Swish things you have in your house

Buyingcar2012

What do you have in your house, design or gadget that make your life a little easier and enjoyable and that if you moved on, you would ensure you would get another?

Mine would be underfloor heating in the bathroom and my KitchenAid.

snubbleste

A roof to keep me dry.
Roofs are very underrated

The_Conductor

A freezer. I didn't have one for years- now I have a deep freeze under the stairs with all sorts of wonderful frozen food in it. I will definitely have a freezer in future.

Boombastic

A cuckoo clock a half a toblerone

OldBean

A cleaner in every second week. Best money we could have spent.

djimi

I dont know how swish it would be considered but I dont think I could live without my slow cooker!

The_Mask

OldBean wrote: »

A cleaner in every second week. Best regards money we could have spent.

Save yourself money and do it yourself!
Don't say it is not possible to find the time....even if you were to do a quick 5 minute clean up a day over two weeks it can be done!

The_Mask

I have a swish penknife I use for diy around the house

IrishLad90

Toastie maker, its just better in triangles
dishwasher is a good place to hide the mess at the sink

Giblet

I spent years without a dishwasher. Much of my life was wasted washing dishes, so I vote dishwasher :P

Lisha

There are no door saddles in our house. That makes me happy.
We have a solid fuel stove they heats all rads, couple that with a husband that is obsessed with chopping fire wood and we have minimum oil bills.

I love my house

OldBean

The_Mask wrote: »

Save yourself money and do it yourself!
Don't say it is not possible to find the time....even if you were to do a quick 5 minute clean up a day over two weeks it can be done!

It's not just finding time, it's coming home to a spotless house, it's being able to spend the time doing something more enjoyable or productive. It's amazing.

The_Conductor

Giblet wrote: »

I spent years without a dishwasher. Much of my life was wasted washing dishes, so I vote dishwasher :P

I got rid of mine- I actually find it therapeutic to spend a few minutes washing dishes. I'm still wondering how I ever lived without a freezer though......

Gillo

Lisha wrote: »

There are no door saddles in our house. That makes me happy.
We have a solid fuel stove they heats all rads, couple that with a husband that is obsessed with chopping fire wood and we have minimum oil bills.

I love my house

Forget all the modern appliances in my house, a real fire is the one thing I really miss. Eventually when I get my own place that's the one thing I'd have to insist on.

Rachineire

I vote my dishwasher and my tumble dryer
Neither are swish and both guzzle electricity but they are my luxuries. There is nothing nicer to me than snuggling on the couch with a blanket straight from the dryer.

Lisha

Aswe live in an area with poor mobile reception eircom broadband wifi is the one bill I would fight to be able to pay.
I could not imagine living without wifi now.

SpaceTime

Rachineire wrote: »

I vote my dishwasher and my tumble dryer
Neither are swish and both guzzle electricity but they are my luxuries. There is nothing nicer to me than snuggling on the couch with a blanket straight from the dryer.

The dryer does but if you've a modern dishwasher it'll be using less water and energy than hand washing.

If it's old, maybe not.

We've a heatpump dryer. Bit pricy but the energy bills dropped big time.

The one thing I wouldn't switch back from is the induction hob. It's just so fast (pan hot in 15 seconds.. Pot of water boils faster than the electric kettle) and it's more controllable than gas.

Nothing burns into the surface of the hob either so you can just wipe it with a bit of Cif. Where as normal ceramic hobs get burnt stuff stuck to them.

Downside is you need stainless steel or cast iron pots and pans. But, really worth it if you're into cooking!

kefir32

an integrated water purifier and alkaliser of the rolls royce type....... expensive but oh so worth it and no dragging 6 packs of evian every few days from the shop.
such a difference in the cooking, coffee etc and no residue in the kettle.:P

djimi

OldBean wrote: »

It's not just finding time, it's coming home to a spotless house, it's being able to spend the time doing something more enjoyable or productive. It's amazing.

Agree with this. If I had the money I would have no issues with hiring a cleaner; its money well spent for time that I could be putting to 101 better uses!

AnonoBoy

Basketball net out the back.

HeidiHeidi

OldBean wrote: »

A cleaner in every second week. Best money we could have spent.

This +100!

Life (well mine anyway) is just too short to spend my days off scrubbing the bathroom. And oh yes, the luxury of coming hope to the WHOLE house spanking clean, not just the room you managed to barely get done that day....

Plus, a stove. I've always had an open fire, wouldn't do without it - but it took minding and feeding and oh my goodness it ate briquettes :eek: The stove is the best of all worlds - ten times easier to light, and you can walk away and come back five hours later and it's still lighting. And when it's up to speed, one (ONE!) briquette burns for an hour or more! And the bloody heat out of it is only miraculous. Just a shame it's not connected to a boiler for the rads.... that'll be for the next house

hfallada

A bean to cup coffee machine. I read in a house magazine that one house owner brought one and said it was the most used appliance in her house. When I brought it was over €1,100 about 8 years ago. But its made nearly 12,000 coffees without any issues at all.

