zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Apr 20, 2017 20:04:58 GMT -5
I'm the last person to ask because I just bought a house that has no storage including no coat closet and no place to store a vacuum or a broom except in a bedroom closet. Tiny kitchen and bathrooms. But the outdoors is gorgeous and even though it's on a corner which I hate, it's a quiet corner and the garage is on the corner side. If the bedrooms were, I wouldn't have bought it. Since we're not trapped inside for months at a time and don't need boots or winter gear, it'll do. I just purged my closet of some more clothing. I still have too much winter stuff.
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tallguy
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Post by tallguy on Apr 20, 2017 20:18:37 GMT -5
Definitely laundry on the first floor. Loved my stacked ovens .... I would trade off using each one every year Under cabinet lighting Powder room fairly close to kitchen but keep the door out of sight of kitchen, and anywhere else company might be Master suite on ground floor ..... don't get a spa tub unless you know for sure you will use it, otherwise wasted space. His and hers closets ..... Windows that will open in the bathrooms ............ exhaust fans don't really work that well Halls wide enough to accommodate handicap At least one bath on ground floor for handicap ....... I'm thinking of potential sales later Dumb waiter to get things up and down to basement 3 car garage a must with a high ceiling for overhead shelving That's all I can think of right now Good call on the spa tub. Wife insisted she needed one in the master bath when we built it and I thought it was a great idea that would get tons of use...I've used it a handful of times when I had sore muscles, she's used it exactly once in 5 years. Far better to just get a hot tub. Fill it once, heat it up (and do the chemicals when necessary) and you're good to go for months. When I first got mine I missed only about three days in six weeks.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Apr 20, 2017 20:37:34 GMT -5
No popcorn ceilings.
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Apr 21, 2017 6:03:09 GMT -5
No ceiling tiles on a track either with a fluorescent light in the center. We have those ceiling tiles glued to the ceiling in our kitchen and family room. We can't change the ceiling unless we tear out the entire ceiling and put up new wallboard. It's going to get done when we remodel the kitchen, but I'm not looking forward to it.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Apr 21, 2017 6:05:24 GMT -5
No ceiling tiles on a track either with a fluorescent light in the center. We have those ceiling tiles glued to the ceiling in our kitchen and family room. We can't change the ceiling unless we tear out the entire ceiling and put up new wallboard. It's going to get done when we remodel the kitchen, but I'm not looking forward to it. Can you do what I call the "cottage look" and put white painted boards on the ceiling?
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resolution
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Post by resolution on Apr 21, 2017 6:28:23 GMT -5
I would love to have a mud room where DH can take off his muddy shoes. Maybe have a small bathroom in there where he can clean up before he tracks dirt and sawdust all over the house.
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Apr 21, 2017 7:04:25 GMT -5
Great suggestions and I'm making notes as I am also house hunting.
What do people think about kitchens with a built in desk space? That's on my ideal house wish list because I can picture kids doing homework there, using the laptop so I can monitor activity, and also just bill paying and day to day home office stuff. If you have one, do you use it?
I was also going to suggest jack and jill bathrooms so the kids feel like they have their own. I saw Milee's comment about the noise, but my kids sleep like the dead so while I never considered that, I don't think it would bother them. Me, I have mom-dar so I would hear every noise LOL.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Apr 21, 2017 7:08:24 GMT -5
Pot filler - the new must have. Until 6 months ago I never heard of one.
I do like the new kitchen concepts, but isn't it feeding into raising kids who have to be in parents sight every single minute.
My house in Georgia was a standard 3br 2 ba ranch and we added a master suite separate from the other bedrooms. It was a great layout when we had 3 teens at home. We had the "teenager wing".
Pet peeve in my current house is no full height broom closet. Main floor has hardwood floors and we have 3 dogs so we frequently need broom. It sits out in the kitchen.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Apr 21, 2017 7:31:44 GMT -5
Great suggestions and I'm making notes as I am also house hunting.
What do people think about kitchens with a built in desk space? That's on my ideal house wish list because I can picture kids doing homework there, using the laptop so I can monitor activity, and also just bill paying and day to day home office stuff. If you have one, do you use it?
