What's your idea of a luxury home? I would imagine that question would have as many different answers as people that were asked it. Although 'big' is always impressive, it doesn't necessarily indicated luxury. I've seen huge homes that have been neglected and look tired and therefore in desperate need of some serious maintenance. They can also be ugly, badly designed, and located in undesirable neighborhoods. So there are surely many different ways to define a luxury home.

For me, it's simply the 'Wow!' factor. Whenever I walk into someone's home for the first time and it makes me go, "Wow" on entry, it's already on its way to becoming a luxury home in my mind. This happened inside a small half-timbered medieval cottage in that beautiful Suffolk market town of Lavenham. Lavenham is said to be the most complete medieval town in Britain due to its fine collection of medieval and Tudor architecture, and all those crooked old buildings are a real tribute to the town and its folk. Many locals have managed to blend the conveniences of modern living in with the oldie-worldie charm of the 15th and 16th century. These homes really do have to be seen to be believed.

Stately homes (or most of them), are luxury homes mainly for the aristocrats of society, but by golly some of these places are impressive. Many are extremely old and reaped in rich history with park-like gardens and miles of corridors. Oh if only their walls could speak.

Although I love to look around and read about the luxury homes of the rich and famous, it has to be said that most of them are but fantasy dwellings. Therefore, I like to focus on a luxury home that I may someday be able to afford. I've always had very nice homes, but none that could be called luxury. My realistic definition of a luxury home is as follows:

It has to have rooms, places to go, areas that are quite different from each other. For example, a dining room used specifically for eating. A living room for relaxing; a glass conservatory at the back overlooking a green leafy garden with rocks and pools; and perhaps a study! The interior will be finely decorated with impressive ceilings, carved covings, and beautiful center light pieces which include overhead fans. All rooms will have a theme whether it's English country cottage, Japanese, African or whatever. The house has to be detached and include roofs at various heights, and it has to have shape and form. A rectangular building with a roof plonked on top simply won't do.

The above is perfectly achievable once I am in a position to upgrade. I started off with life in a clipper home before moving up to a spacious studio. I'm now in a one bedroom apartment and I estimate that within 2 years I'll be able to move into a 3 or 4 bed place with potential. Once I've found my ideal residence, I'll begin to construct and renovate my very own luxury home over time. I'm well traveled and have collected lots of trinkets along the way, so I'm just bursting with ideas.

I think folks should stop drooling over other people's luxury homes and start working on their own. Although lot's of extra space is something that many of us can ill afford, it doesn't mean we can't take ideas from the country mansions and adapt these concepts into our own smaller dwellings. There are many tiny palaces out there which are simply ordinary homes turned into magnificent abodes, and have become the envy of all the neighbors and passers by.