Cool Features You Want in Your New Home

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Are you planning on building a new home? Meyer Builders is your Southeast Wisconsin custom home builder if you consider building a custom home or want to customize a house plan. Here are just some of the cool features we have created for our customers. Some make your life easier, some add convenience and comfort, and some features are simply beautiful additions to an amazing custom floor plan.

Already own a home? It’s not too late to upgrade or enhance your house with a remodel. Contact us today to find out what is possible. You may be delighted to find that you CAN have that home features you always wanted.

Lower Level

We’ll start at the bottom. Especially here in South-East Wisconsin, basements are one of the most versatile spaces in our homes. It’s no longer simply a choice of four walls of poured concrete or block and a floor. Whether you are planning on using your basement as a man cave, Rec Room for the kids, or simply for storage, do not overlook the potential of this space. Homeowners are using this space for a lot more. If it will be used as additional living or entertainment space, you’ll want to think ahead about the customizations that best meet your needs.

Deep Basement

Whether you finish the basement immediately or plan to remodel later on, planning ahead for a deeper basement gives you lots of options. A deeper basement provides space for overhead utilities needed for the upper floors without giving the basement a closed-in feel. How will you use the space? Will you need height above a pool table to hang a light without bumping your head? If you want a golf simulator for winter practice, you’ll need to be able to swing your club. Stadium seating for that theater room? You might need to make the whole basement deeper or just a small area.

Garage Stairs to the Basement

Having an extra set of stairs leading to the basement from the garage is a great feature to add to your new home. There are lots of reasons why this can be a nice add-on. It can be a convenient way to move larger furniture or recreational equipment into the basement (especially if you have partial or no exposure). If you will have a bedroom or two in the basement it allows for extra safety and exit options if there is a fire or flood.

Larger Garage for Storage

If you are a 2-car family, don’t forget about the bikes, sports equipment, lawn mower/snow blower, garden tools and more. If there isn’t room for a shed on your new property, or your homeowner’s association doesn’t allow you to build one, make sure you add some space to that garage size. We can’t guarantee you won’t still trip on your kids skateboard, but at least there will be a place to store it.

Inside the Home

 

Extra Storage…Everywhere

Let’s face it: we all have a lot of stuff. With a little forethought and planning, you can find a spot for everything and a little left over for new stuff you’re sure to collect in the future.

Prep Kitchen or Pantry

Most modern house plans are open in the main living spaces. The kitchen, great room, hearth room, and sometimes even a home office can all share the same proximity. That means all your small appliances, bakeware, and food storage can clutter up your countertops and other visible areas. Why not add a larger dedicated pantry or add workspace and cabinets to create a small “prep” kitchen? These are not only nice for entertaining, but also everyday living. It allows you to move the coffee maker, microwave, blender, canned goods, cereal boxes and other messes out of your living space and tuck them away out of sight.

Basement Closets

Adding one or more small (or large) closets in the basement make for the perfect place to store holiday decorations, guest linens, toys and board games, or your old record collection safely away from the entertainment area. Plus, they’ll be easily accessible when you need them.

His & Hers Master Closets

If you are competing with your spouse for hangers or shelf space in your closet, why not just build your own? You can customize the shelving or built-ins to accommodate your own needs. She may want drawers and hooks for jewelry, extra shoe shelves, and a full length mirror. He may need a place to keep neck-ties, larger shoe storage, and his collection of ball caps.

Convenience

Think about your family’s lifestyle and how your home should function for you. For example, sometimes rearranging the layout or enlarging certain rooms can really simplify things for you.

Rear Entrance Mudroom Plus

While the back entrance “drop zone” is still popular in new homes, some homeowners choose to make the rear entrance do more. Drop zone locker-style hooks and cubbies are great, but if your laundry area is already there, why not build a bigger room and make it work for you? A plus-size mudroom can accommodate washer and dryer, an extra deep sink, coat closet, even a craft table or computer work station. Gaining in popularity is a small pet shower, which essentially is a shower base with shorter walls to clean those dirty paws. But it can be used for so much more: You can fill large buckets, scrub garden tools or paint brushes, even set wet shoes or snow boots when coming in from outside.

Upstairs Laundry

If you are building a two-story home, you may choose to add a second upstairs laundry or forego the main floor laundry all together. Hauling laundry up and down stairs is a chore and moving the laundry closer to your closets makes perfect sense.

Central Vacuum System

If you hate lugging around a heavy vacuum cleaner from room to room or up and down stairs a central vacuum system is perfect for you. Receptacles are built into the walls of each room. Then all you have to do is plug in a hose attachment where you want to use it. You can even install a receptacle at the base of your kitchen cabinet to sweep crumbs up—no more dust pan! The dust and debris is collected in a central canister (in the basement or a closet) and is emptied less often than a regular vacuum cleaner. This type of system helps keep the dust and dander to a minimum as well, so if someone in the family has allergies it can be a huge help.

Smart Home Devices

There are countless ways you can make your new home a smart home. Programmable thermostats, lighting systems, door locks, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, even kitchen appliances are available and controllable from a portable tablet or your smartphone. Not only will these smart features make it more convenient to manage the systems of your home, but they can also help you reduce your energy usage and help keep your home more secure.

Extra Outlets

Speaking of smart devices, you’ll need lots of places to charge them all. As you are finalizing your home plans, think about what devices you’ll use and where. How you would need to charge them. Outlets can be added just about anywhere. You can install them on walls, inside drawers, and hidden under cabinets. Make sure you include USB receptacles in addition to GFCI and standard outlets where you will use different devices. For example, do you use your tablet as a cookbook? Have a USB outlet near your prep and cooking stations.

It’s not just the smart devices you’ll need to charge. Did you opt for the prep kitchen? Be sure you have enough outlets to use your blender, toaster oven, coffee maker and more. Do you have a home office or homeschool room? Don’t forget you’ll need to plug in computers, printers, and extra lighting.

Outside Living Spaces

Think outside the home as well. Even if you aren’t Clark Griswald, you’ll probably need outlets outside to power up holiday lights, landscape lighting and music, power tools, electric vehicles, and more.

Pro-Tip! If you are building an outdoor living area you may want to plan for natural gas to run your patio grill.

Comfort Home Features

There is no doubt that our homes are our castles. Especially now that we’ve all spent so much time at home, we have found ways to make it your own comfortable oasis.

Heated Floors

Not just a luxury feature for the master bath, lots of homeowners are choosing to heat the kitchen floor, four-season room, and basement floors. Wisconsin winters can be a cold and having a heated floor in your new home will help to make it a cozy retreat.

Walk-in Shower

A roomy shower with a bench to sit is not only a luxury, but also a practicality if you plan to live in the home after retirement. Simple additions like a wide door/entry, no lip edge, lower second showerhead, and stylish grab bars can easily make your shower accessible for all ages.

The Sky is the Limit

The list of house features above is not exhaustive. Meyer Builders will work with you to create the home you are dreaming of. We’ll help incorporate all the features you are looking for, and maybe even some you haven’t thought of. Contact us today to get started on your dream home.

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