I love the layout of my home. It's only a one-bedroom but it doesn't feel like it. There's a little bonus room off the kitchen that gets tons of light that gets used as a guest room and I love having a second livingroom or hangout space. It makes the house feel larger than it is.

I love the light it gets all throughout, I LOVE the concrete walls. I can't believe I didn't at first and almost had it drywalled. What was I thinking. I love that it has everything I need. Just enough room, just enough quirk, just enough comfort.

I share it with my wife.

I love my front porch. It has great architecture, is close to passing neighbors while giving us a little privacy and always has a cool breeze. That said, it needs to be rebuilt but I will have it rebuilt identical to its current design.

this is a good exercise for me (I spend a ton of time complaining about my 60 year old "lemon"). I love that the den, where we spend most of our waking time, has wonderful natural light. I also love the location - 10 minutes from work, but far enough away that we can have a big yard on a quiet and relatively safe street.

far enough away *from downtown*

Good views, good neighbors, good feng shui.

Although my home is far from work and friends and nightlife, it's a conscious choice to be disconnected, and that is my home's #1 charm. Dead end street, covered porch, surrounded by trees - and fireflies this time of year - and quiet. Hardwood floors, pitched ceilings, some passive solar design features, and my Jenn Aire stove round out the list of "Grateful for..."

It's peaceful (we are on five acres)
The laundry room (utilitarian with a simple vintage/retro feel)
Big windows in the living room
Kitchen (remodeled to my exact specification - reminiscent of my Grandmother's big kitchen)
Large eating area in kitchen
Hall bath is gorgeous
Hardwood floors

Our house was built in the 70's but the interior has a kind of 40's feel to me. Simple, clean lines, solid construction. Nothing too fancy or "on trend" (a phrase I hate). All the rooms have a purposeful feel to them.

I love that my loft is in an old warehouse, so I have the worn hardwood floors, 13ft. ceilings and I also get loads of natural light from a bank of original casement windows with a southeastern exposure that has a killer view of Manhattan--from the Williamsburg Bridge to the 59th Street Bridge..and there's not one, but two 5'x3' skylights in the bedrooms.

This is good for me since I'm always frustrated with my ongoing renovation and gypsum dust i end up tracking everywhere.

It's in a beautiful, well-maintained buildling with period details (twenties) in the best part of Brookklyn. Lots of nice communal features too - elevator, trash chute, basement laundry, and ROOFDECK!

I have a nicely laid out large one bedroom apartment (700+sf) and that's HUGE by NYC standards.

i have 2 HUGE WICs and plenty of storage space in kitchen.

It has 9.5 ft ceilings.

Beautiful moulding detail (crown, rail) and good bones.

All the natural light, plenty of closet space, generously sized rooms, laundry room. Mostly when I get annoyed with what my home does not have, I remind myself how I grew up and how I wish that my parents were this fortunate to have what I have. That gives me an instant reality check.

This is a good exercise for me too. I live in a condo, and am often wishing it were a house, but alas, I bought at the top of the market so am not going anywhere anytime soon.

Here are the things I love about my home:
-the location. Our building is on a quiet cul de sac, right across from an amazing nature center where we have a community garden plot, can go visit the cows and chickens, or go for a walk through the woods. And yet, we're also right by the library, Target, and just a few minutes driving distance from downtown. And I have a short commute to work. No matter what I'm in the mood to do, it's close by.
-my kitchen. It's huge, bright, colorful, and just makes me happy.
-our wood burning fireplace on cold MN winter nights.
-the jacuzzi tub in the bathroom.
-everything being all on one level. Great for having small children!
-As much as I bemoan my lack of a yard, not having to mow the lawn or shovel snow is pretty nice.

bruce gets a gold star

It (I hope) has electricity. Yes, I am a survivor of the DC Derecho of 2012.

--windows on all four sides and we're on the second floor so we get a cross breeze in the summer; we never use the a.c.

