Create submission plan for a 140m² single-family house - feedback, tips?

The living area on the ground floor contains a lot of "empty space." This is not cost-efficient, but it is beneficial for the living experience, so it's good. Therefore, I assume that this is not the cost factor why you keep all other rooms so small and partly cramped. On the upper floor, I find it still somewhat acceptable, except for the bedroom (which you apparently want to keep that tight, even though I cannot understand that), and the anteroom on the upper floor is even quite "generous," whereas on the ground floor, all the other rooms are far too cramped, especially regarding the future use of these rooms.

The entrance hall on the ground floor will feel like a long, narrow corridor. Especially since the corner next to the door to the office will surely not remain empty but will be filled with a wardrobe or similar. This means that even this "wider" part of the entrance hall will feel cramped. On the one hand, this does not look very inviting; on the other hand, it is impractical when all four of you come home at the same time. Everyone will be stumbling over each other's feet. In my opinion, the entrance area of a house is often underestimated in its importance.

The office will initially be used as a wardrobe. That's okay, although not a beautiful solution in my opinion. But since you apparently have thought about the use in case of illness/injury/old age, this planning is not only not optimal but simply unusable. I wouldn’t even consider the worst case that both are old and bedridden, because then you wouldn’t be able or want to live in the house anymore anyway. But it’s enough if one of you is affected and the other takes on the caregiving role. That’s the usual case. Then you need help getting up/walking/washing, possibly a wheelchair or walking aid. That is all far too tight. It will not work.

I don’t even want to talk about the bathroom on the ground floor here. It is already not pleasant and inviting to use for young, healthy people (if it even works with the shower under the stairs), but in the case mentioned above, when one needs to be cared for/wash or only help is needed, it will not work. Please keep this in mind. Even if the shower and toilet are swapped, the space will not increase, and care/assistance by a second person will be almost impossible. And then there is still the question of whether you really want a bathroom without daylight in a house? Of course, you can do it that way, no question. With controlled residential ventilation, it is not a big problem ventilation-wise. But is a windowless and daylightless (and far too small) bathroom really the goal in a house you plan yourself, put (presumably) all your money into, and hopefully live in until old age?

The kitchen would be too small for us, but that is a very individual matter. I just wonder where you want to put, for example, a freezer unit. Now you are two, so a fridge/freezer combo is easily enough. With children, it all gets tight. However, the pantry in the corner makes no objective sense. I also like a pantry directly adjacent to the kitchen, but in this concrete case, you have more storage space if you simply furnish the corner with kitchen furniture. This is a bit more expensive but will give you more enjoyment in the long run.

What I don’t like is the staircase on the garden side. You lose a lot of garden frontage, which would be better utilized with the living area, dining area, or kitchen. Exception: you have a nice view on the street side (sloping site?).

I cannot quite understand the argument that you should get something of life on the street from the kitchen. What kind of area is this? A lively residential area? Do you have many young families on the street? Will your children play there with other children on the street, or rather in the garden? Regardless of the cardinal directions, as I said, I would rather put the stairwell (and all ancillary rooms) on the street side and the entire living area on the garden side—the life will take place more there unless the street is a traffic-calmed residential street in a housing development with many children.

In this respect, I can also understand the double-wing terrace door (?) by the sofa. Why do you want to go outside to the street side from the dining area? Apart from the fact that the door will be blocked by the furniture in the dining area according to the plan. In my opinion, a window at the same height as the windows in the kitchen and office would make more sense here.

Generally, regarding the upper floor: Have you thought about roof windows, especially for the closet room (no natural light at all) and the children's rooms, which are somewhat deeper rooms? The windows you have planned here may be sufficient but certainly not optimal for the amount of light entering.

Regarding the closet room: I would like it better as a passage room.

Furthermore, I would consider placing the doors so that you can still put cabinets behind them, i.e., leave a rough building dimension of at least 70, preferably 75-80 cm. The same applies to window openings in the rooms, so you can place cabinets against the room-high wall and still open the windows. You will need the cabinets for storage.

I do not find the outbuilding too big considering the lack of a basement, as has been criticized elsewhere, but please consider that many things are not necessarily stored in an outbuilding. The same applies to the attic. Of course, it's possible, but it is impractical and annoying to climb the hatch, even if only a few times a year. Unfortunately, I know what I am talking about. And if you get older, it will certainly be even more annoying and impractical.

Finally, some general thoughts:

Regarding living in old age, the planning is unfortunately unusable. Either you make a proper bedroom with closet space and bathroom on the ground floor from the start, or you forgo that and can use the space on the ground floor more generously and plan the stairs so that the installation of a stair lift is possibly feasible.

