- Bouncing hammock for the baby. The baby would flap his legs when he was a bit upset, and then the flapping would wake him up. But with the bouncing hammock - a cloth hammock spread open with a piece of wood and suspended from a spring - he just causes the hammock to bounce up and down, which lulls him back to sleep again. After a while he learned to do it deliberately with a hip thrust, as a form of mechanical self-soothing. Even better, with a door clamp mount, you can bring it on trips abroad and as long as the place you're staying at has a door frame, he sleeps in the same bed he always has.

- Projector and 100 inch projector screen. Made watching TV an event and you really appreciate good cinematography on a big screen. With a Fire TV stick, we have a remote that can control the volume and turn the projector on and off, which is all you need, when the TV stick does the rest with apps.

- American-style fridge with integrated ice maker. Not typical in UK homes, but ice on demand is a great luxury during the summer.

- Air conditioner for the home office. Again, not typical in UK homes, but a lifesaver this summer in particular. Shared cost with my partner, who worked from home more often than I did.

- Dishwasher. Once we bought a house, we had enough space to buy one. We knew it would improve our lives, getting rid of the drudgery of washing up, but underestimated how much.

- Integrated filter for kitchen tap. Mains water has a noticeable taste - not deeply unpleasant, but noticeable - where I live. This filter means the cold tap lever that is normally fed directly from the mains in the kitchen goes in two different directions: forward for unfiltered mains, backward for filtered, which has a slower flow rate.

- Cat enclosure that our back door opens out onto. We have indoor pedigree cats, and being able to keep the door open again has been great, again in summer especially. And of course the two cats themselves. But the enclosure also has a waterproof tarpaulin that I added a bit of tenting to so that water runs off it, and now it adds privacy to our terraced house back garden, and keeps the direct sun off when you want to be outside.

- Alexa and Hue lighting. To a first approximation, the only thing Alexa is used for in our house is to turn the lights off, or turn them up or down. Customized voice commands to turn the lights down low to avoid waking up the baby too much when changing him in the middle of the night. Oh and a couple of wifi plugs for 50W LED lights that bounce off the ceiling, for indirect lighting in the office.

- BMW S1000R. The most capable motorcycle I've ever owned. Honourable mention to SH300, the best scooter I've ever ridden in London. Unfortunately I put mine out of commission due to being chased, twice (!), by thugs who wanted to steal it. The thugs are also aware of how good it is, alas.

- A house with a garage. If you're into bikes, then a garage is essential, if only to keep the weather off. It's a place to keep all my tools, and where I can work on my bikes away from the rain, and not have to pack everything up as the light fades. It's rare to have a house with a garage in London, those that do are often townhouses that have had the garage converted into an extra habitable room.