Hey folks.
Wife and I are planning a move this summer, upgrading from a 2bd/br apt (<1K SF) to a formal townhouse (1.7K SF). We'll have a lot more space, and I'm trying to decide how to furnish the place in a mix between making it a homey and livable area, while also not breaking the bank.
Throughout your tenure as owners/renters/whatever, are there any smaller and maybe overlooked items in your home that have made your life easier? I've seen a lot of interest and inspiration on the internet and by talking to people, and am open to new things. Maybe a silly question, but I feel as if we have some interior designers lurking in here.
Just feel that now is the time to plan this stuff out. We're both kind of picky about our spaces - we keep our spot clean as hell, pretty tech-focused, yet like a laidback environment that's not too sterile. If I had to visualize it, I guess my dream 'aesthetic' would be one of those old-ass industrial warehouses that get renovated super-modern style. You know, exposed brick, lots of black finishes, ultramodern kitchen, etc.
Figured I'd give it a go here. For context, here's some things that I currently have acquired over the years:
- West Elm Overarch Lamp - thing is a ripoff, but I got it on sale. Really ties in the living room together, next to a lot of plants.
- OXO Toilet Brush Combo Thing - simple, yet a damn lifesaver.
- Big-Ass Mirror - won't link because I got no idea where it came from. It's like nine feet tall though, is great for our living room space.
- A fuck-ton of plants - also no link. Plants just make the space so much better, recently got a 7' tall Birds of Paradise for our corner. Good stuff.
- IKEA Jattesta Shelf - stores a lot of stuff in our kitchen/LR area, looks great. Again, got on sale.
- Nest Thermostat extension - our old HVAC was terrible. This thing fixed it!
I could go on, but you get the point. Let me know if you all have any suggestions! Appreciate it.
A couple things:
- A bedroom set with storage drawers under the bed. Lifesaver when you are limited on space, having functional storage in everything. I'd extend this to living room sets, etc. Having an ottoman or a nice chair with some hidden storage comes in handy.
- Coat hangers/space for personal items right when you walk in the door. Just a few coat hooks and a small shelf type thing - so much easier to avoid tossing stuff down when it's right there. Also corrals all the random items, keys, etc. Also - a shoe drawer organizer thing, those are a lifesaver as well when you walk in and can just put your shoes somewhere.
- We have a trundle bed as well with really nice memory foam that we keep in a 'bedroom' that doubles as an office. I'd highly recommend one - Bob's discount or any other number of places.
- If you have decently high ceilings, putting shelves higher up in closets. You can have a lot of 'wasted' space - simple to install, you can just get a handyman to do it or do it yourself. Won't take long.
- I like those hangers for your closet that link onto one another, so you can put three shirts or a few pants in the same space profile as one. Obviously really nice closets with space, drawers, etc.
- I could spend hours on kitchen stuff, but a nice magnetic knife block and one of those kitchen tool sets with a 'jar' to store them in. So much easier than rummaging through drawers. Also get nice drawer organizers and a quality paper towel holder. God I'm getting old.
- Some art on the wall. I'm really partial to taking cool pictures from where you travel, and getting them on a decent format to put up. Sparseness is great until it isn't.
Great suggestions, really appreciate your in-depth reply.
We're the same when it comes to storage, I'll cram shit wherever possible! Might be the opposite now - we used to have more stuff than space, not so sure that'll be the case post-move. We'll see, however - I like getting stuff out of sight, so hiding it behind some storage things would be ideal.
The Trundle bed is such a great idea, we highly considered one last year. Had no place for guests to stay other than the couch, since our additional bedroom was taken up by our home office full-time. Should be less of an issue now (it's a 3bd/2br townhome), but we'll see how it pans out. I like Nuwanda's thinking of a recording studio... maybe I can convince my wife ;)
By all means, continue! The kitchen is by far the 'niftiest' area that I can think of. I've always thought I had a mild form of OCD, the kitchen makes my brain tingle in the best kind of way. I swear that the folks at The Container Store must know me by name now, love that place. Let me know if you have any specific recs for in-drawer organization, have found some fairly decent options but still occasionally fall victim to everything piling together. I've wondered if there's a solution for stacking pots & pans (and their damn LIDS!), but never really engaged.
