The Commitments’ this evening – love that film!)
Wow you had more idea than I did!!!
The converted church would be good….but what if it was haunted?
I love those converted barns too.
I’d actually love a three story house with stairs down to a basement which would house a swimming pool and gym….now whether I’d actually use the gym is another matter
You set the ball in motion, Val – I just took it and ran with it L)
Y’know, even when we ‘can’t always get what we want’ sometimes, just entertaining the idea of maybe having it one day, and daydreaming about it, is a very enjoyable (and fun!) way to spend few minutes (or hours!). I’m definitely enjoying this…and enjoying the daydreaming. Thanks, Val.
ps – forgive me, everyone, for rabbitting on and on…and on and on, above. Once I got started, I couldn’t stop myself!
Glad to get you thinking
I’m in my dream house, although I wish I owned it and had more land. I’ve been drooling over a brochure of a farmhouse on 100 acres with outbuildings. Seems impossible.
Ohhhhh…..a farmhouse with 100 acres of land and outbuildings too? That would definitely be a dream come true for me. That’s brilliant, limmster, that you already have your dream house.
I guess our little bungalow here is, in its own way, our dream house, as it’s our first one and we love it, even with its quirks and eccentricities (it’s an old house that doesn’t have much modernisation inside or out) but it’s a perpetual fixer-upper and work in progress…but still, having said that, it’s a lovely little fixer-upper, and, until we win the lottery and can get that super ultra dream house I went on and on (and on and on!) about above, I’m happy and content where we are. But it’s fun dreaming…and drooling over brochures and watching programmes like ‘Grand Designs’.
Yes, every time I drive passed it my heart breaks or skips a beat. It’s perfect! I could do so much. I wouldn’t farm it but I would certainly have animals and maybe turn some into woodland, nature trails, a lake, a cafe/tea room, market garden. Possibilities are endless. I love the house I’m in now, but it’s not mine
You’ve got ME drooling over it now, Lmmster! Nature trails, a lake, market garden and…and…a cafe/tea room! Ohh….if you ever do get it, I’m there at the cafe/tea room – definitely! That is, after I do the nature hike that goes around the lake.
That sounds wonderful Belle. You never know, keep dreaming.
I know, only so much dreaming I can do really!
Where’d you get that drool-alilcious brochure, Limmster? Was it an insert in a newspaper or magazine or did you see it at the real estate agent’s, maybe? The reason I ask is..well…I wanna drool over it, too