What cool things would you add to your home renovation?

1) Properly diffused air ducting, so there is no 'cold draft' when the system kicks on.

2) Steam shower / wet sauna

3) Security system with home automation to warn of surprising movements before they reach your door

4) small aquaculture setup for fish and veggies

5) solar / battery backup

6) solar water heater

7) whole house fan - when it is hotter inside than outside (front comes through, some weird fall/spring days), it will cycle all the air in the house in 30 minutes

8) dedicated zoom studio with lighting, sound, sound deadening, mic

9) library with sliding ladder.... always seems like the epitome of cool

10) stretch rack in bathroom (https://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-stall-bar-3-0)

11) induction cooktop

12) plumbed coffee machine

13) kitchen appliance storage (rotational or other high density method)

14) we added cans through out the halls, kitchen, and dining areas - it made a world of difference and I wish I had done it earlier

15) through wall aquarium

Ethernet in every wall imaginable. I want to be able to punch through any random spot of drywall and grab a fistful of Cat 6.

If you're playing with dimensions for rooms, a secondary bedroom that's bigger than 3m x 3m is nice; even if you don't want a larger sleeping area, it's a good win as an office or hobby room with fewer compromises.

I'd love to see what's the state-of-the-science in terms of insulation. I suspect when you shop for yourself, you can get stuff contractors may not be interested in because it's not lowest bid.

Since the market went red-hot, I notice builders are no longer advertising aggressively on how efficient their houses are. I wonder if they switched back to cardboard walls and 7-SEER AC units when they realized they could sell the houses faster than they could build them and no longer had to make anything compelling.

Electric outlets. Electric outlets everywhere.

It's the less fancy recommendation here, but you will never regret having too many electric outlets.

Other things:

- tankless water heater

- if you want motorized blinds, have wiring go right to the window frame. You can do a battery otherwise, but you’ll have to recharge it every month.

- solar cells and battery pack

- home automation system (if you’re into that kind of thing)

- timer switches on bathroom fans

- bathroom fan in your laundry room

- hidden safe that’s built in (eg in wall or in floor)

Nothing compares to the wealth of having 25,000 litres of rainwater in a tank in your backyard!

1) Turn the basement into a granny flat if it has a separate door. If you live in any metropolitan area you can charge pretty good rent for it. 2) Probably it's starting to get common now, but 240V to the garage in case you want to add an EV charger. 3) 240V in the kitchen if you want to add an induction cooktop or wire in a UK-spec 2kW electric kettle 4) Echoing the people who say to put in wired Ethernet. WiFi sucks if you have a big house, especially one with courtyards meaning long halls and bad signal

Hidden room, with a subtle if not disguised door. Need not be that big; never know when it'll come in handy. Even a small cabinet sized space may be useful.

Depending on how much work you want to put into things all sorts of things may be doable. Fancy stairwell with a fireman's pole is probably a bit ambitious.

Stone altar / sacrifice pit with plumbing and chimney can make a wonderful center to a den / conversation area room. Cook hot dogs or heretics with the neighbors.

A greenhouse, or at least bay windows where possible. That might not be cool to you but I've seen some pretty sexy greenhouses.

A sauna, home gym, and an isolation tank.

Can you share more detail about the reno? That’ll guide suggestions better imho.

A home movie theater with a large screen, comfortable seating, and quality sound is very nice to have.