Do you know what one of the best parts of building a house is?
FREEDOM!
You can do whatever the heck you want. Theoretically, you could build a house exactly the way you want it. The sky is the limit. Sure – you (or your home designer) have to take into consideration basic construction and engineering principles. Everything needs to be to code. It needs to be stable and able to hold up to the environment. And it has to fit in your budget.
But I’m pretty sure if there’s a will (and lots of money), there’s a way.
But, while it’s certainly possible to add an indoor tennis court or a Rapunzel tower (who WOULDN’T want that?), it’s probably not always practical.
As we built our new home, there were a lot of more conventional decisions for a new home that we skipped – both for cost savings and for practicality over time. These were splurges that just didn’t make sense for our home, family or budget.
These may or may not apply to you, but I hope they encourage you to think outside conventional wisdom to build a home that actually works for your family and your budget.
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A master bathroom
Explaining that we don’t have a master bathroom basically amounts to raising our freak flag very high. When we explained that we didn’t have a desire to include a master bathroom in our new home, our home designer raised his eyebrows and told us we were only the second homeowners in his 20 year career to skip it.
Here’s why we decided to remove the master bathroom from the “must have” list:
- We’ve never had a master bathroom before. We’ve never felt like we needed it or have missed it.
- Our house design was a story and a half, with limited real estate upstairs. With all bedrooms upstairs, space that would have needed to allocated for a small master bathroom could be better used for upstairs laundry and storage – which were more important to us.
- I hate to clean bathrooms and prefer to have less of them to clean. Having another bathroom to clean seemed like overkill, especially when a master bath is just for Ryan and I.
So far, the decision to skip the master bathroom isn’t something we regret. The idea of a master bathroom is really a more modern phenomenon, so I think we’ll probably survive without it.
Plus, only outfitting two bathroom instead of three saved us a good chunk of change in the building process. And hurray, I really do have less to clean.
No first floor master suite
The first floor master bedroom seems to be a newer home trend. The idea of a home that’s accessible for life is a really compelling idea, and something Ryan and I talked over a lot.
But neither of us wanted to actually sleep in a bedroom on the first floor with a child in the picture. And if we have more kids, we want to be nearby. So that bedroom would be wasted space for the foreseeable future. And to build a home with a bedroom we honestly wouldn’t use for years seems like a total waste. And probably a place to just pile junk.
Plus, that’s space that we could allocate to our main living space, since we chose to build a smaller home than the normal new builds at a little over 1500 square feet.
The only selling point to me of a first floor master suite is accessibility in the future. If one of us are unable to get upstairs, a downstairs bedroom would be a wonderful feature.
But while we plan to be in this home for a long time, we really wanted to build a house that fits our family’s needs now and in the near future instead of building a home for what could happen in 50, 60 or 70 years.
What this means for us – if something happens that requires a first floor bedroom in the distant (or not-so-distant future), we will have to consider a way to make this happen – whether that be some sort of addition or remodel. Until then, we are comfortable with all the bedrooms upstairs. (As an aside, there’s something I really love about having the private bedrooms away from where we would entertain. It’s a nice divider for the way we live.)
Double sinks
Okay, so since we didn’t put in a master bath, maybe this doesn’t come as a huge shock. But, our lifestyle just doesn’t necessitate double sinks.
In almost ten years of marriage, Ryan and I have never been getting ready at the sink at the same time.
Ever.
We have different work schedules and routines – even on weekends. I really can’t even imagine why I would need a double sink in our household.
With that said, this is just us. I know that other people get ready at the same time and need that extra space. If House Hunters has taught me anything, it’s that we’re the only couple in the history of the world who doesn’t need a double sink.
But …. can someone please tell me WHY you need a double sink? If I had the bathroom real estate and Ryan and I got ready at the same time, wouldn’t it be more practical to have a larger vanity and a giant mirror and only one sink?
That’s not a rhetorical question. I really want to know if you would rather have a double sink or extra counter space.
Our home has two bathrooms and will eventually have a third bathroom in the basement. So, I figure that if one day we do have multiple teenagers with more primping needs, there is a little extra space. Or I could just banish them all to the barn and let them fend for themselves.
