What "home stuff" can't you live without?

[BCN]

I bought a house yesterday, it's much bigger than my current flat, sort of like a townhouse ("casa adosada", I don't know what it is in English).

Anyways, I will do some reformations, like opening up the kitchen to living room, and also need to build a home office. So question is, what kind of stuff would you put in for making life easier?

I've been thinking so far:
- Setting up proper internet, put CAT-6 throughout + AP/Firewall/switches
- Getting new "smarter" appliances.
- Standing desk setup
- Basic home automation, smart bulbs, new door lock with code/app.

Any "must haves"? I haven't bought appliances and all that stuff for years, and now I see like smart fridges/appliances, wondering if they are worth it or just annoying?

 

[MrSanti]

I bought a house yesterday, it's much bigger than my current flat, sort of like a townhouse ("casa adosada", I don't know what it is in English).

That's awesome mate!
Casa adosada = Terraced house

I love real state. How is the market on your zone? I would have waited a bit to buy if you don't need a mortgage, unless the price is good. The market will drop for sure.
In my neighborhood, properties are waaay too expensive at the moment. I bough my flat like 4 years ago half the price of what I could sell today. I did some renovations too though, and I knew that the neighborhood was growing.

I would recommend spending money on two important things, probably a lot of people say this, but a good bed and a good chair are probably the best investments for me. I don't mind spending a lot on those.

I don't own any "smart" stuff. It's not worth for me, but if you like it, use the extra functionality and you don't mind paying premium for just that, why not?

Automation is cool. But I like to tinker with stuff and I prefer to make the hardware by myself. I'm into electronics, Arduino and all of that.

Enjoy the new house! I hope a I can get one in a few years too

 

[BCN]

Thanks man.

Yeah we were going to wait, but as we got a pretty solid price, it's around 30% below the average sqm price, and we managed to haggle a bit. Prices have already gone down here quite a bit since February. We will probably live here for a long time, and I am still young enough (less than 32 years old), so I save ~5% on the transfer tax, but I won't be in a few years

We took a mortgage, because rates are so low, even for fixed rate - so we only put around 35% down.

It's a building from 2002, so overall it's in pretty good condition, it's just the typical setup around those times with closed-off kitchen, marble tile floors and closed-off staircases (with walls, not more modern open railings). Other than that, pretty good "stats" (3/4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, balconies and terrace), for future sale if we want.

I like to play with smart stuff, like Raspberry Pi, Home Assistant etc. just have to think of a cool project. Was thinking to start with lights.

 

[bernard]

Congrats on the house.

I personally enjoy a large sofa with a deep seat depth, so that you can lounge around with friends, family and dog/cat. It sets a very relaxed and casual mood, where people feel at ease quickly, whether guests or residents.

Depending on size of your home something like this:

Also wood furniture, handcrafted where possible, maybe from repurposed wood:

I also like furniture in teak or palisander, such as this bookshelf:

Wood, solid, real, calms me and creates a more natural living environment.

As far as smart tech, I definitely enjoy having light controls, to set a softer light in the evening. Lots you can do there and its very accesible.

 

[Sutra]

• A washer and dryer. I haaaaaaate having to go to laundromats. Fuck that. Definitely need a washer and dryer.
• Good, firm, bed + good pillow
• Bedroom shades that completely block out the light
• Standing computer desk + regular desk + great office chair (I like to vary between standing and sitting when working)
• Back when I lived in a cold area, a bathtub (rather than only a shower) was mandatory. Love taking really hot baths on really cold days. Especially on a rainy night. Turn off the bathroom lights and open the window. Sitting in the hot water, listening to the rain fall and trees sway, the cold wind blowing in against your face, watching shadows flicker...such an incredible experience.

 

[BCN]

Congrats on the house.

I personally enjoy a large sofa with a deep seat depth, so that you can lounge around with friends, family and dog/cat. It sets a very relaxed and casual mood, where people feel at ease quickly, whether guests or residents.

Depending on size of your home something like this:

Also wood furniture, handcrafted where possible, maybe from repurposed wood:

I also like furniture in teak or palisander, such as this bookshelf:

Wood, solid, real, calms me and creates a more natural living environment.

As far as smart tech, I definitely enjoy having light controls, to set a softer light in the evening. Lots you can do there and its very accesible.

Thanks man. I'm a big fan of wooden furniture, and especially the Scandinavian style of pine/glass/metal and minimalism, and also mid-century-modern type furniture - but it gets quite expensive. The bultins etc have the typical faux wood I'm not a huge fan of.

I want to pick up woodworking though, I used to enjoy it a lot. I'll probably start with some floating shelves and do countertops and smaller stuff first.

For an office space I have, we tore down all the stuff inside and had a lot of really nice wood to work with, which turned into a big lunch table and many small pieces (coffee tables etc).

• A washer and dryer. I haaaaaaate having to go to laundromats. Fuck that. Definitely need a washer and dryer.
• Good, firm, bed + good pillow
• Bedroom shades that completely block out the light
• Standing computer desk + regular desk + great office chair (I like to vary between standing and sitting when working)
• Back when I lived in a cold area, a bathtub (rather than only a shower) was mandatory. Love taking really hot baths on really cold days. Especially on a rainy night. Turn off the bathroom lights and open the window. Sitting in the hot water, listening to the rain fall and trees sway, the cold wind blowing in against your face, watching shadows flicker...such an incredible experience.

A washer is definitely on the list. We have them now, but they are quite old, so I'll give them away to some students or someone who needs them and buy new ones. The dryer I don't need here with 300+ days of sun a year.

Proper king-size beds are hard to find here, usually, the largest you find is queen size. I will look for one though.

The house has aluminum shades that blind the windows completely in all rooms, which is nice.

It actually has bathtubs in both bathrooms, but I want to make one into a walk-in shower. Work is quite cheap here for that type of stuff. I would have done it myself, but I feel less confident tiling bathrooms and showers vs kitchens as there's more to think about with waterproofing. It also has an outside shower on the terrace, which is kinda cool.

 

[infoslob]

Two things come to mind:

A block set of Cutco knives & Breville 'Barista Express' espresso machine. Every day items I appreciate and would recommend to anyone.