Oh my gosh, I have pinned a majority of these images to my board as they are my dream spaces – lots of light, airy, lots of windows and big doors leading to rooms, simple and no wastage of space.

We have similar styles and I love the high ceilings and kitchen area in your home. No to mansions for sure!!

Oh my gosh, I could just adopt your list as my own. I agree on every thing you listed with only a few variations. I love your #1. I’m always surprised by what people want in a dream home (home theaters, etc), and I always surprise others when I say I want mine to be “just big enough and efficiently planned.” Lots of light, access to outside spaces, and open concept are on my list too.

Funny — through all these GORGEOUS photos, and points I’d agree with completely, I was dreaming right along with you. I’d add personally that this mystical creature be nestled into a fantastic neighborhood in walking distance to everything central. Remember, we are dreaming!

Also, surely you saw the striking similarity in the first photo under point number 4 and your own living room, yes?!

I dream of a huge family friendly back yard with a pool.

Sherry (from YHL) sent me that photo a few weeks ago! She said it reminded her of my living room. I love it!

You have a lot of your dream home features at your current house – so that’s awesome! I’m on board with you with the idea of a “right sized” house. I grew up in a McMansion so I can really appreciate the intimacy of a smaller home.

thanks for this post. Makes me count my blessings.

Right with you….except I prefer (and have)) a light exterior. And I’m neutral on prefab (our basement walls and roof trusses are prefab).

Also ours is more of a “planned” community so lots of walking/biking trails and open areas yet close to shopping and the freeway.

I wish more people would consider hiring an architect to design their home. (I’ll admit my bias here!)

People hire professionals to handle so many different aspects of their lives, but they hesitate when it comes to engaging an architect to design their home. There is certainly a disconnect between the profession and homeowners, and a perception that it’s a pricey (and unnecessary) service.

We are currently working with a couple to design their “final” house – they are nearing sixty, and want a modern family home that let them age in place for the next twenty years. They are having a complete ball with the process – I think they truly love this process.

How many chances do you get in this life to engage in this sort of process? Your home is a really big deal, and what a treat it is to make it reflect its site, your family, your priorities, and your needs (and no more than that).

You’ve probably read Sarah Susanka before, but if not, it’s right up your alley. She’s one of many credited for the not-so-big house movement. A real response to the proliferation of gigantic houses full of rooms with no character or thoughtful design. http://www.susanka.com/

If you can get your husband to make a list, I’d love to see it here on your blog! It’d be interesting to compare to your list, and to hear what’s important to him.

I’ve often wondered about agreements/disagreements that couples have behind DIY/shelter blogs that we don’t see because only one person posts.

I bet you’d be perfectly happy with a (southern hemisphere) summer home in Antarctica… weather isn’t bad, 24 hour daylight, gorgeous views and adorable penguins! It’s a lovelier place than you’ve imagined in December. :)

Oh I love this exercise!

Your dream list is right on point with my idea of a dream home. Most homes now a days are devoid of character or intimacy. Gone are the days of McMansions (who can afford the heating bills!) to smaller more family centered homes with a walkable downtown. We opted to go smaller on the house so we could afford a great town that has a wonderful walkable downtown full of awesome shops, restaurants, farmers markets, train station, top rated schools & parks!

In addition to your list I’d love to add my obsession with herringbone wood floors uninterrupted throughout the house,well placed windows for cross ventilation, well crafted hardware, bath/kitchen fixtures & solid wood interior doors. Hey it’s the little things that make me happy!

Dana, I think we might be kindred spirits or something. Your #1-7 top my dream house list! I absolutely hate wasted space and many people don’t seem to understand how important an efficient living space really can be. And you’ve just convinced me that #8-10 should be strongly considered, as well. ;)

I agree with Ashley. The neighborhood is so extremely important to me. I want everything in walking distance, nice mature trees & landscaping, and no cookie-cutter developments. I told my husband the next house we own will be built (maybe even pre-fab) in a well-developed neighborhood with tons of character, history, and charm.

1. open floor plan
2. main floor & master bathrooms
3. bedroom level laundry facilities
4. office room (so I can close the door on my business at the end of the day, rather than having my computer stare at me from the couch.)

I love a lot of these- but I wish you’d linked to the sources. I know you listed the sources at the end of the post, but it makes it really hard to see more of each of these wonderful houses!

Dreaming about homes is my favorite kind of dreaming! My list is similar – topped by high ceiling, natural light, and indoor/outdoor connectivity – but I’d add ‘old’ to the list. The older the better in my book. Old houses have lots of character and history and I like the notion of recycling and reusing houses. Added benefit – you save all that perfectly good wood and other building materials from landfills.