(You are welcome to hold my smugness over my head if I ever change my mind and wonder why I didn’t build a house with double sinks and a master bathroom.)
In other news, our vanity has plenty of counter space and was only $100 with the countertop. So I’m also calling that a modest cost savings over a double sink with all the plumbing fixtures.
All the upgrades and extras
This is a bit of a catchall, because there are tons of upgrades we could have done and skipped. There are a lot of times I wanted to upgrade all the things when we built our house. I wanted to pimp this baby out like a shiny black SUV with chrome wheels, LED lights and a lift kit.
I don’t think I’m alone in this desire to make everything fancy and perfect.
Every single decision you make when building a house feels like the most important decision. If you are choosing a dining room light fixture, it’s hard not to think that it’s the most important decision you’ll make in the entire house. Even door knobs and light switches and vents becomes life-or-death decisions.
But then you realize that if you upgrade everything – or spend $3,000 on a dining room light fixture – you can’t afford to have any more lights in the whole house. And I’d prefer to have some other lights in lieu of one perfect (expensive) dining room fixture.
So, we chose to go the budget route for many things in the home – light fixtures, hardware, vanities, flooring, closet shelving, etc. These are also things that CAN be changed down the line, if needed. Although I don’t forsee that need for a long time. I’m settling in and enjoying it.
That’s not to say that we cheaped out and have a cardboard box for a home. We made decisions that worked for our budget and for our lives. Not just making decisions that Pinterest convinced me were correct. For example, we would have spent a lot more on fancy tiled floors and tub surrounds, but we are perfectly content living with hexagon vinyl floors and a one piece tub surround.
I think that making huge upgrade decisions while building a house is a slippery slope. We did go over our original budget anyway. But if we had upgraded everything, we wouldn’t have been able to afford it.
So, I guess my take is that we would much rather live with our home before making giant, expensive upgrade decisions. If I want to upgrade the light fixture down the road, I can save up and do it. If I want to install a custom closet system, I can save up and do it.
Until then, I live with the abundance of beautiful and practical things we have. There’s a good chance I’d never notice many of those upgrades anyhow.
I hope this is encouragement to think outside the box (and Pinterest) when building your house. You can have a beautiful home that you love without sacrificing your family, your life or your longterm financial stability. I promise.
(And if you are wondering about where we did splurge and what we actually spent overall on our house, I’m working on those posts and they’ll be coming soon.)
How do you feel about the things we skipped when building a house? Anything you couldn’t live without?
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Dianna Hostettler says
I don’t care for the double sinks in our master bathroom. The cat food sits next to one, and we use the other. However, with four kids sharing one bathroom, I absolutely want double sinks in there. At least double faucets.
nancy says
Ok I guess I’m in the minority but I love our double sinks. Having said that, however, I didn’t have to give up counter space as the counters are pretty long. I enjoy not sharing with my husband (both use it at the same time) and I was glad my three kids had two to share as it led to less fighting.
Kim Woodward says
I don’t think you are in the minority – double sinks are very common and there must be a reason for them. Glad you found something that worked for you – that’s the goal, right? Thanks for the comment!
Sarah says
We love having a master bath, but it is seriously the world’s smallest bathroom. It’s also currently rocking a blue sink and toilet and peeling wallpaper, so we have a remodel in our near future! But I totally hear you on the double sinks. I just don’t think we would use them. Our sink is tiny, and there isn’t room for anything bigger, but if there was a little more space, I’d opt for extra counter space.
Brie says
I’ve always thought double sinks didn’t make sense, but alas I too have usually felt alone in that opinion! I’ve heard some wives say that the double sink is so nice in the master due to their husbands not cleaning up their shaving mess and toothpaste mess and then they don’t have to look at that daily since they are using the other sink. My husband is a neatfreak though so I never have to deal with sink mess from him. Personally, I’d way rather have the counter space to sprawl out my makeup and hair stuff while getting ready, and it doesn’t turn into a catchall because I clean it up after each use anyway.