Best part about the new place is that the kitchen has a standard L-counter, with an offshoot countertop on the empty side of the L that I have already called dibs on for the espresso setup. Right now it's jammed into our standard counter and I have watched my wife's patience continually thin as I add an additional gadget. Will be great to get a separate space for all things coffee (and beer!) to me.
Again, appreciate your thorough response. Will be sure to check out everything you mentioned.
Depending how big your kitchen is, going with a pot/pan hanger is an option. It doesn't solve the lid issue, but it keeps the rest of your cookware organized.
recording studio
Indoor cycling setup.
We had a Peloton for awhile, both of us used it pretty much every day during the pandemic. Sold it a couple of months ago, however - as the world opened back up, we realized we'd rather go outside and work out/cycle, and I couldn't justify throwing another $40/mo for ongoing classes.
Sold the actual bike at a loss, but I have to remind myself it's made up for by the massive personal short position I took against PTON... proud of myself for that one, eh?
Also, a smart thermostat with an app on the phone. It's really easy to change the temperature in bed or when I'm indoor cycling I drop the temp a lot on the bike.
Tempur-pedic mattress - was like $5k retail but got it for $2k in friends and family sale. Will never go back. There is no comparison. You spend 1/3 of your life on your mattress. Don't skimp.
Yep, total game changer - we upgraded from queen to king last year, ended up going with another T-P and the difference is amazing. Originally we used some random mattress w/ a 6" T-P topper, which was fine, but getting the dedicated mattress is an experience in and of itself. You and CharlesCheese definitely have the right idea!
Yep, same. I love the tempurpedic. King is the only way. I can share a bed with my gf and not even know she’s there.
Eames lounge chair or a knock off
Anova CombiOven (toaster, microwave, oven, can cook Sous Vides, etc.). It’s energy needs are not ridiculous and it’s a hell of a lot more compact than an oven, which has been great for my studio apt. Even in a bigger space I think it could open things up a lot more.
Nice plates and flatware (need to upgrade my glassware next). I went to a local ceramics store that supplies a ton of Michelin star restaurants and got these great plates, flatware, and linens. I’d absolute recommend, I spent a little over $1K for everything and it classes up my place a ton when I entertain with barely any effort. My favorite purchase was flatware from this designer that’s been used by the aristocracy of a European country for the last 300 years. I spent an embarrassing amount of money on that set but it’s fucking beautiful.
Bed and Linens (splurged on an eco mattress and sheets they’ve been incredible). I’d recommend Avocado or Parachute.
High end appliances and finishes (think wine cellar or bottle holder in a glass case)
Restoration Hardware has some beautiful pieces but they’re pricey.
Great recommendations; To complement the plates and flatware, you should also get six nice wine glasses for your favourite type of grape. I wouldn't go universal, but rather get the glasses recommended for the wine that you prefer the most. In my mind it's better to have one set of really nice ones, and one set of cheaper universal glasses, rather than go all out Walmart/IKEA on a several types of low-quality glasses.
There's loads of different brands such as Zalto, Riedel, Spiegelau, Zwiesel etc that are decorative and will elevate your wine experiences. The Zalto Burgundy or Riedel Veloce Pinot Noir will go great with a lot of your local producers in California!
We got a housemaid that cleans the house x2 a week. It frees up so much fucking time you won't believe it. We also have been thinking about getting a personal cook sometime in the future not sure if worth it though.
Interesting. We'll see how it pans out with larger space, maybe I could do a 1-2x a month thing in the future. Originally it just wasn't needed since we didn't have that much space - we probably each did a light 'clean' per day, 5-10 min max. Maybe a deep clean every month or so, would take us each an hour. Wonder if we'll still be able to swing that in a new space.
Thanks for the comment!
concept2 rowerg, soo convenient for full body workouts and cardio regardless of time of day/weather conditions
If you're going to get a rower, might as well get a ski/row machine.
I recently purchased a Tonal and would say it’s worth it as well.
