Buy now or wait a little longer?

But with 5 rooms plus a study, you're automatically already looking at something big... You need 3 children's rooms of 14m² each, a bedroom of 16m², a bathroom for 5 people and usually that is upstairs. Plus hallway, plus "staircase". Upstairs alone you are already at 80, 85m². And if you have 80m² upstairs, it will be difficult to have less downstairs. So you end up at 160, 170m².

Well, study on the ground floor. I would recommend that anyway, short ways to the coffee machine, to the door when the doorbell rings, Bluetooth reception while you do that.

Actually, it can also be smaller. Do the children's rooms really need to be 14sqm? Ours are 11 and 12 sqm. That certainly requires creative furniture solutions, especially in the early years with toys (Pinterest helps), but it is very doable. Then you could try to place the parents' bedroom in the attic. If that doesn't work, then it goes in the basement. Compromises could surely be found there. I'll take my parents' house with 120sqm as an example. With the basement, we could easily fit 3 children there. And then a niche for the desk goes into the bedroom or you get a separate room.

Actually, it can be smaller too. Do the children's rooms really have to be 14 sqm? Ours are 11 and 12 sqm. That certainly requires creative furniture solutions with the toys, especially in the early years (Pinterest helps), but it is totally doable. Then you could try to place the parents' bedroom in the attic. If that doesn't work, it can just go in the basement. Compromises could definitely be found there. I'll take my parents' house with 120 sqm as an example. There, with the basement, we could easily fit 3 children. And in the bedroom there would be a niche for the desk or a separate room could be made.

That is exactly my approach as well. I grew up with two siblings in a well-planned 125 sqm house. Our rooms were each 12,x sqm. That was more than enough. There was a small office, the parents' bedroom, and a spacious living room with an open kitchen. The bathrooms and the utility room were small but perfectly sufficient. If we were to build a house, we would base it on this floor plan. We parents have always taken the smallest room/worst layout so far and are doing very well with it. I would also move into the attic or somewhere else. It just has to be in the house ;) More space is of course always welcome, but I don't want to be financially "enslaved" by the house just because I built beyond my financial reality. But I guess everyone has different demands/needs.

12m² children's room, 10m² bathroom, 16m² bedroom, 10m² hallway and stairs. I still end up with 72m² on the upper floor and thus 144 for the house...

How small is the downstairs supposed to be? If I subtract 8m² for the office, 8 for the utility room, and 10 for the foyer, then 46m² remain for the kitchen and living room. A reasonable kitchen for 5 people is 16m², leaving 30m² for living area and dining table... I find that small. You have to trick everywhere so you don't completely clutter the space.

I would rather save on the furnishings than on the square meters. Furnishings can often be added later, even if not 100% perfectly. The house, however, can no longer be made bigger later...

That is exactly my approach as well. I grew up with two siblings in a well-planned 125sqm house.

But in the opening thread, it reads 35sqm larger:

We imagine a house with 6 rooms (a study room is unfortunately needed) and around 160sqm.

What would, for example, speak against a Danwood Park 168W? That costs turnkey about €330,000. We add another €120,000 in additional costs and then there are no more space problems, right?

That reads 35sqm larger in the original thread:

Presentation and feasibility are sometimes two different things. :)