I was also going to suggest jack and jill bathrooms so the kids feel like they have their own. I saw Milee's comment about the noise, but my kids sleep like the dead so while I never considered that, I don't think it would bother them. Me, I have mom-dar so I would hear every noise LOL. I wouldn't do it. Most people don't have house phones anymore and that's where they use to be in the 90's. Kids and adults don't like to face walls. Your kids are more likely to do homework at the island or barring no island, the kitchen table. Plus you want personal stuff in plain view? Have you checked out the Houzz website? They have a ton of ideas.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Apr 21, 2017 7:33:24 GMT -5
My kids had jack and Jill bathrooms and it was great. Each had their own toilet, sink, vanity and they shared the tub/shower combo. They left the door to their bedrooms open all the time and the door to the shower closed.
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Apr 21, 2017 8:06:37 GMT -5
Great suggestions and I'm making notes as I am also house hunting.
What do people think about kitchens with a built in desk space? That's on my ideal house wish list because I can picture kids doing homework there, using the laptop so I can monitor activity, and also just bill paying and day to day home office stuff. If you have one, do you use it?
I was also going to suggest jack and jill bathrooms so the kids feel like they have their own. I saw Milee's comment about the noise, but my kids sleep like the dead so while I never considered that, I don't think it would bother them. Me, I have mom-dar so I would hear every noise LOL. I've always felt like I'd skip the kitchen desk space and opt for a big island for the homework to be done. I need a home office for work so I always just picture using that for things like bill paying. I can't imagine doing that day to day stuff in the kitchen, our kitchen is already enough of a cluttered mess.
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Pants
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Post by Pants on Apr 21, 2017 8:30:20 GMT -5
Mud room. It's my #1 item I wish we'd looked for in a house because we live in Chicago and it gets real gross in the winter and spring.
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Apr 21, 2017 8:33:38 GMT -5
No ceiling tiles on a track either with a fluorescent light in the center. We have those ceiling tiles glued to the ceiling in our kitchen and family room. We can't change the ceiling unless we tear out the entire ceiling and put up new wallboard. It's going to get done when we remodel the kitchen, but I'm not looking forward to it. Can you do what I call the "cottage look" and put white painted boards on the ceiling? I don't know. We have pretty low ceilings and we'd have to see what it looks like when we take down the ceiling. We do have an attic with nothing stored in the space above the kitchen and ideally, I'd like to raise the ceiling height.
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Apr 21, 2017 8:36:02 GMT -5
I like the idea of a mudroom too. Add that to my wish list.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Apr 21, 2017 8:54:37 GMT -5
I'm still planning a little corner "desk space" in my kitchen. Not for homework, but for cookbooks/coupons/calendar. The space I have to work with is small, so it will just be big enough for one bar stool underneath the counter on the rounded end. Receipts and mail already land on the kitchen counter anyway, the little that we have, and it drives me nuts. At least this will be close, but out of the limited usable space for meal prep.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Apr 21, 2017 8:55:32 GMT -5
Great suggestions and I'm making notes as I am also house hunting.
What do people think about kitchens with a built in desk space? That's on my ideal house wish list because I can picture kids doing homework there, using the laptop so I can monitor activity, and also just bill paying and day to day home office stuff. If you have one, do you use it?
I was also going to suggest jack and jill bathrooms so the kids feel like they have their own. I saw Milee's comment about the noise, but my kids sleep like the dead so while I never considered that, I don't think it would bother them. Me, I have mom-dar so I would hear every noise LOL. I've always felt like I'd skip the kitchen desk space and opt for a big island for the homework to be done. I need a home office for work so I always just picture using that for things like bill paying. I can't imagine doing that day to day stuff in the kitchen, our kitchen is already enough of a cluttered mess. This is a good point, and I have to admit, that I am somewhat uncomfortable with the concept of the whole house being an open concept. I live in a 12 year old ranch, and it is a pretty open concept, but my kitchen does have two walls. We had Easter at our house, and Sunday night pretty much everything was put away when I went to bed. By Wednesday eve, we had a pile of dishes in the sink. Unless you are a super organized neat person, I would want some walls between the kitchen and the mail living area. There is an opening between my living room and my dinette, and I can actually watch TV in the living room while I am doing dishes, but When someone walks in the front door, you don't necessarily want them to see everything in your kitchen.