I am grateful that I live in a house that was designed by an architect. It's subtle, elegant, and flows indoors and out. The large windows let in light everywhere, yet not one needs a curtain for privacy. The house was designed to capture the movement of natural light across the rooms through the hours and seasons, so it has its own moods.

I love this list. I'm with SLOURDES where I'm in a condo, and most of what is on my wish/complain list will be sorted out once I move to a home (like no yard and no charm), but for now our place is exactly what we need.
Great location- walking distance to everything and the commuter train
Huge bathroom with two sinks
Gas stove in the kitchen
Ultimately, plenty of indoor space outside of having a guest room
Though it's small, our patio is a slice of heaven
Big bedroom with walk-in closet
Enjoying not having outdoor maintenance to take care of myself for now...
And most importantly, it's ours. :)

I love it that I have a space for a big couch where my husband, my dog and I snuggle after dinner to watch Law and Order.

I bitch about my house a lot too. That being said...
A) I love my home's history. It was built in the 1890's as housing for the cotton mill. I can see the mill (now lofts) and it's huge smoke stacks rise up from my back yard.
B) The neighborhood it's in - Cabbagetown in Atlanta
C) The 2 large skylights in my kitchen. I have no windows and this makes my kitchen really warm and bright.
D) My double sided fireplace (even if it isn't usable)
E) The orginal wood floors in my bedroom
F) That I own it and can do anything I want with it (this is what I bitch about too; that I own it and have to pay for all the things that go wrong out of my own pocket).

@BruceS63
best answer of all time!

My small, 620 sq.ft. condominium is the first place I've bought as a newly independent woman. So, even though it's within walking distance of the subway and numerous eateries, bookstores, theatres and other great venues, including Griffith Park, what I love most about it, is that IT'S MINE!

This is a good exercise on a day like today, when the forecast says 99 degrees, my window unit AC is struggling, and I am jealous of my friends in their comfortable town homes and condos with central air.

I love: the unique L-shaped layout that makes it seem larger than a studio, the ten foot ceilings, the 120-year-old character, and the location.

Great post. I bought a foreclosure and am getting frustrated at all the work that my place requires and with the lack of central air in this scorching heat.

1.) original woodwork throughout first floor.
2.) huge third floor for my husband's office (gets him from spreading paperwork all over the living room)
3.) great city neighbor but still relatively quiet street.
4.) history of the place (dates from 1912)
5.) gorgeous wood floors throughout (even though they all need to be sandblasted and polished).
6.) huge formal dining room that doubles as a great space for houseplants.

The building is nothing special. The neighbors are unbelievably amazing. I live on the second floor with a balcony, twelve blocks from the beach in Santa Monica, large rent-controlled 2bd/2ba for the price of a single in any decent neighborhood. Great cross-breezes. Peaceful, quiet street far enough and close enough to Wilshire for great bus service and Montana for amazing shopping. Fireplace that I haven't figured out yet how to arrange my furniture to take advantage of, but that's one reason I keep reading Apartment Therapy.
I am a lucky woman.

as for my own gratitude list:
One of the few apartment complexes which allow dogs of any size, so I can live with my boston AND my husky
Large living area/bedrooms
Management is pretty much okay letting us do whatever we want inside short of tearing down walls.
Maintenance issues are taken care of quickly
There are lots of parks nearby for the furbabies and humanbabies to enjoy
Im also close to the beach, gotta love that

It's private, it's safe, it's affordable, and it's on a lake.

@Bruces63, that's very sweet.

Many are the days I loathe my quirky house, but it's awfully nice to come home to most of the time. It's dead quiet, surrounded by forest and wildlife, there are wagging dogs to greet me, and...it's mine.

I'm trying to do this myself these days. I'm stuck in my apartment for now, and although it's not the best place in the world, it's also not the worst. The layout is nice, the kitchen is pretty big for a rental, the backyard is great in the summers, and my balcony gets great evening sun. I'm super close to work and downtown, yet far enough that my neighborhood has a good village vibe.

The biggest downers are the rent creeping up, and my floors are freezing cold in the winter, which means sky-rocketing electricity bills.