We live in a mobile home that happens to have double sinks in the one and only bathroom so if there was ever a reason to want the double sinks I would say one bathroom with a family of 5 could be a time it might be handy (one sometimes functions as a laundry sink, since the machines are close by). My two toddlers love being cute and each stand at their “own” sink for teeth brushing, but that’s hardly a reason to intentionally stick 2 sinks in.
Your blog is very refreshing by the way! Its very hard to find anyone out there who believes its possible to build a house for under $250k. We are hoping to contract our own house for hopefully less than $150k next year by making similar decisions as you have made, like skipping splurges and not building a house with 3000 sq ft of finished space! Living in a mobile home is small at times but it is so quick to clean the whole place from top to bottom and I have really learned to be organized and clutter free, I don’t even necessarily need that much more space, now that I’ve gotten used to it. Sometimes less is more!
Kim Woodward says
Thanks so much for the comment! There are definitely some wonderful perks to living small – best of luck with your planning as you get ready to build!
Margret says
Looking back on our build, 22 years ago: splurges: 2 gas fireplaces, still love them (it’s not winter, it’s fireplace season), and they give heat if we have a power failure, 5 sets of interior glass doors on main floor (still love them, allows us to close off areas for sound yet lets light through), solid oak floors in living room and great room (wearing well, love them, neighbours upgraded after they saw ours), decided to add the ‘bonus’ room over the double garage– since the foundation is done, and you have to put a roof on anyway, to get the extra space you only need the second story walls and basic finishing inside (and we used it as part of a suite to rent which really helped with the mortgage in the early years), Bosch dishwasher (very quiet, after 22 years we’ll be replacing it this year ), 3 bathrooms for 4 people, (no regrets, but all are basic with single sink plus 1.5 ft of counter, laminate countertops, basic fixtures, happy with 5.5 ft soaker tubs, I do love the ensuite, very handy. ), also went beyond basic size and shape for windows to let in lots of light, 0 regrets there.
Skipped: smooth ceilings in bedrooms (Argh. Textured was standard finish at the time, I didn’t like it but budget (aka husband) prevailed on this one), double sinks, (don’t miss a bit), bedroom on main (now that’s sounding like a good thing to have– you know, if you are settled in your area, love your house, the time whizzes by as the kids grow up and the next thing you know, you’re wondering how many miles are left on the knees!), no stone kitchen countertops: chose a laminate, a honed granite lookalike, dark pattern, which has worked very well. Pseudo splurge: in our study/office, we laid an outside ‘frame’ of oak flooring around the edge and then had a piece of low-pile commercial quality rug (no pattern, deep mulberry colour, very hard wearing) cut and edge-bound to go in the middle, overlapping the hardwood, giving the look of hardwood floors with an area carpet.
Sometimes it’s the old ‘costs money to save money’ ; top quality items cheaper over the long term (the back exterior door NOT an illustration of this. Lol)
Shellie says
I hate double sinks! The last 2 houses we have lived in have had them and one sink we use, the other holds my blow dryer (yes that just screams safety, eh?) But seriously, when I clean I have to dust that sink rather than clean it- it never gets turned on!
Marty Walden says
Your thoughts on the double sink are really interesting since we still have one more bathroom to gut (although we spent all that money on the kitchen!) It makes a lot of sense especially sense our bathrooms are tiny. Great post, too!
Ann says
My daughter may be your long-lost twin. She just did a major addition on her house and spent money on things that would be impossible to do later: extra height in the basement, larger windows in the basement, and rough-in plumbing for a basement bathroom in case they want to make it into an au pair suite; major sound insulation between downstairs family room and upstairs master bathroom; a broom closet next to kitchen door; a real linen closet upstairs where they didn’t have one before; lots of extra electrical outlets in kitchen and bathrooms. They bought modest lighting fixtures, Ikea vanities and kitchen cabinets and are happy with those choices. The addition has transformed their lives for the better — lots more play dates happening, lots less squabbling.
Kim Woodward says
She sounds like a genius! 😉
Thanks so much for sharing – so happy that she made that addition work best for her and her family.