Honestly its my favorite thing in my house

HeidiHeidi

hfallada wrote: »

A bean to cup coffee machine. I read in a house magazine that one house owner brought one and said it was the most used appliance in her house. When I brought it was over €1,100 about 8 years ago. But its made nearly 12,000 coffees without any issues at all.

Honestly its my favorite thing in my house

:eek::eek::eek:

I hear ya, I'm a huge coffee fan, but Oh My Gawd!!!

eclectichoney

kefir32 wrote: »

an integrated water purifier and alkaliser of the rolls royce type....... expensive but oh so worth it and no dragging 6 packs of evian every few days from the shop.
such a difference in the cooking, coffee etc and no residue in the kettle.:P

Hi Kefir - where did you get this done and do you have an approximate cost? At the moment am using the Brita filters.

jester77

Air filtration system is fantastic. It takes the warm air from the bathrooms, kitchen and utility room, filters it and sends it to the other rooms. Plus it also has a filter to extract pollen from the air. I switched off the heating in the top 2 floors a few weeks ago and the rooms maintain a temp of around 20.

SpaceTime

jester77 wrote: »

Air filtration system is fantastic. It takes the warm air from the bathrooms, kitchen and utility room, filters it and sends it to the other rooms. Plus it also has a filter to extract pollen from the air. I switched off the heating in the top 2 floors a few weeks ago and the rooms maintain a temp of around 20.

You sure that doesn't use a heat exchanger to capture the heat from the bathroom etc and heat fresh air going to the other rooms rather than a filtering the air from e toilet?! Removing bathroom odours from air by filtration is no easy task!

kefir32

eclectichoney wrote: »

Hi Kefir - where did you get this done and do you have an approximate cost? At the moment am using the Brita filters.

Hey, it wasn't cheap, did my research and went with american system, kinetico- FDA approved. I have to say the quality is fantastic and it will pay for itself in the long run.
will pm you the details of the rep i dealt with in the west of ireland and he will advise you who to deal with wherever you are based.

lukesmom

A broken washing machine for the past month. Have to buy a new one soon. Disastrous when you have 5 people including 3 young kids to wash for. Then on the recommendation of a friend I found a launderette close by that washes, dries and folds all our clothing once a week for €20!!!!!!!! So I'm not too pushed about getting a new machine!

SpaceTime

The big HD 3D telly & Sky.

How did we ever survive with those little flickery tube things in the old days?!

Also Sky+ or its UPC equivalent...

SpaceTime

Fibre broadband!
I actually wouldn't move to an area that didn't have it. No way I could go back to ADSL!

djimi

SpaceTime wrote: »

Fibre broadband!
I actually wouldn't move to an area that didn't have it. No way I could go back to ADSL!

Amen to that. Was using the internet over at my parents house recently and I had forgotten how painful 4mb (or whatever nonsense Eircom are providing) is to use, especially when the lines are so old that they are only getting a fraction of that speed...

Doom

Wi-Fi in the bathroom.....seriously under rated ;-)

zef

My new bedroom blind and curtains (on a pole- had runner track before) - they look amazing and put me in a good mood even looking at them.
The "bounce" that you get walking on new carpet.
Dyson Ball vacuum, unbelievably light and space-age-y looking.

Thinking of getting a water fltration/ reverse osmosis system in, but need to find out if this would have an effect on my future water charges bill. I believe, (and I may be wrong) that after the process of reverse osmosis you are left with 15%, losing 85% of the water in the process.

I'd love a bean to coffee machine, something like this is next on the list.

kefir32

zef wrote: »

My new bedroom blind and curtains (on a pole- had runner track before) - they look amazing and put me in a good mood even looking at them.
The "bounce" that you get walking on new carpet.
Dyson Ball vacuum, unbelievably light and space-age-y looking.

Thinking of getting a water fltration/ reverse osmosis system in, but need to find out if this would have an effect on my future water charges bill. I believe, (and I may be wrong) that after the process of reverse osmosis you are left with 15%, losing 85% of the water in the process.

I'd love a bean to coffee machine, something like this is next on the list.

AFAIK I don't think there is as much of a loss of water as you purport , I know with mine there isn't just can't recall the exact figure. Haven't looked back since the RO/Alkalising system, and Im drinking my 2L a day to get my monies worth:D

hfallada

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek:

I hear ya, I'm a huge coffee fan, but Oh My Gawd!!!

I know it was the GDP of a small african nation. But they were only just released. Now you can pick up a decent one for just under €300 on amazon uk.

Borderfox

Irobot roomba, best gadget ever schedule it to come on during the day and hoovered apartment when I get.home

pwurple

Kenwood mixer. It was a wedding pressie years ago, finally have space in the kitchen for it to live on the counter. Love it. It mixes dough for our bread, slices veg, makes pasta, makes sausages, makes ice cream. Best yoke ever.

+1 on cleaner. When everyone works full time, and commutes, and you have kids, someone who can come in while you are out at work and do all the cleaning and ironing is very handy.

ABajaninCork

I LOVE my slow cooker. Got one as a wedding present and haven't looked back!