I have a small older home on a small lot. I love that I have a washer and dryer --that is a big deal. I can't think of anything to complain about. Taxes are high, but they are higher in all of the other places that I imagine I'd like to live, and like death, you can't escape them anyway, so ...
I have more closet space than I need thanks to de-cluttering and many "buy nothing" months every year. Nobody I know is envious of my house, since most of my friends have bigger homes and dream of bigger better more more more.

@BruceS63, BIG brownie points for you for that comment! ;^)

We built our house, within some builder's restrictions, so anything we have to complain about is probably our own fault, more or less. It's NOT our "dream house" (we know how to Dream BIG!) but it's pretty good -- we worked hard to get it that way!

Things I love:

Central AC! (Especially THIS summer!)

2- car garage with a door to the kitchen, for unloading groceries. (Our last house had a 1-car carport, and you had to go outside to get inside, if you see what I mean... )

Tiny but functional laundry room on the bedroom floor. (No hauling!)

Walk in closet! Sigh!

My own personal bathroom with sink, shower and toilet, not shared with anyone! (The tub is between two bathrooms, and shared with my domestic partner.)

Nice, right-sized kitchen. I love my maple cabinets and verde butterfly granite counters!

Central vac. (Actually, I have mixed feelings about this. I don't have to haul a heavy vac up and down stairs, but the HOSE is heavy and bulky, so maybe it's a wash.) (Except for the vacuum cleaner bags part!)

Small enough to be pretty easy to clean, big enough to offer amenities.

My in-progress landscaping. (A hobby of mine.) I'm really happy with how it's coming along with bargain plants form garden club sales, etc.

My partner's home theater! (OK, major indulgence and actually the reason we built a house at all... he has the income to permit it. It's pretty slick, I have to admit!)

I just moved in with my boyfriend (into his suburban tract home, which is SO not my thing) about 6 weeks ago after doing the long distance thing for awhile. So the number 1 thing I like about our home is that we are finally together in one place :) I also like the layout of the house and it's the biggest (at 1800 sq ft) place I've ever lived in, including my childhood homes. I don't really know what to even do with this much space! The kitchen is open and spacious and has a layout that allows me to watch the living room TV while I get dinner ready. I like the large pantry and the big master bathroom with a raised vanity and walk-in closet. I also like our west-facing panoramic view of the Rocky Mountains that we get from the back of the house. I'm sure eventually the rest of the homes in the half finished subdivision will get built when the economy improves, but I secretly hope they don't so we can keep our view :) Oh and I like that my boyfriend has zero decorating taste whatsoever so I can do whatever I want to the house without having to get too much input!

Lovely post, lovely comments, all!

My gratitude list as a renter in Oakland:
I have a garage AND a driveway
I live 5 blocks from a small urban lake
I live 3 blocks from a huge, lovely Whole Foods
I have lots of windows and lots of light
I have lots of space, storage space, including FIVE closets
I have a small garden out back on the communal patio
I have (mostly!) nice, friendly neighbors
I live on a relatively quiet corner in a friendly, peaceful neighborhood
I have lots of birds, squirrels, and raccoons around AND
I can walk & take public transport to work

Thanks, this is a great and healthy exercise for a Monday!

My house has tons of charm and character, with many of the original 1895 details preserved.
My house has two claw foot tubs!
My house is in a neighborhood that's very close to coffeehouses, grocery stores, restaurants and clubs, but it is also on a very quiet street.
My house has a washer and dryer - the first time I've had private machines in almost a decade!
My house has a nice-sized back yard with fig and satsuma trees.
My house has a beautiful kitchen, just the right size.
My house is purple!

What a great topic.

Bruce, you win the thread. Lovely post.

What I love about my place is the history (built in 1867), odd architecture (weirdly shaped rooms and ceilings) and that it's mine.

Good bones - bright, spacious, with french doors in all rooms.
Ocean view
Close to beach and town

Not so keen on the mess!