I have an office in the basement. We have a full bar in the basement. My kids sometimes did homework in the kitchen, but as college students. they like to go downstairs and use the bar to do homework. Our bar has a round work area on it, similar to some islands people put in their kitchens. Both the bar and the snack counter in the kitchen have electric outlets about every 4 feet. It comes in real handy for plugging in computers and cell phones. Make sure the bathrooms have lots of outlets. I wanted quad outlets, but the designer working with us balked, and they wanted to charge us for every upgrade. DH said he would fix it later, and I now have one of those outlets that plugs over the outlet and converts 2 outlets to 6. I should have 4 one one side of the vanity and at least 2 on the other side just in the master bath. for my kids, my DD often does her hair in her bedroom, so it is not as much of a problem in our family bath.
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ohmomto2boys
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Post by ohmomto2boys on Apr 21, 2017 8:55:53 GMT -5
We have the kitchen desk area, with cabinets above. We hate it. The kids do their homework at the kitchen table, while having a snack. When we remodel, the desk area is going to become floor to ceiling cabinets. Right now, it is a catch-all and I am constantly cleaning it off.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Apr 21, 2017 9:21:09 GMT -5
We have a P-shaped kitchen with the desk space on the bottom left side, next to the pantry. We don't really use it as a sitting desk (the trash can slides under it in the space where a chair would go), but that's where I put the mail, the jar with pens/scissors, tape, paperclips, etc.
It's not a must-have, but it is nice to have that extra counter space that isn't needed for food prep/eating.
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milee
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Post by milee on Apr 21, 2017 9:38:00 GMT -5
I think a lot of the kitchen desks go unused because it's a concept that sounds good from a practical standpoint but is unpleasant from a human standpoint. Makes logical sense to tuck a work area there - looks good, compact space, good location - but people do not like to work facing a small enclosed area with their backs to the main room. I saw this a lot at clients who redesigned offices for more sharing spaces and open concepts with work cubbies. Sounds good, but is uncomfy to use. There are certain things humans just innately dislike and apparently this is one of them.
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Apr 21, 2017 11:35:47 GMT -5
Interesting comments on the kitchen desk area - enough to make me reconsider. I definitely agree that an island with seating space will be used for homework at least when they are young and need more help. Not a lot of new houses on the market in my area this week. Last week was even quieter. Hoping it picks up next week and the first week in May because I close on my current house 6/5. Eeek!
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Apr 21, 2017 11:38:27 GMT -5
Doesn't matter what floor the laundry room is on - but it's really important for it to be close to the bedrooms. Most of your laundry will be generated in and around the bedrooms and bathrooms, so having the laundry room right there is a huge time saver. You're just getting started with the kids, so it's probably hard to picture it but you will be doing more laundry than you can even begin to picture. I only have two boys and they're not especially grubby as boys go and they're not into many outdoor/sports activities (which generate HUGE amounts of laundry), and I still end up doing a load about every single day just to keep up with the laundry. Put the laundry room close to the bedrooms/bathrooms so you've not having to add insult to injury by not just having to do load after load, but haul it all over and through the house. When you design the laundry room, keep in mind that washers and dryers are now available in larger sizes. Especially if you have a couple of kids who play sports or do activities that generate a lot of extra laundry, those larger washers and dryers are the BOMB. But they won't fit in the tiny space that many existing homes leave for washers/dryers (I got my huge LG dryer half off because someone bought it without measuring only to discover it didn't fit in their house - salesguy says that's very common.) So if you plan to live in this house for a while and you want flexibility, leave an extra foot or two of space beside the washer/dryer slot so you have room as the larger appliances become available. Worst case scenario, if you decide you just want standard, small appliances, you can fit cleaning supplies in that extra foot or two of space besides them. Someone mentioned jack and jill bathrooms and although I really love this idea, in practice I don't like it. I've always thought if I built a house I'd put