Finally got around to getting a tumble drier. I don't know how I coped without one before, but it's like my right arm now, especially with this damp weather. Get a good energy efficient one, and it shouldn't cost too much to run.

I'd love a Kitchen Aid too, but no space for one.

Finally - I'm a convert to open fires. I couldn't live without one now!

Malari

Cleaner is probably the main one. I don't have a long commute or kids, but it's so worth it! I figure I work so I can afford to outsource that kind of manual labour. :-)

SamAK

An en-suite bathroom each for me and my flat-mate.

Dunno how I'll manage going back to a shared bathroom when we move

orchidsrpretty

My completely impractical American fridge freezer considering there's only two of us in the house. The freezer part is tiny though given the size but I love having cold filtered water and an endless supply of ice cubes.

I would love a roomba, they look the business.

syklops

orchidsrpretty wrote: »

My completely impractical American fridge freezer considering there's only two of us in the house. The freezer part is tiny though given the size but I love having cold filtered water and an endless supply of ice cubes.

I would love a roomba, they look the business.

I have a roomba. To be honest, once you get over the cool factor, it is a disappointing hooverer. It doesn't get bored of doing it, so you can set it to go around once a day, but it really doesn't like cables on the floor, and there is a fair bit of maintenance. You nearly need another hoover to hoover the roomba, during/after maintenance.

I have a dishwasher again after 5 years without one, never again(will I not have one). Another poster said they found cleaning dishes soothing? For me, making the food, and then eating the food is soothing. Being up to your elbows in rapidly cooling water is anything but(to me at least).

Internet speed that rivals, or preferably is faster than what I have in work.

A TV which somehow can talk to my 1 terabyte harddrive of media.

Love my slow cooker and my halogen oven. .

mel.b

I only moved into my first home late last year so i don't have any fancy gadgets yet, but first on the list for the renovation is a thermostatic mixer shower with proper pressure so i can have a decent shower...bliss

shruikan2553

Electric shower. Used to have one but havent for 3 years now.
Fiber broadband. I wont live somewhere if I cant get UPC.
En suite is also great.

Anyone have an idea of how much it would cost to get a cleaner for a 2 bedroom apartment? I thought about it before if it was cheap enough.

Tigger

american fridge
impractical but cold filtered water and ice cubes to bate the band

SpaceTime

orchidsrpretty wrote: »

My completely impractical American fridge freezer considering there's only two of us in the house. The freezer part is tiny though given the size but I love having cold filtered water and an endless supply of ice cubes.

I would love a roomba, they look the business.

I got side by side AEG European style full height fridge and freezer. It makes ice and has water too but the freezer is way bigger and more practical for wide items.

The US style ones seem to have very thick walls yet the EU ones are much higher energy efficiency.. Strange!

Easier to get in door too as there two separate units.

Arthur Beesley

I have some nice fridge magnets. Does that count?

Moonbeam

My new Kenwood Chef, resilient broadband, and can not think of anything else.
I would never think of the fridge or freezer or tumble drier as swish.

dubbie82

I've seen a house recently and they had integrated hoover system. You can just pull out the tube from the wall and the dust gets transported into a tank in the kitchen or garage, that looked quite practical.

My parents have induction hob which is really great. It's used for ages in other contries but haven't really seen it here. It's fast, you get the pan hot within seconds and it uses less energy than a standart hob. Seems the whole induction thing is quite advanced now. Read an article about how it's used to get boiling water out of the tab, no need to boil kettle anymore and it comes with a saftey feature so you won't burn yourself by mistake. Seems pretty cool to me. No idea how much that fun costst tho.

SpaceTime

dubbie82 wrote: »

I've seen a house recently and they had integrated hoover system. You can just pull out the tube from the wall and the dust gets transported into a tank in the kitchen or garage, that looked quite practical.

My parents have induction hob which is really great. It's used for ages in other contries but haven't really seen it here. It's fast, you get the pan hot within seconds and it uses less energy than a standart hob. Seems the whole induction thing is quite advanced now. Read an article about how it's used to get boiling water out of the tab, no need to boil kettle anymore and it comes with a saftey feature so you won't burn yourself by mistake. Seems pretty cool to me. No idea how much that fun costst tho.

The folks had one since about 1998, so it's been around in Ireland for quite a long time too. Nothing particularly new about it, other than that the price dropped quite a bit in recent years. They used to be stupidly expensive and only from Miele and De Dietrich etc.

Induction hobs are common enough these days they're becoming a lot more popular in recent years though.

pwurple

On electric showers, I'm actually working on a plan/budget to take them all out of our house next year. In our last place we replaced them with a powerful central pump and a big fat hot water cylinder connected to solar panels. The pumped hot water had much better pressure and water volume than the electric showers. And you can run pumped showers at the same time as eachother... Annoyingly, you can't do that with electric showers. Figure we will need that down the line as kids grow into teenagers.

Other possible swish vanity project is an outdoor clay oven for pizzas and bread. Kinda like what this guy builds. http://www.bakehus.com That's my summer project for this year!