Jess says
Our house came with double sinks in the master, one of which we never use because the towel is next to the other sink and we are mindless robots. As we are considering updating the whole room, I really began to like the idea of one sink and more counter. My husband has vetoed that tho, I don’t know why, he uses the hall bath most of the time anyway, and even if we were brushing at the same time, we are coordinated enough to alternate spitting. But he’s usually easy-going so I’m not going to fight him on this, he gets two sinks.
I didn’t build, but I did renovate a ton when I first bought my house, and I found that basic/cheaper works fine for most everything. Honestly the only thing I regret is replacing the carpet with new carpet, instead of hardwoods. there was a cost difference but looking at it now, it wasn’t that great and I will end up replacing the carpet again in a few years because what I got wasn’t the best quality.
Kayla says
Ahh! I’m so glad i FINALLY found someone who agreed AGAINST double sinks. People think I’m crazy, but counter space would be much better utilized in our lives!! Love your list 🙂
Kim Woodward says
Ha! Who would have thought there were so many people with serious OPINIONS about double sinks?
daisy says
Such a timely post, as we are searching for our forever home. We were hoping to build, but it doesn’t look like that’s in the cards. Budget is the main concern. I sure wish you and Ryan could be our tag team builder/designer. Y’all have done a fabulous job on every home you’ve owned. How’d y’all get so stinkin’ smart at your tender age?
OMGosh, I say that all the time. Why do you need two sinks? Even two bathrooms on the same floor? We never get ready at the same time and I love having less to clean. We are kindred spirits, girl!
Thanks for giving us something to think about. I think I need to forward this to my hubster. It may help us narrow our search down.
Kim Woodward says
Best of luck in your home build – new build or buying an existing home, it can be stressful. I hope you find the perfect home for your family.
Kristin says
I skipped some unique (ie expensive) design elements that I really wanted when we built. I splurged on functional stuff not decorative (like geothermal – super functional and low heating bills, yeah!). One thing I reeeeallllly wanted was a trough sink in the master bathroom but they’re also super expensive. We did go with two sinks and I don’t regret it one bit! So helpful for my household. I don’t like counter top clutter so I’d rather have two sinks than extra counter space to collect “stuff”. LOL. But, do what works for your household. If it’s not useful for you, skip it. Make it work for you, amiright?! :o)
Kim Woodward says
Agreed – my whole philosophy is to do what works best for your family and budget. Sounds like you are doing just that.
(The trough sink sounds awesome, by the way!)
Kim Woodward says
Geothermal was one of our up-front splurges, too, by the way.
Kim says
We made a LOT of concessions when we built our new house last year. But many of the decisions were not only motivated by saving $$, but also just general preference. We did luxury vinyl tile in the bathrooms and laundry instead of ceramic – feels SO much better underfoot and was lots cheaper! We also went the less expensive route on most light fixtures. I splurged on 2 main fixtures – entry and our main sunroom light – buying those at Ballards but waiting until the 20% off sale in September 🙂 The rest came from Lowes, Menards or Home Depot for a fraction of the cost the builder wanted us to spend on the “standard fixtures” they picked at a lighting store.
Our other big save was the $5k they wanted to charge for a tiled master shower. We chose a regular surround with a glass shower door and I LOVE it! SOOO much easier to clean and I love not worrying about the grout getting dirty or dusty or moldy. I mean yes it’d be lovely to have that pretty tile in the shower but it’s just for my husband and I, and I have to clean it, so what’s the point, right? 🙂
We splurged our $$ on things that would be IMPOSSIBLE or very costly to change down the line – adding square footage to our garage for storage, for instance. We upgraded our kitchen cabinets and counters (seeing that price list was not fun, though!) because while we can change it later we didnt’ want the mess or hassle down the line. Faucets, lights, even a floor in a bathroom can be so much easier to switch out in 5/10 years if I want.
Good tips!! Though coming from a super tiny one sink bath I’m glad we have the double sink and a master bath 🙂 But we have a ton of counter space between the sinks so love that. If I could do my kids’ bath over again I’d do one sink with more counter space (though the 7 year old boy would not like that because he HATES the hair his 13 year old sister leaves all over the bathroom!)
Kim Woodward says
Sounds like you and I are kindred spirits. We made many of the same decisions and couldn’t be happier. I’m glad to hear you made the best decisions for your life, budget and family. Nothing better than that!