one in, but then the last few times I stayed as a guest in a house that had one, I realized that the noise of other people shutting a door in the adjoining bathroom and even washing up afterwards was noisy at night and woke me up. Over time, you probably get used to it, but it's not something I'd want now that I've stayed in some rooms with them. You have one kid and are thinking about another. Whatever amount of closets and storage you think you need - double that. At least. I'm pretty minimalist (drove a Mini convertible with both sons until the youngest was 5), never bothered with a large stroller just had a $5 umbrella stroller for the 2-3 times a year I needed a stroller, didn't carry a diaper bag just stuck a diaper in my purse, etc.... and even so, I couldn't believe the sheer amount of "stuff" that kids have, need and accumulate. You can DIY lots of stuff, but one area that IMHO is worth at least getting some consultation on is kitchen design. Good kitchen designers can help you avoid all sorts of minor gotchas that you won't think about when you're designing but will hate when it's installed; they'll know what interesting and useful things are available; they'll help make a layout that flows well. I've seen more bad/awkward kitchens than anything else and part of that is everybody thinks since they can click on icons in the IKEA kitchen design tool that they can design a kitchen... The storage was a big realization when we started considering that we might want a finished basement with a ranch rather than a 2 story house with an unfinished basement. Our storage is "fine" right now...but mostly because we have 1800 square feet of basement to spread it all out in. I have about 900 feet just of shop space down there which is why I'm looking for a 3 car garage to use 1 stall just for that stuff. We're also massive packrats, which has served us fine having all that space, but won't be able to continue when we no longer have that much room to store it. We're in a garage-less neighborhood right now and aren't planning on building one really, so hopefully that will alleviate some of the space issues.
Good point on the kitchen design. I feel like I can "design" the layout of it pretty well...but every time we end up looking at a store setup there are all kinds of little things I'd have never considered. Maybe not "design"...we know the layout in terms of where things should generically go to fit our style, but we definitely need someone to help us with the details of it (i.e. if I were picking out cabinets in a store, I'd look at one cabinet, decide on the simplest looking one, then hate it when I saw it with the rest of them all lined up, ditto for me declining options like a pull-out trash can...which I would absolutely want later).
We definitely want a mudroom/laundry room, that's high on the must-have list since we're in the Midwest, have a dog, and I'm likely to be a mess coming in from the shop/garage. The plan if we build is to have that room directly inside as you enter from the garage with space for washer/dryer, a floor pan for bathing the dog (he may not be able to climb into a bathtub forever), lockers, etc. Bedrooms for the kids would be fairly nearby, if not a separate doorway leading to the hallway for the kids while the main one goes to the kitchen (high on my wife's list is that the kitchen is not far away from the garage entrance for groceries).
Current laundry room is in the basement, so to access it you have to get the laundry from the bedrooms, walk the furthest possible distance across the house, go down the stairs, then walk the furthest possible distance across the basement again to get to the laundry right under the bedrooms. If we don't sell the house this year I may put in a laundry chute just to not carry so many baskets through the house.
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Apr 21, 2017 11:41:33 GMT -5
Interesting comments on the kitchen desk area - enough to make me reconsider. I definitely agree that an island with seating space will be used for homework at least when they are young and need more help. Not a lot of new houses on the market in my area this week. Last week was even quieter. Hoping it picks up next week and the first week in May because I close on my current house 6/5. Eeek! Lots of new homes being BUILT in my area, but very few with the layouts I want being SOLD. Everything being sold are older homes like mine or brand new cookie-cutter construction that aren't quite big enough and aren't in locations I want.
I would stress out having my home sold without another one to buy, that's why we're just going to sell, get closed, move into a rental, then wait for a house to come onto the market (or if we find one we want to buy before we sell, we'll write a contingent offer). My biggest fear is needing to move "now" and self-pressuring myself into a house I don't really want because I NEED something (for reference, our town is about 4,000 people, so never a lot of inventory).