When I look at pics of your previous house compared to pics of your current house and these pics of dream house spaces, it’s clear how different your aesthetic is. For example, I was surprised when I saw the light fixture over the kitchen table in your previous house – I feel like that style is kind of the polar opposite of how you decorated this house! I think it would be really interesting for you to do a post on that…how your taste has changed/evolved, and why.

I completely agree with you on pretty much all of these! Especially the point about not having wasted space. The thought of having unused areas drives me crazy! The only thing I disagree on is not needing your own outdoor area. I currently live in a 325 sq ft. studio, and I think the size of my apartment perfect (for me), but I wish more than anything that I had some sort of semi-private outdoor space. My building does have a roof deck which I use frequently, and there are parks nearby, but sometimes you just want to be able to sit outside in your pajamas in peace haha, you know?!

I’m living in my dream home. polished cement floors downstairs, 1800 square feet is just enough, and a view off out back. It’s perfect :)

My dream home is not too big either -for my family of seven I am currently dreaming of a 2,000 – 2,500 or so square space, but every room used every day. I also love, love, love having people over – large groups, family, friends, whatever. We’re not formal people, so I don’t want a formal dining room as much as I want a large eat in kitchen, or a smaller kitchen that is open to a dining room, but with only one table between the two. I also love older homes, with lots of character – built in bookcases, large moldings, wood floors, etc. But because of that, I don’t want an open floor plan, just one that flows well for larger groups – something like Nicole’s Victorian house on Making it Lovely – where there are lots of rooms, but the have a good connection with each other. I also love and need lots of natural light – most rooms in my dream house would have windows on more than one wall, for the best lighting. And having easy outdoor living access is also a dream – so being able to go directly outside from the kitchen, having a patio and eating space outside. I don’t want a ton of land, but something like a quarter acre, to have a good garden in, with fruit trees, raspberry bushes, grapes, etc. And then also having the house be walkable – to the local elemantary school, a park, the library (hey, if I’m dreaming!) And then ideally, also a farmer’s market, small downtown, but still lively enough to be somewhere we would go.

It’s a big list (about half from what you have – I love that you live in a smaller space, and also have so much natural light in your main living area), but I do think most of them are doable in the future. My husband is finishing his Ph.d. this year, and so next year we hope to move to a college town – where it really is possible to live sometimes within walking distance to many things, and where he could walk to work. Also, older neighborhoods tend to be around universities, so I hope I get me some large windows and character too!

I vaguely remember reading about Sarah a few weeks ago. Something about a new not-so-big community, I think? Thank you for the recommendation and link! I’ll have to check her out in more depth.

Oh, and thanks for sharing an architect’s perspective!

Thanks for the feedback! I just updated the post to include direct links for the images. Hope that helps!

I agree with everything on your list. My #1 would be outdoor space. I’ve been apartment living for 7 years and have been craving outdoor space of my own. I love living close to the city (Cincinnati), but also want a little slice of greenery to connect to nature.

I would love to see what Steve puts as his dream home list. We’re house hunting right now and it is so fun to discuss our future home and see how many similarities we have in what we hope for and how we would want to decorate it (we’re normally an opposites attract kind of couple).

My list is similar to yours: gotta be a reasonable size for good, family time but also cleaning purposes. Who wants to clean 4,000 square feet? Lots of natural light and open living space is huge. I’d add hardwood floors in all living areas and bedrooms and a view. We moved from a teeny house about a year ago and while I love having more than one bathroom, I can’t stand all the carpet. Toddlers and pale carpeting don’t mix. I can’t wait to get rid of it. What our new house does have is a beautiful view of the valley, water and distant Olympic Mountains. Now that I’ve lived in a house with a gorgeous view, I’m not sure I could go back.

“Right-sized home” is spot on. I’d also like some acreage to go with all the natural lighting and connection to the outdoors for privacy. I like to have the option to wander around nude. Not that I ever do/would wander around nude, but for some reason it feels like a good option to keep open in case of …. clothing emergency I guess.

My only dream house characteristic is figuring out how to get the house to pay for itself and we’re weeks away from turning the space above our detached garage into a vacation rental, so hopefully that takes care of that! The smaller things: privacy & more greenery (something that is very hard to get in our location, walking distance to downtown); a screened porch; a wood stove — fortunately, for a price all those can be added. And once those happen, I’m NEVER moving. :)

Oh my goodness, I love these. My husband and I were just recently talking about how we love the idea of living in just the right amount of space for us, so that one hits home. Additionally, natural light, high ceilings, open space, and every piece of decor or art is either done by one of us or means a whole heck of a lot; meaning and purpose behind everything.

