Supporting Actor Features In Your Home

You might not recognize the name Edmund Gwenn, but there’s a good chance he has been a part of your Christmas celebrations at some point. Gwenn won an Oscar in 1948 for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Kris Kringle in the classic holiday film Miracle on 34th Street. Can you imagine that iconic movie without him? His amiable nature sells the whole storyline by convincing all but the Grinch himself that Kris Kringle may just be real.

Similarly, many aspects of a home play a supporting role alongside the leading features that make a house a home. They might not be the first things guests notice when they come into your home, but they are things you will appreciate every day. That dream kitchen you have always wanted will probably draw some compliments from your mother-in-law after you’ve moved in. What she won’t notice immediately (but you will want to show her) is the secondary refrigerator in the butler’s pantry that makes you love cooking in your new kitchen. That pantry makes the rest of the kitchen work, and every time you close the door on the mess in there while entertaining guests, you’re going to smile. The pantry is the kitchen’s supporting actor, making working and living in that space so much more enjoyable.

An experienced home builder can help you identify the details that will make you love living in your home every day. Some will be things you’ll find in an Instagram post, but others are things you won’t even know you want in your next home until someone points them out. By their nature, some of these features are things you might not even see.

Here are some of our favorite “supporting actor” features that we love adding to our custom homes:

Setting the scene

• Dimmer switches that make the same room work for homework, entertaining, or a movie night
• Gentle night lighting in the hallways between bedrooms or along the stairwell
• Lever door handles that are easier to operate when your hands are full
• Well-placed light switches that are intuitive and easy to find in the dark

Behind the streams

• A garage or utility room sink for muddy dogs, paintbrushes, and messy projects
• Pantry plumbing for an ice maker, even if you don’t own one on move-in day
• Hose bibs on multiple sides of the house so you can water your garden without having to connect multiple hoses
• Accessible, labeled water shutoff valves in case something happens to a pipe 20 years from now

Garage stunt doubles

• Ductless mini-split heating and cooling systems that make working in the garage more comfortable year-round
• Garage door openers with built-in cameras that help you know what’s going on in your garage when you’re away from home
• Insulated garage door glass to help keep your garage warmer throughout our Idaho winters
• Dedicated power outlets for garage tools so you can run your table saw without worrying about tripping the breaker

Outdoor extras

• Outdoor ceiling fans on the patio to keep air moving on hot summer days
• Natural gas hookups for patio heaters that extend the outdoor living season into the fall
• Covered entries that provide a dry place for visitors to stand while they wait for you to unlock the front door
• Outdoor speakers on the back patio that add ambiance to outdoor gatherings

The set crew you’ll never see on screen

• Extra insulation in the attic and floor that makes your furnace or A/C run less often
• Wired internet access in the office so you don’t have to rely on Wi-Fi range
• Solid interior doors that dampen sound and feel more substantial than hollow doors
• Quiet bathroom exhaust fans on timers so they don’t run all day when you forget to turn them off

Lights, camera…

So where do you start? Think about the small frustrations you have in your current home and start writing them down. Where do the shoes and backpacks pile up when the kids get home from school? Which room never seems to have enough light? Where would you like to use appliances without having to move them to reach an outlet? Those everyday annoyances are the things you will want to talk to your builder about. Every annoyance can be designed around, and every convenience should be considered.

Your home builder can help you sort through your ideas and decide which ones are worth adding to your home design. At Albertson Construction, we include many of these details in every home we build, and we love adding custom touches to make your next home your ideal home.

Closing credits

Every great home has some leading features that everyone notices, but it also has an outstanding supporting cast. These are the little touches that make your home a joy to live in. That beautiful stone fireplace in the living room is stunning and draws compliments from most guests, but you might love the remote control that makes it easy to turn on just as much as the fireplace itself.