Which is the RIGHT house VI

Long gap since number V and I'm still on pain meds (just ibuprofin--LOL), but we're ready to cover non essentials. You'd think that would represent an easier situation, but not really. They aren't essential, so there's this incremental approach to a tipping point at which a house that was in the running to become the RIGHT house becomes just another that didn't make the cut. There's also a price point issue with non essentials attributes. What if a house that didn't quite measure up has a BIG price reduction---you didn't like it at, say $600,000 because it lacked some non-essential items of value, but when it's reduced to, say $545,000, how do you react? You already put in on the "not so much" list, but with that new price it starts to look a little more attractive. Can you get beyond the fact that you already crossed it off? Should you?

It's useful to separate non essential traits into a couple of categories at this point. On contains traits that you already have experience with from previous homes and either like them or don't like them. The other contains traits that you THINK you would like or not like, but have never really road tested in the real world. Both categories warrant some careful consideration--as I said, non essentials are tough.

One thing I've been impressed with the past few months in looking at houses that need some remodeling is kitchen size. In order to stay within the current building envelope (doing otherwise gets pricey fast) some space often needs to be pushed and tugged. Many people like large kitchens and the kitchen is arguably the most important room in the house, BUT there are many kitchens, particularly in houses built in the 90's and later, that are perhaps a little too big. Now if you're accustomed to a big kitchen and like to have big meals prepared by several people, a big kitchen may be an essential. On the other hand, if there usually only one or two people cooking there may be other ways to use some of the kitchen space--pantry, breakfast/casual eating area, bigger dinning area, etc. There are some very efficient cabinet storage solutions that pack an amazing amount of capacity into a small area. Pantries are also very efficient.

Another other aspect of the kitchens is that opening it up makes a huge difference in the perception of size in living/dining/kitchen area. There are those who want to keep the kitchen separate and allow the meal to appear miraculously at the appointed hour. Most people want to chat and remain part of the scene while cooking. Spaciousness is almost always a good thing upon resale.

Because I'm 6ft +, I have a pet peeve about overhead cabinets blocking my view of living room, ocean etc.
Vertically challenged folks also hate overheads because they need a ladder and some stuff on the top shelf sits there with the spiders for decades, until it's forgotten. When I remodel my contemporary house I'm considering wall hung cabinets (or cabinets with legs) with no bottom drawers and no overheads. I have a large pantry and it's a small house--should be interesting to see how it works out. The kitchen will appear much larger, for sure.