Not necessarily smaller or overlooked, but getting a king sized bed last year has been a gamechanger. After sleeping on a mattress-in-a-box queen for years with my fiance, upgrading to a legit king has been incredible. They certainly aren't giving away nice mattresses but I'd make that investment any day.
edit: echoing Portnoy's Complaint
Lumie sunrise lamp/alarm clock - lifesaver
Great idea, but I disagree on the execution. A dimmable smartbulb in the bedroom with an Alexa (or presumably Google or Apple Home) routine will do the same at 1/10th the cost.
I’m a minimalist. Agree on the Nest.
A high quality Bluetooth speaker. Get the Harmon Kardon Onyx Studio 4. Mine was $90 and is insane for the price.
My penthouse was remodeled before I moved in. Shelves at multiple levels in the closet is awesome. I have a small end table I can pick up with one arm, and it’s convenient to move around.
Have 2 heavy duty solid wood end tables that have extenders. Around 2 feet by 2 feet each, and put side by side in expanded form, they’re around 6ft. Basically a moveable solid wood table. Has gold accents which are pretty cool.
Only thing I would add is my college apartment had clips on the walls, and I would hang hats, empty backpacks, etc.
Now I just have all that stuff in closets (I have 4).
A shoe organizer would be nice, but I have massive feet and haven’t found one that can actually hold enough of my shoes to be worth it. Actually counted my shoes yesterday and have 23 pairs and they’re just sitting on the ground in my main closet.
My place came with a shoe closet. I have about 25-26 pairs of shoes in there, but maybe have 35-40 pairs of shoes total including dress shoes scattered around.
I feel like if you wanted a small project, consider ripping out those wire shelves and cutting some cherry ones down to size, maybe throw a low-gloss varnish or polyeurthane coating on 'em. Would be small, but a nice day project and a nice upgrade - I cannot STAND wire shelves, so I may be biased.
Nice shoe collection!
I have a small closet like that but use it as my pantry. I wear a size 14.
Nice collection of Nikes! I'll run in Asics until I die but is there of shoes that you have that are particularly fun/interesting to run in?
Great suggestions - thanks Arroz! Hope you are doing well.
Speaker-wise we're covered with Sonos (think we have five of them now, LOL), but I can personally vouch for HK systems - got one for the car, and man does it BUMP. We will need a new table, as we currently just use a moveable kitchen island. Works well, but the new place will actually have a section to put an actual table, which will be nice when more than two guests pop by!
I used to hang some hats up, but the wife vetoed it. Granted, they were all vintage beer or fraternity ones from the early '00s, so can't say I blame her. Clips are still a cool concept idea, we have a couple near our front door where I stash my keys and wallet.
For shoes, we're also in the same boat - I've thinned out, but counting both personal and professional shoes I think I'm at around 13-15 pairs. Then, there's my wife... if the number was under 30, I'd be surprised. Our go-to's are nice and organized in our main closet, and everything else is in the spare closet in our home office. If you want to get a shoe rack, I'd look for something modular, tall, and vertically-oriented so you can have your 'main' shoes displayed, while tucking the less-used ones in the back.
I'm a little bit traditional, so I got a Wife! Just joking wives don't make your lives easier.
Ha, I guess I'm traditional too! Certainly easier in some aspects - others... less so!
Because you didn't put a comma after joking, I'm going to assume you're talking about joking wives, which are my favorite.
damn you got me. I almost always use the oxford comma.
I am planning on a hidden fireproof safe in the house I am building when I move back.
Great idea. Our current safe situation is theoretically less-than-ideal. It's near-impossible to get INTO (biometric), but it's not bolted in anywhere so in theory if someone was to break in they could just grab the safe and go. We have it tied to a built-in shelf and hidden, but again - anyone who really wanted to take it could.
Pretty much keep anything important there - my wife & I's gun(s), our passports, paper statements, and other important documents. We're moving to TX, so I'm sure there will be no shortage of products and installation techniques once we're down there.
Someone broke into my parents house in the 90s and did exactly that. They took the whole safe, and IIRC it was like ~400+ lbs lol. So my thought is just to have a small hidden one that is very hard to find :)
Ninja Foodi XL 6-in-1 indoor grill with meat thermometer. If you can't have an outdoor grill, this is the next best option. I pop that bad boy on, throw my food in, shower, and the grill will cut off when food reaches the desired cooking temp. Also would highly recommend a tiered organizing shelf for seasonings. Other than that, as much storage as you can incorporate into your furniture. One poster mentioned a bedframe with additional drawers. Get that. It is a life saver.