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Apr 21, 2017 11:47:22 GMT -5
You know what though? I totally get how that's a pain, as I do more laundry than anyone I know, but I also exercise. And, well, carrying heavy baskets around and up and down stairs is exercise. ;-)
Just trying to make you feel better about it. I have the bath with laundry right off the garage entrance like you describe, so I'm spoiled right now. I did have a townhouse once, though. 2 friggin flights of stairs for every load. I didn't appreciate the inherent exercise in it. 😋
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Bob Ross
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Post by Bob Ross on Apr 21, 2017 11:52:25 GMT -5
I'm gonna go really fundamental and say a house with a solid roof, foundation, modern windows, and furnace / AC that doesn't need replacing anytime soon. Or you could just ignore all of that and go with granite counter tops, because GRANITE COUNTER TOPS!!!
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Apr 21, 2017 12:00:42 GMT -5
If you want your kid's computer time to be easily supervised I do suggest some distance or a glass door between them and the TV/you. I live in 1300 square feet and DS is 10 feet away on the computer talking* (loud is his only volume) and he constantly drowns out the TV. I don't want the computer in his room so it's a battle.
*to himself, the computer, or actual friends that he's playing online with.
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Apr 21, 2017 12:00:53 GMT -5
I'm gonna go really fundamental and say a house with a solid roof, foundation, modern windows, and furnace / AC that doesn't need replacing anytime soon. Or you could just ignore all of that and go with granite counter tops, because GRANITE COUNTER TOPS!!! If I could find a house with a solid foundation...I'd actually prefer having to replace all the rest of that stuff because those houses are such a deal. Ideally, I'd like to find a house that won't qualify for traditional bank financing as it sits, but that has "good bones". That's essentially what I did with this house. The wife would prefer move-in ready because she spent years living in a construction zone (we wouldn't move into this new one until it was done though).
Granite countertops are good, but have you seen the electrical outlets that have the USB charging ports built-in? THOSE are critical.
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swasat
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Post by swasat on Apr 21, 2017 12:02:00 GMT -5
We have the kitchen desk area, with cabinets above. We hate it. The kids do their homework at the kitchen table, while having a snack. When we remodel, the desk area is going to become floor to ceiling cabinets. Right now, it is a catch-all and I am constantly cleaning it off. Same exact experience here. The built in desk area in the kitchen faces a wall and no way do my kids ever want to sit their and do their work. They always prefer the kitchen island. Our desk area is piled with mail and unused things and its really difficult to keep it clean
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sesfw
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Today is the first day of the rest of my life
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Post by sesfw on Apr 21, 2017 12:07:41 GMT -5
Just thought of a couple more things
Central vacumn
Go solar as much as possible
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Apr 21, 2017 12:33:22 GMT -5
We have the kitchen desk area, with cabinets above. We hate it. The kids do their homework at the kitchen table, while having a snack. When we remodel, the desk area is going to become floor to ceiling cabinets. Right now, it is a catch-all and I am constantly cleaning it off. Same exact experience here. The built in desk area in the kitchen faces a wall and no way do my kids ever want to sit their and do their work. They always prefer the kitchen island. Our desk area is piled with mail and unused things and its really difficult to keep it clean That shit would just pile on your counter instead. It's irritating in my case, because that's where I need to prep food, and papers left there not only take up limited real estate, but can get splashed with water or food.
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swasat
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Post by swasat on Apr 21, 2017 12:56:46 GMT -5
Same exact experience here. The built in desk area in the kitchen faces a wall and no way do my kids ever want to sit their and do their work. They always prefer the kitchen island. Our desk area is piled with mail and unused things and its really difficult to keep it clean That shit would just pile on your counter instead. It's irritating in my case, because that's where I need to prep food, and papers left there not only take up limited real estate, but can get splashed with water or food. Oh nos. I am REAL good at keeping my kitchen clean. If its one thing I detest is a dirty and cluttered kitchen. My kitchen can rival Mrs Cawiau's.
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