Hey,
after living in our house for almost 2 years now, I can also share which "extras" have proven themselves for us.
In general, we bought very little beyond the standard, as it was sufficient for us in almost all respects and we didn’t have very high demands. Everything was a thousand times better for us than our old house (a small, uninsulated wooden shack without proper heating).
We treated ourselves to and are still very happy with:
- Air-to-water heat pump with controlled residential ventilation:
Very pleasant, we only have to compare electricity providers, not gas prices, and we also saved the costs for the gas connection.
Consumption since the 2nd heating year, after the output could be turned down, is satisfactory.
Controlled residential ventilation is great, always fresh air in the house, no more flies and mosquitoes from endlessly airing out and no cooled-down house in winter with subzero temperatures.
- Rain shower:
We were able to test this at my parents’ place before and were so enthusiastic that we treated ourselves to it despite the extra cost.
Our rain shower has, besides the rain head, a small handheld shower that I use when I don’t want to wash my hair. Very important for me, because I can’t wash my long, thick hair daily due to time constraints. Also, the handheld shower is practical for shaving legs; it would be quite inconvenient to rinse the razor under the rain head.
- In-wall radio in the bathroom:
For me, the best invention ever! We always turn the radio on first when we enter the bathroom to listen to news and music while getting ready.
Of course, a conventional radio would serve the same purpose, but in the old bathroom, we were always annoyed by the dangling cable and that the station was constantly changed by touch.
However, we only chose the simple version of the built-in radio, without extra features like Bluetooth or internet, because we really only listen to conventional radio.
- Wood-look tiles throughout the entire ground floor:
We wanted a uniform floor throughout the ground floor to avoid visible material transitions.
According to the construction specifications, tiles were only planned for the kitchen, utility room, guest WC, and hallway, so we paid extra for the living room to have everything uniform.
We are still very happy with the wood-look tiles after 2 years, as they are very low-maintenance and durable, and all guests are always quite surprised that they are tiles.
- Roller shutters:
We definitely wanted them and are so happy with them.
Unfortunately, our old house didn’t have roller shutters, but my husband and I are both used to sleeping in absolute darkness thanks to roller shutters from our parents’ homes. In the old house, neither of us could sleep well because the bedroom was always a bit bright despite the blinds.
Now we can finally darken the bedroom properly again, and the roller shutters are also great for sun protection and are used almost daily in summer.
Otherwise, we don’t have any "big" extras, just normal little things like a few more power sockets, better security standards on the windows, etc.
What I would have liked in hindsight, but unfortunately didn’t think of in time, is an underground rainwater tank for garden irrigation. Really a shame, I could use the rainwater and carport water so well for my garden, but now tearing up the paving, terrace, and so on to lay pipes and a tank is just too much effort for us.
And what also annoys me quite a bit is that we waived an exhaust hood on the advice of our construction company back then, because it is supposedly more complicated to implement in a KfW house.....
Now, after 2 years, we are at the point where we are considering having a core drilling done afterwards because the recirculating hood is just rubbish and the wallpaper above the upper cabinet, where the greasy air is blown out again, is already discoloring....
Nope, otherwise I can’t think of anything significant that I would do differently in hindsight. We are still very satisfied with our house and very grateful that we now have it so comfortably and no longer have to freeze in winter or have a dirty stove in the house.