Overall, apart from the living room, everything feels very cramped. Not so cramped that it does not work (except for the old-age planning on the ground floor), but it will not look nice. Normally, you only build once. This is usually the biggest investment you make in your lifetime. The best example is the narrow entrance corridor on the ground floor: you are right, it works. But it will not be nice. If you already spend so much money, it should also be nice.

I have the feeling that you simply do not yet have a good sense of how certain dimensions feel in reality. Arm yourself with a tape measure and look at many model home developments! Measure rooms, passage clearances, and furniture! This will help you, and then, if financially and according to building regulations possible, you will certainly enlarge the house by a meter on each side. This will cause additional costs but they are relatively small, and you will be glad afterward that you did so.

If you are not under time pressure yet, really reconsider all the criticism you have received and think about drawing a new plan from scratch, taking into account the conditions of your plot and all the suggestions you have received. Almost everything has reasoning and sense.

A self-planned house is a very personal, almost intimate matter, and you tend to reject criticism when it does not fit at all with what you imagine.

And as for the planner. A good planner will certainly also tell you a lot that you do not want to hear, and I suspect that many of the points mentioned here will also be raised. However, you must not forget that on the one hand, not all planners are good. On the other hand, I could imagine that especially if the planner is also the executing builder, there is commercial interest, and then he will probably not bother to completely dismantle your entire planning to unrecognizability because he knows exactly that he would jeopardize a potential business. Because, apart from the price question, it is also a matter of sympathy. People prefer to go to the one who flatters them rather than to the one who destroys the whole plan.

Good luck!

The kitchen would be too small for us, but that is a very individual matter. I just wonder where, for example, you want to put a freezer. Now you are two, so a fridge/freezer combination is easily enough. With children, it all gets tight. However, the pantry in the corner objectively makes no sense. I also like a pantry directly adjacent to the kitchen, but in this specific case, you have more storage space if you simply furnish the corner with kitchen cabinets. That is a bit more expensive but will give you more long-term pleasure.

As far as I "read" the drawing, the pantry here forms the transition between the continuous row of furniture and the free-standing tall refrigerator.

What I don't like is the staircase on the garden side. That way, you lose a lot of garden frontage, which would be better used with living area, dining area, or kitchen. Exception: you have a nice view towards the street side (hillside location?).

Some aspects of the room layout probably result, if I remember correctly, from the desire for a moderate amount of sunshine on the terrace (which, however, could certainly also be achieved by shading).

However, you must not forget that, on the one hand, not all planners are good. And on the other hand, I could imagine that especially when the planner is also the executing builder, commercial interests exist, and then he will probably not do you the favor of completely tearing apart your entire plan to the point of unrecognizability, because he knows exactly that he would endanger a potential job with that.

Such cases can be found (also here) "in abundance." Only a few weeks ago we had such a planner here who really only paid attention to window symmetry. The design was impeccably compliant and easily approvable, but you couldn’t open a wardrobe door in the dressing room and such “petty details.”

A very good introductory post, !

: Thank you very, very much for your great post and the time you invested. I find it very helpful. I will get back to you tomorrow, unfortunately I am a bit stressed at the moment and I don't think a brief reply is appropriate.

Thank you This is the more detailed version of my #8

Good morning.
So once again, many thanks for your detailed post.
I will just try to address all the points mentioned.
Unfortunately, I also formulated some things rather clumsily.

The living area on the ground floor contains a lot of "empty space". This is not cost-efficient, but beneficial for the living feel, so good. Therefore, I assume that it is not the cost factor why you are keeping all other rooms so small and partly cramped. Upstairs, I find it, apart from the bedroom (which you apparently want so tight, even though I don’t understand it), still somewhat acceptable; the anteroom upstairs is even quite "generous", whereas on the ground floor all other rooms are much too narrow. Especially with regard to the future use of these rooms.

My approach to the size of the house was that I tried to plan it as small as (in my opinion) reasonably possible, and then to get bigger/wider at the "critical" points.
I simply think that it is easier to enlarge here and there than to have to think about which room to give up a few centimeters.

For my specific case, I am limited to 18.16m in width; in depth, I could still go up to 5 m.

The entrance hall on the ground floor will feel like a long, narrow corridor. Especially because the corner next to the door leading to the office will certainly not remain empty but will be filled with a coat rack or something similar. That means this "wider" part of the entrance hall will also feel cramped. This looks visually not very inviting on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is impractical if four of you come home at the same time. Everyone trips over each other's feet. In my opinion, the entrance area of a house is often underestimated in its importance.