I don't know how it's called (I stayed at a friend's place and he had it), but he had this tap / faucet at his sink that (A) dispensed filtered water, and (B) could be set to cold, warm, or boiling hot with a click. It needed to be specially installed, but it worked so well. Also, movement-sensitive lightbulbs. You'll feel like a king
Zip hydrotap does this with boiling/cold/sparkling - great for the office
A 25 yo Vassar grad with daddy, self esteem issues, and no gag reflex
Ninja foodi and le creuset enameled cast iron pots/pans. Both enable me to cook healthy dinners that taste good and don’t require a ton of effort. Beyond that- I’ve found not having too much stuff is really essential and a place for everything makes things go smoother with less hassle.
I’m exhausted.
A good automatic coffee bean grinder. I don’t have space for one in my condo but got one for my parents and they say it’s a life changer. I use a small grinder right now and can’t wait to get a proper one
Ha! I’m a self-pronounced coffee prick. Recently made the dive down the espresso rabbit hole… pricey and impossible to put down. Spent $400 on a grinder a couple of weeks ago, can’t wait for it to arrive!
You only pay 1.7k for a townhouse - what city is this?
Square feet
Ember Mug - this has nothing to do with space, just a cool gadget that keeps my coffee warm
High quality mattress - this has been said already and people have their own preferences on type so get whatever works for you but spend the money and get something that will last. This will become even more important as you get older.
Ninja Toaster/Convection Oven/Air Fryer combo - bought an air fryer when they were the craze 5 years ago or so, hated it. In-laws bought one of these and I tried it at their house, best wings I have ever made and immediately got rid of my toaster oven and bought one of these
If you have outdoor space, a grill of the type of your choosing. I have a Grilla pellet smoker and its awesome. Just whatever type you go for, spend the money on getting something that's high quality.
Just in general, when it comes to furniture, its worth it to spend the money to get quality stuff. Someone said RH above and they are great but hopefully there's an RH outlet somewhere close to you to save some money. My entire house is full of stuff from there and I saved a minimum of 25k by just going to the outlet every few weeks to see what they have and picking up things that way. Generally there may be some minor damage but usually its not noticeable and you can buy the repair kits for less than 100 dollars. I saved 4k on a hutch because a piece to hold a self was missing. I went to home depot, got a replacement for like 2 dollars and fixed it myself. RH policy was to send any "damage" returns to the outlets (I don't know if its still the case as I finished my furniture shopping 3 years ago) so you could get great deals and everything was always at least 50% off.
A room with multiple TVs - this might take some persuading for the wife, but its great to be able to play video games on one TV and have whatever sports game on the other, or different games going at once, whatever you prefer.
Congrats on the new house!
Multiple TVs is a wild suggestion, I love it
It is fucking awesome. Originally had the setup because I moved in with some friends and we each had a big screen so we did it pretty much out of necessity and loved it. When I moved away and rented my own place, first thing I did was buy another big screen to keep the setup. Highly highly recommend, especially if you are a sports fan.
I'm a student in a pretty small apartment so I've really appreciated having hangers by the door for hats and jackets to save space; small shelves in an around the room for books, liquor/wine, and need to reach things; having lots of artificial light is also great in addition to posters and art to make the place more homey. When it comes to workspace, definitely get a desk charging stand for you phone and accessories. I've got a shit ton of wires on my desk so having good cable organization would be really nice, not to mention a solid desk (Ikea). Good speaker too. Sonos does a great job and allows you to connect various across multiple room - on costly side.
HEPA Air Purifier can be helpful in many instances. Also helps with sleep
Weights to lift.
A nightlight in the bathroom to avoid having to turn on the light on a nightly bathroom trip
High-quality espresso machine, cleaning maids every 3 weeks, air-fryer, self-cleaning litter box.
Dyson cordless vacuum. Especially if you & your wife decide to have kids- you'll end up using it nearly every day.