I stumbled upon your blog looking for pictures of windows in showers (great post by the way). I thought I’d read the latest post and added you to my Feedly right away. Granted I haven’t read through the whole post in detail yet. (It is getting late and I’m working on a job for a client). But when I read #6 I just had to comment. As an architect-to-be (interning now), I have had many discussions with architects and interns about the lack of respect/recognition for architects and their design skills (in the office this is mostly related to pay scale but I think it can impact so much of our lives). Thank you for bringing this up!… and as Kristin suggested that the clients love the process… so do we!

Love love love dark exteriors! Let see, Im sorta living in my dream home now. Ive always dreamt of living in a little old house on a large lot with beautiful outdoor spaces. Ive got the little old house and large lot portion down, now we just have to work on those exterior spaces. BUT, I looooove craftsmans, IF I could change just one thing about my house, id make it a craftsman:)

My dream home would have a lot of features I unfortunately live without ATM; A dedicated mudroom/entryway with storage for bags, keys, shoes etc; An actual laundry room, instead of a slither of space that happens to be the back yard exit; a bit larger master with a built in robe and modest en suite; an open plan kitchen/living/dining plus another room for future kids to use as family room/ book room/ sleepover room/ family movie night room etc; A larger bathroom that has a decent sized bath, a bit bigger shower and room for a hamper for dirty clothes; a visually interesting exterior; and a bigger block, with a dense woodsy looking back yard, with a large grassed area for Christmas cricket matches with family ;-)
I’m grateful to own our own home though, and really love our wood fireplace, and our vaulted ceilings :)

Do you really think that this is an appropriate use of “Dream Day”? Maybe the connection made sense in your head, but written out as a blog post it comes across as very shallow, tacky, and completely missing the real importance and value behind “Dream Day”.

This is so so lovely and nicely thought through. I particularly love the navey blue house – I pass it often on my walk to yoga here in Cape Town :)

I am totally in agreement on the ”not too big house” – we bought our first home in January this year and have had such fun fixing it up. It’s just the right size for my husband and I and the baby on the way, and I know that with the few additions we want to do over the next few years it will still be comfortable as the family grows, but never excessive.

Our house ticks off so many things on your list (especially the high celiings, natural light and indoor outdoor living). We love our house, but it’s nice to be pointed towards gratitude for certain things!

Thanks for your gorgeous blog, so much inspiration all the time :)

It’s interesting to see what features are important to others when it comes to their ideal home. I have to say number 2 & 3 are my favorite. There is no such thing as too much natural light in a home. I love large windows, and huge doors that allow a ton of sunshine into a home. Installing replacement windows and making them the size I would like would be the first home improvement project I would want to invest into a home. With so many different styles, installing replacement windows into your home can completely change the appearance.
This is a fun post!

Like I said, it was a spin on Dream Day and I have many other dreams that don’t involve houses but this seemed appropriate for the niche of this blog.

I love all of your “must have’s”. For me, I want a view and to be somewhere near water. I’ve often dreamed of a modern day treehouse or some place tucked amongst the trees. For now, though, I’m going to have to enjoy my modern day ranch in the burbs…

Hey Dana,

Dreaming home is my favorite pass time. But never thought of making a list. Actually that is a great idea and since I am no where near a dream home I have time to edit and re-edit and then edit. Thanks for the idea.

I love your current home – but I what I love more is – your own quote – this isn’t our dream home – this is where we chase dream —You wrote it sometime back right.. not sure these were the exact words – but definitely it was on the same lines.

In the meantime I try create dream home in miniature form – something like this- http://thisdesignjournal.blogspot.com/2014/08/a-miniature-family-happy-home.html

That is all I can do now :-)

Keep smiling,
Anima

Sorry Dana, I have to agree with Sadie. This post could have stood on its own with no reference to Dream Day. Believe me, I have my dream houses and I’d love to hear about yours but not by comparing or even connecting them with Dr. King’s speech. The lead in made me not even want to read the post.

Totally agree. This is kind of gross. Time to step out of that bubble, Dana. I’m pretty sure MLK wasn’t thinking of white women who already have everything they wanted but still needed to dream about architects and natural light in mind.

Thank you for the constructive criticism. I really do appreciate it. I will keep it in mind as I move forward.

I feel awful that you found this gross. Obviously, it wasn’t my intention to downplay King’s efforts to bring equal rights to all humans. In fact, by mentioning Dream Day, I was hoping to remind people of his efforts…and in a crazy, roundabout way it seems I did. Of course, I have dreams that have nothing to do with houses (equal rights for and equal treatment of all humans being a BIG one) and I’m more passionate about them than anything design-related.

At any rate, thank you for taking the time to read and comment. I appreciate the fact that we are able to discuss the context of this post in an intelligent and nonviolent way.

Note: I’m writing this comment as I would to family member: honest but with caring. I hope that comes across.