As a first step, I have enlarged the width by the still available 15cm and will probably also take another 10cm from the garage.
In depth, the first step was a growth of 30cm, but there will likely be some more. I invested these 30cm completely into the hallway; thanks for your tips on that. Maybe I am underestimating the effect of the narrow hallway, because in the 3D model it looks good, and also, for example, in my residential complex (large residential tower), a approx. 20m long 150cm wide hallway leads to the apartment, which has not really bothered me negatively so far. [/QUOTE]

I don't even want to talk about the bathroom on the ground floor. It is already not nice and inviting to use for young, healthy people (if the shower under the stairs even works at all), but in the case mentioned above, if one person needs care/washing from another or even just assistance, it will not work. Please consider this carefully. Even if the shower and toilet are swapped, that won’t create more space, and assistance/care by a second person will be virtually impossible. And then there is the question whether you really want a bathroom without natural light in a house? Of course, one can do that, no question. With controlled residential ventilation, it’s not a big ventilation problem. But is a windowless and daylight-less (and far too small) bathroom really the goal in a house that you design yourself, invest (presumably) your entire money in, and in which you hopefully live into old age?

I agree with you about the windowless bathroom, it would really only be an emergency solution and something that should not be planned in a new build.
In general, I have received a lot of opposition here but have continued to inform myself and saw a staircase variant with a colleague of mine that allows this without problems (he has been living with it for one year now; photo to follow).

I also gratefully accept the note that the ground floor bathroom is somewhat too small regardless, and this is due to my planning tactic (starting from a small floor plan) and my "planning naivety".

The kitchen would be too small for us, but that's a very individual thing. I only wonder where you want to put a freezer, for example. Now you are two people, and a fridge-freezer combo is easily enough. With children, it will all be tight. The pantry in the corner makes objectively no sense, however. I also find a pantry directly adjacent to the kitchen great, but in this specific case, you have more storage if you simply furnish the corner with kitchen cabinets. It is a bit more expensive but will bring you more long-term pleasure.

We have looked at several kitchens in the circle of friends/family and are very satisfied with the kitchen size.
We wanted a U-shape again (which we have now) and a maximum of 150cm width between the rows. Our current kitchen is a bit smaller and without a pantry, i.e., a few larger appliances stand around, and it is still perfectly sufficient, although we both cook regularly and my wife bakes a lot (luckily she exercises enough).

What I don't like is the staircase on the garden side. With that, you lose a lot of garden frontage, which would be better used with the living area, dining area, or kitchen. Exception: you have a nice view towards the street side (hillside location?).

In this respect, I also understand the double-wing terrace door (?) by the sofa. Why do you want to go from the dining area out to the street side? Apart from the door being blocked by furniture in the dining area according to the plan. In my opinion, a window at the same height as the windows in the kitchen and office would make more sense here.

We will build near the end of a small quiet cul-de-sac, two houses on each side before and after us, so almost no traffic.
The immediate surroundings are quite flat, so no slope or similar.

We have been discussing the door in the dining area for a long time; I am the only one who likes it; it will almost certainly be replaced by a window...

Regarding the walk-in closet: I would prefer it as a walkthrough room.

Me too; it has already been changed.

Furthermore, I would consider positioning the doors so that you can place cabinets behind them, i.e., leave at least 70, better 75-80cm raw building dimension. The same applies to window openings in the rooms, so that you can place cabinets against the wall that extends to the ceiling and still be able to open the windows. You will need the cabinets for storage.

That is, of course, very helpful; I partially did not consider that.
That was also something I meant by a "good planner."
For example, optimizing windows, doors, interior walls.
You are, of course, right about the rest; the planner will always look at the business and will not necessarily contradict me (I keep that in mind).

I don't find the outbuilding too big, considering the lack of a basement as criticized elsewhere, but please consider that many things you do not necessarily want to store in an outbuilding. The same applies to the attic. Sure, it works, but it is impractical and annoying to climb up the hatch, even if only a few times a year. Unfortunately, I know what I'm talking about. And when you are older, it will certainly be even more annoying and impractical.

Again, right.
That was communicated badly; the attic is intended for things you use twice a year (winter jackets, Christmas decorations, possibly skis).

A self-planned house is a very personal, almost intimate matter, and one tends to block criticism when it doesn’t fit the idea one has.

That is unfortunately very true; I can only try to stay objective.

Good luck!

Many thanks

What do you want to say with the attached floor plan?

Just because a 200 cm door opening outwards fits under a staircase doesn’t mean you can shower there... A showerhead should have some distance to the ceiling above, otherwise the entire ceiling will always get splashed.

And, just measured roughly for comparison, the stair depth here is about 270 cm, in your plans about 220 cm.