Thanks Eddie, for the title.
“Why does my house always look like this?” She stood with her hand resting on the crumb-covered counter. Kook-Aide dribbles trekked across the tile from the sink to the refrigerator. A stack of syrupy plates leaned precariously against an almost empty Mrs. Butterworth’s bottle. Sighing, she turned her back on the chaos and surveyed the living room. Ecru walls, mocha sofa, beige carpeting. Things were far tidier, but the whirlpool of brown sucked the life out of her.
I can recall my teenage self: resentful and wondering WHY teal paint and pictures of horse skulls with rose eye sockets was a bad idea. It may1 have been hideous. But, it is what I wanted.
And because she is awesome, my mother let me paint my walls a dark teal color and hang pictures of various morbid objects d’art in my room. I am sure she looked in there as little as possible. I loved it. My room was my realm, my bastion, my Fortress of Solitude.
As an adult, I crave my house to be a reflection of me; my tastes, personality. In this fantasy, my house is also always sparkling clean.2
Why can’t I have a house that looks like it does in my head?
Well, part of the reason is that I cannot afford it right now. But another part is because I live with other people. It cannot be my Fortress because Solitude means throwing out the other folks that live here. I’m fond of them, so obviously that isn’t the answer.
What we should – and probably will, once we get our finance’s teeth kicked back in – is sit down together and come up with a plan. Paint and furniture and Bon! Put that sledgehammer down RIGHT NOW
…fine. Paint and furniture and no major changes to the structure of the house. New flooring though, please? Yes. Yay! Death to carpeting!
So, we’ll come up with a plan and whirlwind through the house and make it less generic. I can’t wait. My house will have color and art and lots of technology and maybe a Tardis and dear, gods SO MANY BOOKS and no fucking brown, anywhere.
What would YOUR house have, given your druthers?
The Process 
More bookshelves, a room for the books. Secret passage from master bedroom to office and library. Garden tub. I don’t want much 😉
If you have a secret passage, it has to have a candle trigger opening.
wall to wall bookshelves. a real library. a pet badger. but mostly dice.
Giant tubes of dice, in dispensable containers?
You have room for a 1960’s Police Box in your home?
I’ve always wanted one of this life sized mannequins of Spider Man crawling on my ceiling in a simple minimalistic type office space to write in. And a sound proof gaming room so I can play games as loud as I want.
It’s bigger on the inside?
Oh, cool! Spiderman on the office ceiling is a terrific idea. I think I am jealous.
Dance studio, bookshelves EVERYWHERE, and a single bedroom just for the degus. And yes, a bedroom just for the goos sounds ridiculous, but it would be nice to have their inevitable scattering of dust and shavings confined to ONE place.
Also, no carpeting. Anywhere. Evar.
Not at all, I totally get why you’d have the Goo Room. 🙂 If I was building it, I’d tile the floor and put a drain in the center.
Giant dance studio as well. Mine might have a disco ball, though.
I want a gin and tonic slushy machine, a place conducive to writing, a kitchen with counters…lots and lots of counters.
And…
Hmmm…mostly, I want a gin and tonic slushy machine.
I will see what I can do to find an Instructable on making one. 😀
a LARGE homey kitchen
a dark paneled library with floor to ceiling bookshelves
a dual sided fireplace – one side in the kitchen (fully functional for cooking in) and the other side in the living room.
a lush garden, with herbs
a 360 wrap around porch/deck, with a swing
wooden floors throughout, area rugs can be beaten
a soaking tub, that I can put candles around when I want to take a bubble bath
window seats in all 4 bedrooms, and possibly one the library
large picture windows that let in T O N S of natural light, into the kitchen and living room
friends and family that add to the comfortable/welcoming/homey feeling
2 dogs, and a cat
and someone special to share it all with.
well you asked.
I also recently had a very vivid dream where I saw this house….