“I’m not trying to be offensive at all in asking this…” usually ends with something offensive. And while I was offended by your Dream Day -> Dream House connection, I was even more disappointed by this defensiveness. I agree with Sharon in that no black authors would have written that intro.

However I really want to comment to say that although I found the intro offensive, I also noticed that it seemed like you might have been trying to *avoid* writing a different intro, one that gave more time to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or that gave more time to your dreams about human rights or (better yet!) one that shared a bit about how you make your dream for equal rights more of a reality, and a call for others to do the same. (I hope that’s not giving you too much credit, I don’t think it is.) Instead, possibly because of a desire to keep close to the home-decor nature of your blog, you quickly glossed past all that, making the intro worse than it needed to be.

You write about some non-house related topics (wardrobe, raising kids, etc.) because above all, this blog is written by *you* and about *your life.* So, as a long-time devoted reader, I’d encourage you to allow more of your non-house stuff in, particularly the important things you say that you’re passionate about. If you haven’t already read this relevant post by Heather Armstrong (another affluent white female blogger), I highly suggest it (http://dooce.com/2014/06/12/i-have-words/). You have words, you can use those words to promote action towards big dreams, rather than use Dr. King to promote your words.

You hit the nail on the head.

I was trying to share a glimpse of my thoughts on human rights while remaining true to this blog’s content. However, I see now that I failed. Miserably. I apologize for the disconnected, insensitive and tacky intro. It has eaten at me ever since I posted it. I’m sorry.

Thank you for reading and commenting and offering honest, caring criticism. I truly appreciate it.

Dana,
I must say you are so gracious to all the comments posted. Thank you for your civility. You handled the comments with such class.

I love your list and find that I think all of your desires for a dream home line up with most of mine. What fun to see it written down with pictures to illustrate. I was curious about the pre-fab homes – any companies you would recommend? Once again I love your blog. My mom and dad are redoing a kitchen and I pointed her to your blog for IKEA help. She is going to have a lot of fun reading the posts you have curated. Thank you for your content. It is lovely and timely and a pleasure to read.

I’m really glad that other people mentioned that they are… uncomfortable… with this post. I also was uncomfortable, but didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to make you (Dana) feel bad.

When I came back to the blog for the latest update, and I scrolled down to see if I’d missed anything, and encountered the post again, and felt terrible again, I thought I maybe would say something.

Sometimes we hope that our intentions in doing certain things mitigate the outcomes but I’m afraid it doesn’t actually work that way. I acknowledge that you had good intentions, and my impression of you has always been that you’re a very good, kind person, and I give you full credit for making a mistake without INTENDING to do something super awful.

I would like to think that everyone is watching Ferguson, Missouri, this summer and following the criticism of the reaction of the media and the police force in Missouri, the victim blaming, the racism inherent in the murder and the racism inherent in the response. Trayvon Martin was killed not very long ago, and his killer has walked free. Dr. King’s speech is about the reality that black people aren’t free and aren’t equal. White people dream about homes “with the right light” or working with an architect, whereas many black people dream about just a house, and even then, maybe have good reason to not even dream of that.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/former-wells-fargo-loan-officer-testifies-in-baltimore-mortgage-lawsuit/2012/06/12/gJQA6EGtXV_story.html

This world that we all love of interior design, design blogging, this community of all things “dwelling” and “shelter” is a very privileged community. We can afford homes, and food, and heat, and with our extra money we turn our minds to better homes, paint, buying air plants and paper weights. We have this privilege of extra money, and safety in our homes, and the privilege of freedom to drive to the local Home Depot for a can of paint without yanno, someone killing us because we’re wearing hoodies and the gallon of primer we bought was maybe stolen. So you see, that’s why this post as it is is a problem. Linking the iconic speech that is such a lodestar for human rights, for black rights in America, to such a privileged dream is so bad, in such bad taste, so out of touch with the world right now that even though you had good intentions….. it’s a very bad post. It’s tone deaf.

Dana, I would encourage you to revise this post to be only about your Dream House, and to remove the link to National Dream Day and Dr. King. You’ve been very gracious about the criticism you’ve received, which is lovely (thank you for that), but the offensive content should be taken down.

As always, I love your content and admire your sense of style very much.

Thank you for this, Janine. The offensive introduction has been removed. I apologize.

I think it’s great that you changed the title. Everybody makes mistakes, and you meant well. :)

Big hugs!

Lovely images and I so agree with most of the things you mention. Natural light is a must in any home!

Just checked back here and wanted to thank you for taking our constructive criticism to heart. Janine put it best below and I appreciate you being open to the dialogue here.

[…] shared the top 10 features of my dream home a few weeks ago. I thought it would be fun if Steve made a list, too, for comparison. He was game […]

[…] p.p.s. I think I like Steve’s dream home the best…sorry Dana! […]