Denise in PA says
I would have skipped (and don’t have and don’t desire) any of the things you mentioned too! See, you are not the only ones! o:)
Dijon says
We skipped the double sinks in the bathroom also. We’d had them in an apartment we rented, so we knew from experience that we’d rather have the counter space.
We also skipped real stone countertops for the kitchen in favor of laminate, and I regretted that within just a few months. It seems today’s laminate doesn’t stand up to heat (even a dinner plate with a serving of hot food on it) as well and as the Formica in our parents homes. If I could turn back the calendar pages, I’d find a way to pay for granite or quartz.
Kim Woodward says
What a bummer! We had laminate in our first home and I didn’t mind it a bit. But we didn’t live there very long and solid surfaces would have been way out of the budget. We have granite this time around and like it, but it was free as a hand-me-down, which was just dumb luck.
Susan A says
When we added on to our ranch, we did add a master bathroom as the new master bedroom is at the opposite end of the other bedrooms & bathrooms. But, we only have one sink in the master bathroom. We didn’t see the need for two sinks either. On the rare occasion that my hubs and I are in the bathroom at the same time, I’ll say “we should have put in two sinks” as this is a running joke with us. And we put in a one piece tub/shower surround. I agree that cleaning three bathrooms is no fun. But our family of three gets a chuckle when we all have to #1 at the same time and we each have our go-to-bathroom. 😉 😉 😉
Kim Woodward says
That’s a good point! There are times where more than one bathroom is a great luxury.
Emily says
I am with you on the larger vanity/single sink idea. I bought land about a year ago and am in the home planning process now. My current design has a Master Bath with separate shower and tub, and double sinks. I’m thinking about dropping a sink for more counter space and dropping the tub for an enclosed toilet. I take maybe 2 baths a year, so I figure I can just use what will be my daughter’s tub/shower combo when the mood strikes. I’d much prefer to have a large shower with a bench to shave my legs and a toilet where I can close the door while my husband brushes his teeth. I have been reading your blog since we bought our property. Thanks for all of the building tips!
Kim Woodward says
So many decisions! I can relate!
Sounds like you are thinking about this just the right way – what will be best for your family and lives (and budget). Cheers to you and hope everything goes smoothly as you begin your build.
Cheryl says
Plan carefully if you do the enclosed toilet area – in so many new houses that area is so small you can’t move your arms without bumping elbows into the walls! So sit on a toilet and measure how much room you need to move around comfortably – then make it a few inches bigger if possible.
Kim Woodward says
Thanks so much for sharing, Cheryl! Great tips!
Andrea says
Loved this! I am in the process of building a home right now. I’m also doing a story an a half. Like you, I’m doing a single sink in the bathrooms. However I do have a master bath because I have this thing about private bathrooms. I need my very own bathroom that no one else will use when I have company. That’s just me and yes, I know it’s weird. My master bedroom is on the first floor because that is what works best for my life at this time. My son is headed to high school next year (seriously, where does the time go???) and I gave him the option of having the 2nd bedroom downstairs or the loft/bedroom/bathroom upstairs. Well what 14 yr old wouldn’t choose his very own space upstairs? So this just works best for us right now. We are both excited (although he is playing it cool) and should be in our house by summer. Great blog. I really enjoy reading what other people do and don’t do when building their own house.
Kim Woodward says
I don’t think you are strange about wanting a master bath – I think we are the odd ones. 😉 Seriously, the stats don’t lie.
Congrats on your new home! I’m sure you are thrilled to be so close!
Cassie Bustamante says
the master bathroom! i love that you skipped that. our upstairs bathroom is sorta jack and jill-ish with a vanity off our bedroom and a vanity off the hallway that both feed into the same shower/toilet area. we want to redo the bathroom one day and close off the connection and make one bigger bathroom off the hallway, so no “master bath” area at all. to me it makes so much more sense!
Kim Woodward says
Sounds like a great upgrade! I think it’s pretty common to NOT have a master bath in older homes – but it seems to be an anomaly in new homes. I think it’s just a matter of doing what works best for you!