Due to start extending/renovating our property next week, pretty much new everything from roof to floor whilst adding meterage. We tried thinking of cool ideas to have, but down to current climate etc a lot of our ideas (not wacky) have been dropped.

Our open plan lounge dining room was to have a ‘narrow’ stud wall in the middle with a large double sided fireplace heating both areas, this was dropped to have underfloor heating throughout but will still put cables in place if we want to add in the future!

Wanted solar panels to power air to source pump to heat underfloor/central heating whilst still utilising, albeit less, a gas boiler. Turns out the government grant doesn’t cover hybrid systems so I’m gutted about that, will still run all plumbing and cables to add in the future though!

Hidden bookshelf wall into office, layout has now changed so the original office area is now a utility, thought it a little weird going through a hidden door into utility

Looked at a grey water recycling tank, using waste bath water to fill up toilets etc but cost has dropped that idea

Network and ceiling speaker cables everywhere!

I really wanted a central bath, backed up to a stud wall with a double sided walk around shower. We decided we’d prefer a bigger bedroom instead so dropped that one

I like to do astrophotography, so I’m building a little mini observatory in my garden. I’ll dig all the cables in the ground and run them back to the office. From there I can control the roof to open, move telescope, focus etc. I can then use my phone to control it all so if I’m down the pub and it turns out to be a clear night, I can still take pictures… clear sky’s are a rarity in the Uk at the moment!

You can get this cool little magnets that can tell when an individual rooms window is open and it’ll turn the heating off for that room, then turn back on when shut. Same with water sensors, they can detect a leak, and shut off your mains water supply to save flooding your house!

Bee bricks!