Our current rent is a small three-bedder house with garage and backyard which is soon to be renovated. The uneven kitchen floor, 1950s kitchen, aging gas oven and three broken roof tiles (home to serious bird chirping) are all getting on my nerves lately. What gets me through it is my family at home together, the big pine tree in the front yard, the original hills hoist and my coffee machine. Simple pleasures.

I do love the 1950s kitchen it's spacious but there is not much counter space and the counter depth is short. The stick-on tiles are a horrible blue-on-grey design which MUST be scrubbed before mopping. Yesterday I did this and my back is not happy.

My own bathroom. Sigh.

My back porch, where my late partner and I often sat in the deep dark and quietly talked the night away of a summer's eve.

Our smart, skillful, warm super, who loves the building and takes pride in his excellent work. Tons of pre-World War One details. Our octagonal oak-paneled dining room with plaster gargoyles in the ceiling. My little home office/ guest room that's out of earshot from the main living areas--makes having house guests a pleasure instead of a burden. Huge windows. Nice neighbors. Three fantastic parks just a few blocks away.

I may be leaving soon, as my partner and I are separating after seven years together, but I remain grateful for my time in our current apartment due to its generously subsidized rent, elevators, amazing views across Manhattan and the Hudson, the light these views provide, friendly neighbors who wish strangers good morning and good night, and wonderful staff. It's meant so much to live with dignity despite my circumstances.

As a renter, I sometimes feel a little irritated that I can't do more to change our house up, but on the other hand, it's so great to be able to just relax and enjoy our place as it is! That is a really good thing for my personality! :)
Sometimes I still can't believe I get to live in my home-- it's a row house built in 1890 in a small town in England. I love the fireplaces, wide-plank wood floors, and so much of the character that has not been erased on the inside (many homes we checked out had been "updated" to remove the architectural interest-- criminal!) My favorite thing of all is our conservatory-- even when the weather is gray and rainy, I can sit there and look out at our green back yard.
Here's a link to a post showing you our Victorian living room: http://and-here-we-are.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/living-room-and-tale-of-overcoming.html

It's so good to talk about the wonderful things about our living spaces, taking a break from always focusing on what needs to be changed!

Having a backyard. Period.

I have a small, one-story, 1950's era tract home, just two bedrooms and one bath. There is nothing special about the house, no charming or quirky architectural details. It still needs a lot of work. But I do love these attributes:
1. Has original, beautiful red oak flooring in most of the rooms
2. Is surrounded by huge cedar and ornamental fruit trees, when the wind blows the sound of the leaves rustling is so calming
3. Has a large fireplace
4. Double skylights in the living room
5. Park-like backyard - the house is on a double lot, someone in the house's history built expansive patio space, space for a pond, and planted wisteria, lavender, forsythia, and rhododendrons
6. Large raised space for a vegetable garden
7. Large laundry room/pantry
8. I removed the electric stove that came with the house and converted to gas
9. Dimmers for the ceiling lights in every room
10. It is not a rental, it's affordable and it's mine.

I find it interesting that this post garnered much fewer commentaries than the one called I Can't Stand That where people listed all of their complaints. I prefer this post. I'm actually grateful to own a home or at least paying a mortgage towards that. My home sounds similar to risaaddie's--just a simple tract home, 1950's era that we've been working on to make it our own. I'm guess I'm just feeling grateful and content today, especially since my husband got the cooler working as the heat has been wicked.

Just some of the many things I love about my home:

I'm with @DINY - the #1 thing is it's mine.

It's close to the ocean, and next door to commercial flower fields. It's rarely hot, and the fog can be beautiful.

It's got a great floor plan for my purposes, and lots of light. And it's a perfect size for me. Part of that is having a room that's dedicated to being my home office.

The fountain in the back yard attracts birds like crazy.

My brand new Toto toilet is a low-flow that actually works.

The neighborhood: My neighbors are great; among many other things, they take care of my cat when I'm gone. I've got a vibrant Freecycle community. There's an organic farmers market on Saturdays, and a wonderful supermarket 3 minutes from home. There are five independent bookstores in town.

