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Top 10 Things Dads Want In A Home

When house hunting or making a priority list of improvements for an existing home, most couples will eventually have to compromise. In my 23 years of marriage and 20 years of real estate experience, I have found that most men defer to what their spouse wants first, while making their own private plans for what they really want in their home. When we purchased our own home, I know that my wife Joanne didn’t even notice the built-in speaker systems throughout most of the house, and it was definitely a selling feature for me! In honor of Father’s Day, I’m spilling all of the secrets – here’s Tom’s Top 10 Things Dads Want In A Home.

10. The Shower – We want a spacious shower. It’s not because we need a lot of room, but because we know that our spouse is going to stock the shelves with their products. We need to make sure there’s enough space for our own body wash and shampoo. We also want a great showerhead and good water pressure!
9. The Speakers / Sound Systems – We like our tunes and being in control of the music. Having a speaker system that is beyond a single portable speaker, one that goes throughout the main living areas and out onto the deck, is ideal for any dad who likes to set the vibe of his domain.
8. The Bar – We want a bar area where we can keep that expensive bottle of liquor we are “saving for a special occasion.” It’s also important to have a spot where we can mix a quick drink when friends visit. The ideal bar is either adjacent to or in a comfy room where you can sit and enjoy your favorite beverage with your spouse.
7. The Home Office – When I think of my dream office, the TV show Mad Men is what comes to mind. That means deep wood furniture, leather-bound books on the bookshelf, a box of cigars, and a fully stocked bar. Work hard, play hard.
6. The Garage – We need space for everything from cars and sporting equipment to yard tools and kids’ toys. Having shelves, storage bins, and a workbench turns this space into an organized area instead of a piled-up mess. In a perfect world, the garage floor will have a cool epoxy finish so we are prepared to buy our dream sports car when we hit our mid-life splurge. When it comes to the garage, the bigger the better. We’ll find a way to fill the space.
5. The Kitchen – We enjoy innovations like built-in griddles on a new stove for making the kids pancakes on Saturday morning. Appliances with LCD screens, dual convection ovens, finger swipe screens – we love the technology. A built-in coffee station is also a big yes!
4. The Fireplace – Men love fire. We like to start fires, watch fires, and sit by fires and sit around a fire with family or friends sharing dad jokes. We want a great indoor fireplace, and we would love to have an outdoor fireplace with a seating area, too.
3. The Yard – Men are generally drawn to more space and bigger yards. It’s not because we want to spend all weekend working in the yard, but we do like having a place to go outside where we feel nature around us. If we can occasionally use a chainsaw, that’s a plus.
2. The Outdoor Living Space / The Deck – We want a deck big enough to house a grill and maybe a green egg – a place where we can eat outside as a family and enjoy a cocktail or hang out with friends. Ideally, this deck overlooks our great yard, so we can sit on the deck after working outside all day and appreciate what we’ve done, even if no one else notices the trimmed hedges and freshly cut grass. The icing on the cake is a big screen TV so we can watch the game while grilling and chilling with friends.
1. The Basement – The basement serves as a getaway space – i.e., the man cave. A huge TV and a comfortable seating area are must-haves for enjoying a game or movie. The basement is also the place for us to keep all the stuff that we’re not allowed to have anywhere else in the house. The basement is removed from the rest of the house and doesn’t always fall under the decorative oversight of our spouse, so we can have free reign to hang signed sports jerseys, have a comfortable chair, a ping pong table, or put our favorite piece of furniture from college that we refuse to give up. Lastly, this is a great spot for a home gym. The home gym is where we keep our exercise equipment (hopefully not the kind that was bought at 3:00 AM from an infomercial) whether we use it as often as we’d like or not.

House hunting is made so much easier when you know exactly which features you are looking for. Us dads often don’t seem picky, however there are definitely certain elements that keep us happy in our homes. Most of these revolve around spending time with family and friends, who are the loved ones that make being a dad so great in the first place.
Also, chainsaws.

Top 10 Things Dads Want In A Home