Focus on Personal Touches Now to Pay Off Later

AKRON, Ohio -- What makes a house a dream home?

It's more than custom woodwork and granite countertops. It's an electrical outlet that's right where you need it, kitchen storage that makes things easy to find, or maybe a cubby for the dog's dishes so you don't trip over them coming in the back door.

When you're building or remodeling, you have the chance to incorporate conveniences and special touches that can be much more complicated or expensive to add later. We picked the brains of a few builders, an interior designer and a specialist in new-home conveniences and collected some of their best ideas. Here's what they suggested:

· Warm walls. Putting radiant heat systems in floors is nothing new, but what about heating the shower walls? Carol Abrahamson, who compiles ideas for new-home features and markets them to professionals and homeowners through her business, ExtraOrdinary Homes, said she's seen radiant heating showing up in some of the large walk-in showers being built in high-end homes near hers in Sedona, Ariz.

The heat source guards against chills in those wide-open showers and does so with less energy use than heating the whole room conventionally.

· Drop zone. A catch-all area near the family's entrance to the house is increasingly common in new homes, said Mary Becker, vice president of sales and marketing for Schumacher Homes. It's a place where family members can set down groceries, sort the mail, stash the keys and leave messages for one another. It could also have a phone and perhaps a battery-charging station -- a bank of electrical outlets and shelving where cell phones, digital cameras, battery-operated vacuum cleaners and other devices can be recharged, Abrahamson suggested.

· Wiring conduit. Adding wiring to the second floor of an existing two-story house can be difficult because of obstructions in the walls that block access to the basement junction box. John Galehouse of Galehouse Construction recommends preventing that problem by installing a PVC tube in a wall from the basement to the attic. The tube serves as a conduit through which you can feed wiring.

· Structured wiring. Builders are increasingly incorporating structured wiring, or "smart wiring," into homes. It essentially involves running a bundle of wiring and cables from a central source to each room where they might be needed.

The bundle typically contains everything that might be used now for entertainment, communication and security systems, plus enough additional to accommodate future needs. The idea is to make installing, changing or upgrading services easier and to facilitate networking.

· Stair lights. Lighting a staircase at ankle level enhances safety and acts as a night light. Abrahamson suggested recessing the lights in the wall rather than the steps to make changing bulbs easier.

· Garden-hose closet. Use the space between wall studs to create a shallow hose closet near an outdoor spigot, Abrahamson recommended. A pegboard in the back could provide additional storage for garden tools.

· Pot-filler faucet. This cold-water faucet pulls out from the wall behind the stove and is positioned high enough so pots can fit underneath. It allows you to fill pots or add cold water to stop a pot from boiling, Abrahamson said. Adding a small drainage sink next to the stove would mean you never have to carry heavy pots across the kitchen.