20 Home Features You Thought Were Great, But Living There Shows They’re Not

20 Things Inside the House
That at first we thought “having them is good”
But after living, having them is worse
.
Every house is a real‑life experiment
Many of the things we love in the model home or catalogue
After living we find they don’t work at all
If you build your next house
Many functions you once dreamed must exist
Become the first things you want to cut out
.
Here is the “expensive lesson”
From feedback talking with dozens of homeowners
.

1. Bathtub
   The dream item that once used turns almost unused
   Consumes space in the bathroom
   In the end becomes laundry basket or clothes pile in the home
   .

2. Large balcony
   When choosing a house we like the airy feeling
   A cool seat to catch wind
   But forgetting that our climate
   Is not fit to do that long‑term
   After living dust accumulates, feet get dirty
   Use it few times then stop
   Becomes space better used indoors
   .

3. Lawn and outdoor space
   In the show‑home looks beautiful
   But in reality it is insect nursery
   Have to mow lawn often
   And almost never use it
   In new house choose to extend dining room instead
   .

4. Glossy tile
   Looks luxurious, reflect light beautifully
   But when used turns slippery & dangerous
   Especially when wet
   Children or elderly risk falling
   In next home choose matte or anti‑slip surface
   .

5. Black bathroom
   When new looks luxurious and expensive
   But when in use
   Limescale / soap scum appear quickly and show clearly
   Cleaning is hard
   High‑design sanitary ware with many nooks is harder to clean
   .

6. Coffered ceiling + upward lamp
   Looks grand when light shines upward on ceiling
   But becomes dust trough full of dust
   Very hard to clean
   Downward lamp is easier and doesn’t collect dust
   .

7. Skylight / large light wells
   At first think get nice natural light
   Look airy, make house open
   But real living is hot and stuffy
   AC stays on all day and electricity goes up
   And becomes first point of leak when rain comes
   So many choose to install tinted glass or reposition
   .

8. Indoor swimming pool
   At first excited, finally barely use it
   But electricity, chemicals
   Maintenance cost full
   Many homes say
   It’s more fun to take kids to hotel pool
   .

9. Ornamental wrought iron gates
   Think adds safety and beauty
   But in use becomes dust trap
   Cleaning difficult
   Plain bars or tempered glass with sensor system
   Much better and safer
   .

10. Wooden blinds or low‑grade curtains
    Blinds collect dust fast
    Curtains if not UV‑blocking well
    House becomes hot so AC cannot cope
    Next house choose good grade curtains with eyelet rings
    Easy to remove, wash self
    .

11. Open kitchen next to living room
    In show‑home looks chic
    But real cooking
    Smells spread through home, curtains, sofa
    Become smell trap
    Closed kitchen or glass sliding partition is the escape
    .

12. Fish‑pond / water garden small
    The sound of flowing water looks nice
    But in reality it’s mosquito farm
    Fish smell
    Must clean always
    Not as relaxing as thought
    .

13. Real wood flooring
    At first looks elegant, warm, luxurious, expensive
    But in use it swells, shrinks, cracks easily, many marks
    Hard to maintain and repair costly
    Substitute like SPC or wood‑look tile is the answer
    .

14. Solid wood door
    At first think classic, durable
    But in use it shrinks, swells, closes imperfectly
    Many homes switch to aluminium
    Or engineered wood that doesn’t shrink instead
    .

15. Built‑in furniture throughout
    Looks luxurious when new
    But when you want to change it you suffer: termite risk, style changes with time
    Free‑standing furniture is true freedom
    .

16. Built‑in gas hob
    Looks good when new but when fails, big trouble
    Have to call technician to remove full set
    Freestanding hob easier
    When broken just replace head and done
    .

17. Storage room under staircase
    Think use every space usefully
    And keep things organised
    But finally becomes “black hole”
    For junk and unused items
    Messy and hard to find things
    .

18. Too small laundry area
    Planned houses often minimal size
    No small tub for hand‑wash or wiping floor
    In the end must bend to wash the floor and get tired instead
    .

19. Awning window (casement)
    At first looks trendy
    But finally open few days dust always
    And wards off rain badly
    Sliding window is the most workable
    .

20. Display cabinet full of items
    Looks like pride
    But becomes dust and visual clutter
    Glass door or closed door is the solution
    .
    A house teaches lessons no textbook can provide
    Many functions are beautiful
    But after living become burden
    So building a next house is not about adding
    “Everything you want”
    But selecting
    “Only things you actually use”
    And cutting out things that don’t work from the start
    .
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