Agree with others that said blow a lot of money on your mattress. But would also add to blow a lot of money on sleeping pillows. I bought a decently nice mattress but kept using $50-70 pillows that wouldn’t last. Finally decided to blow $200 bucks on the purple harmony pillow… and holy shit that pillow made me a snob. I literally bring it with me on road trips and it pains me when I have to use hotel pillows when I fly. Absolute game changer. Doesn’t have to be the purple harmony, but any pillow in that price range should make a huge difference.
Also forgot to mention an adjustable base if you have a TV in your room or enjoy chilling/reading in bed. The fact that I can make my bed into a lazy lounger at the press of a button has been phenomenal. Sure beats using pillows to prop yourself up every time you need to sit up a little in bed.
Recently purchased the Zafferano Pina Pro LED lamp.
Indoor/outdoor rechargeable task lighting lamp. Discreet fixture design that seemingly "vanishes" when purchased in the black color due to the black fixture being set against darkness. Pretty subtle way to integrate lighting into your environment.
Learned about it in a NYT article that mentioned how a bunch of NYC restaurants use the lamp for their outdoor seating in the evening and people had begun stealing the lamp from the table!
Priced at $150 so not going to break the bank.
We use it quite a bit for dinner in the evening after dimming the kitchen lights. I really enjoy being able to move it around the house and set it up wherever.
Stonks, we meet again!
I have way too much stuff in my house. Here are things I feel make life easier.
1) Flipwich or similar sandwich griller. Make that perfect grilled cheese, tuna melt, or Rueben with ease. This was an as seen on TV item I bought on clearance from Walmart. I’ve given out half a dozen as gifts as it really is a sweet utensil.
2) Hardboiled egg maker. I am an egg snob and love slicing fresh hard boiled eggs for Cobb salads. I also use it for poached eggs when I want a fancy, yet fast breakfast.
3) Small $20 light duty vacuum for the kitchen. Rather than sweep, use the vacuum and get crumbs, dust, and other floor grit up with ease. Go with a battery unit if you want to be more tech savvy than me.
4) Comfy chair for sitting. I have a fancy heated massage chair in the corner of my home office. It’s for reading, prayer, or meditation. It’s not facing any screens and it’s my go to if I need to just veg out in peace. I churn through printed PDFs with ease in this bad boy.
5) Electric fly swatter. We live on a lake and get tons of bugs in the house during the warm humid months. This bad boy zaps bugs midair to avoid marking up the walls with a normal fly swatter that I worked so hard to paint.
6) I value good air quality so I get good air filters for the furnace. I swap them out monthly in the furnace (even though they say 3 month lifespan). We also have some fancy air purifier that needs replacement filters monthly. However, I honestly don’t think it does a whole lot.
7) Shop Vac. Depending where your home is located, you’ll want one of these in case of flooding. Our area has flood risks periodically and you don’t want to be searching for one when the water is seeping in every house on the block.
8) Storage. We got a sweet garage storage set up with SafeRacks ceiling shelves, wall shelves, and all types of hooks. We had to pay a few bucks to get these installed, but it was well worth it.
9) I’ll echo home cleaning. That always seemed to be a point of friction for us. Paying for proper cleaning each month relieves tons of angst when it comes to cleaning. I take after Danny Tanner (RIP) and would literally use PTO when I needed to laser in and deep clean. Now I save PTO and get one heck of a great clean for a nominal fee.
I’ll add more as I think about it. Yes, the wolf of wso is a bit domesticated as you can see…
Cobb salads are the shizzz - I had one tonight.
Say more!
I load it up with Chicken, extra crispy bacon, olives, tomatoes, hard boiled egg, and then use a low calorie chipotle ranch dressing from Whole Foods.
I hung a few of these up in my home.
https://www.target.com/p/48-5-x-7-7-zigzag-corner-shelf-danya-b/-/A-149…
They are decorative and allow you to display photos, trinkets, or other meaningful tokens.
Edit, almost forgot deal tombstones!
Espresso machine- it’s awesome rolling out of bed and making yourself a strong ass espresso before getting cracking at work. throw in ice, oat milk, whatever you want. There are tons of different coffees to experiment with too, never gets boring. This has seriously stifled spending at SBUX
Air Frier- handy for cooking foods sans oil
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