When we set out on this build journey, the pool was an absolute must. I am beyond happy with it. The kids have been in numerous times everyday of the holidays so far. I can't encourage enough, people (with kids inparticular) to consider / factor in the cost of a pool if possible. We could have spent an extra 50k building a bigger/fancier home instead, but the question was for us, what real value would that have added to our lifestyle? We have 4 bedrooms, 3 living areas, 2 bathrooms and a beautiful kitchen which leads out to a perfect outdoor room through my favourite sets of bi-fold doors. What more could I want from a home? The pool will provide hours and hours of true family time, entertainment for the kids and their friends and relaxation for DH and me (plus it gets the kids active and outdoors). So, I know every family has different needs and we all live in very differing locations, but I just wanted to advocate the good old Aussie swimming pool for those of you still in planning stages of building your dreams.
Please excuse the water on the lens...but you get the idea of our fun afternoon - family time - in the pool. I completely understand that a pool is an expensive investment, so please don't think that I don't understand when people opt to not put in a pool. But I do know how expensive some of the home designs are these days and how we could easily have spent the extra money building a different home if we didn't have the pool on our 'must have' list.
What's on your 'must have' list? I'd love to hear! I have plenty of things on my 'add later' list as we couldn't afford them now. It's all about a priority order for each individual family. And whilst I have an extensive list still of house wishes, I also have an increasing desire to sit pretty, enjoying the house as it is, as I have an increasing need to plan travel in the 'as soon as I can afford it' future.
Back to the grindstone later today as we will have the skip bin picked up in a day or two and we need it to be full! But first, we plan on taking the kids fishing - they have been very good, and patient, whilst we've worked out the front the last couple of days. They LOVE going fishing, so we will go today.
Cheers
Kylie
Oh how I wish we had gone with a swimming pool instead of a 83sqm detached garage for MrB. How much this mini house with 3m ceilings, brick veneer, steel frame, terracotta roof tiles, 600mm deep foundations cost us we could have had a state of the art swimming pool. But it's all about compromise I guess. We are lucky to still have room in the backyard for a swimming pool once the funds are available and when we have kids and they are old enough to enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteB
Wow, now that sounds like an enviable man cave! B, in time you guys will decide what's right for you! Most of us have to learn compromise and patience as we can't have everything at once!
ReplyDeleteHow good to hear the excitement a pool has created for your family. I had my first pool in the last house and LOVED it. Everything social centered around it and we were THE drop-in spot for friends. Bliss. Maybe it has to do with the ages of your children too. I think yours will get an enormous amount of enjoyment from the expense, WAY into the future. We included a pool this build too (still in progress). I loved my WI pantry last house and I know I'll regret not allocating the space this time round. Just wasn't able to jiggle the floor plan to fit it in. For us, there's always next time! LOL!
ReplyDeletex KL
KL, I am jealous of the fact you get to exercise your design and decorating talents on new projects all the time! I too would have loved a walk in pantry, but at least the one I have now is 3 - 4 times bigger than my tiny previous one. With the pool, I love that it is an instant drawcard for the kids friends...they can have friends over constantly and they are no hassle as they are happy playing in the pool for hours. I have 2 fire places high on my (and DH's) wish list. One inside and one next to a built in BBQ outside. I think the outside one will actually be done first...one day.
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