I love that my house is one story. It has beautiful wood floors and tongue and groove ceilings. I have a corner lot in an urban residential neighborhood with a sweet, semi-private backyard and a huge stone patio. Tons of wall space, cantilevered windows and a great floorplan.

I gave up a lot of things on my wishlist when I bought this house
- fireplace, garage, jetted tub, etc., but I am very happy here and love to be at home.

The things I love about my apartment:
1. It's mine.
2. It's roomy.
3. The built-in nice quality oven.
4. My back room that I watch TV in.
5. The cleanliness of the building.
6. It's mine.
7. I have a place to call home.
8. It's in a funky (in a 70s hippy sort of way) neighborhood.
9. It's mine.
10. The way I decorated it.
11. The affordability of the rent.
12. It's mine.
13. It's an older, solid building.

I love that my house has a big enough yard for my parents to do whatever they wish with it. We used to live in an apartment complex with minimum yard space, so they could only grow things in planter, but now can they grow anything everywhere all over the yard.

I love how much natural light my room get! I just love love it! On lazy morning, I can just lay on my bed and marvel at the bright sun coming through lighting up my room. Ahh the simple things.

I really just started loving my house. I used to think that it was small and cramped. #1, after having to live in our previous house for 4 years that my husband purchased from his mother(and she shared with us for a short while) and it never quite felt like my "home", I'll like to say I love the fact that this new place is MINES!! There are no reminders that she lived here--because she's never lived in my new house! hahaha. Now it's smallness has now become "cozy". Now only my husband and I have a key to the front door. Now I don't have to whisper conversation with anyone in the house because, guess what??---Only we live here! Lol!! I'm sooooo happy to have a "home" to call my own!!

I'll keep it simple - I have a roof over my head, and it's mine. I am blessed.

*Happy family, lovable pets, plants in every window.
*Location! Close enough to the cultural stuff, close to shopping areas, outside the downtown just enough for awesome mountain views! Nice neighbors.
*Huge yard- plenty of space for the dogs, garden areas, sitting areas & a front porch, hanging laundry, bird baths/feeders, awesome mountain views!
*Just the right amount of rooms, garage, laundry room, each just the right size. Every window/door has awesome mountain views!
*Easy to keep clean, organized. Each space is dedicated to a specific purpose- helps keep down the "multi task room" clutter problem. Love my art/craft room!!!
*HUGE kitchen walk-in pantry with floor to ceiling shelves on 3 walls! Wow!
*Most awesome landlady- ever!
*I LOVE my house, awesome mountain views &, most of all, my beautiful family of hubby & animal friends!

I love my home because of it's warmth, charm and character. It's the perfect size not too big nor small. I love the location, 9 miles from downtown San Francisco yet located in the middle of 200 acres of redwood forest and waterfalls at the base of Mt. Tamalpais. We have no close neighbours and our driveway is actually the beginning of the Piedmont trail yet we meet everyone; hikers, folks walking their dogs, etc. Though our home is almost 100 years old it was wonderfully renovated 4 years ago by the previous owners top to bottom. We didn't have to live through it but we are enjoying their hard work! I could go on and on.

We've only been in our current apartment for less than a month, but we're so grateful to be here! We had to leave our 1940s rental house because of a serious mold issue (plus no insulation and COLD nights). We found this place after a fruitless search for another house. Our new apartment is bigger (with an extra 100 square feet), less expensive ($100 cheaper a month plus drastically smaller heating bills), is has concrete walls, which makes is super quiet, it's got a nice, open floor plan, a garage, and a large, private patio. It's also warm, secure (we have our own security gate), and the landlord freshened everything up with new paint, cabinets, and flooring. We're so lucky!

A garage, safe area, close to town/bus into city, central air/heat, Fios hook up, lots of windows, laundry rm on site, cats allowed, a lot of storage room, landlords let up do whatever we want to the apt ( paint walls bright yellow, paint doors white)