Floor plan 2 full floors KFW 55, 136 sqm flat roof

And one more note: an access road is not a driveway. Meaning: your sidewalk, wai, will be lowered to 4 meters wide. After that, your paving or the courtyard/front garden covering or design can be dimensioned differently. If there is any uncertainty, ask again. But why should you restrict yourself with the paving or parking area if you could also expand a bit.

Thank you for reading that carefully. I didn’t know that and it is a very helpful hint!

Yes, it just hurts to spend at least €2500 per sqm on storage space. I think somehow it has to be done differently, with ceiling-high custom cabinets for example, or something like that (I know, currently not many would find a place for them)... Well, probably doesn't help. You all speak from experience.

That's not the case. You gain nice living space (it's all just a matter of perspective). Custom cabinets are expensive because they are made to measure, not necessarily because they offer more space. Beforehand, be truly radically honest with yourself and your lifestyle, after that everything is possible. I don't have it on hand right now... but maybe a gable roof would be a solution or feasible with the storage space created by it...? I would always plan from the inside out; a beautiful house can (almost) be any roof shape for me.

Custom cabinets would be a solution. Just recently, someone in the forum presented an Ikea puzzle. Successful. You have to plan for the space.

Optimal storage brings quality of life. Is it really so nice to fill the expensive large hallway with a [Wäschespinne]?

Really think about what you want and need, room by room. Draw furniture to scale.

I like the connection from inside to outside from the large living room. I also like the courage to have an impractical staircase as a room divider in the living room. If you really like it exactly like that, you’ll somehow manage the rest as well. I also think the dining area solution with an integrated bench in the seating window is good – it’s not standard, not so easily accessible, worse to lean on... so what? Nice, well-divided small bathroom upstairs.

Worth reconsidering:

[*]Storage concept – count what you want to store and factor in that children will increasingly require storage as they grow up over the years. Then you’ll see if it fits or not. What is “enough” is not objective. “More” is not always better because “more” always gets filled.
[*]Dressing room – The dressing room is a huge space eater without really being practical. If it has to be, I would place the entrance to the bedroom via the dressing room corridor next to the bathroom entrance. So you don’t have to take a winding path to the bedroom; if necessary, also relocate the door there.
[*]Upstairs hallway size – The hallway is quite nice, no question, but relative to the living area it eats up a lot of space. If you put the bedroom access through the dressing room, you can extend the back kids’ room around the hallway. Slightly shift the wall between the kids’ rooms and you give the kids a bit more space – the entrance to the back kids’ room is not mega-practical but helpful.
[*]Transporting bulky items – that gets very annoying. But it’s doable – you just have to know how often it happens. Possibly grant the house technology room an entrance door.
[*]House technology room – depending on the technology, maybe a bit tight.
[*]Carport – that will be tight. Do you have a “German” relationship to your car or a pragmatic one? Those things withstand weather; comfort comes with a parking heater/ventilation (which is standard anyway with the electric vehicles that will soon be driven). Less is more there; a shed for bikes and children’s vehicles would suffice.

The house fits your life if

[*]You like it lively. The traffic routes run through the living area. Retreat is only possible in the master bedroom or the garden.
[*]You are sociable and communicative
[*]You are willing to share the living space equally with the children
[*]You are outdoor people
[*]You prefer an individual flair over maximal practicality.
[*]You get along with few things, have no space-consuming hobbies, and are disciplined with purchases. (Storage)
[*]You discipline the environment by not constantly giving the children all sorts of things.
[*]You are able to organize laundry logistics in a very small space
[*]You do not consider cars very important
[*]You are not embarrassed by your children – at least not too embarrassed during puberty.
[*]You can live with it if it doesn’t always look perfectly tidy

Great tips especially about the door into the dressing room by the bathroom, thanks for that!

You often hit the nail on the head with your assessment of us! We like it lively, open, and communicative. By now, I only work from home on my laptop and settle myself in the garden, sometimes at the dining table, sometimes on the couch, sometimes in a room. My wife will probably also work from home two days a week after parental leave. I grew up in a 1920s five-room apartment with a long windowless hallway and rooms branching off of it. No thanks, not anymore...

We want something individual, bright, on a small footprint. I long flirted with a tiny house or houseboat when it was just the two of us.

That's not the case. You're gaining nice living space (it's all just a matter of perspective). Custom-made cupboards are expensive because they are made to measure, not necessarily because they provide more space. You have to be really radically honest with yourself and your lifestyle beforehand, after that everything is possible. I don't have it on hand right now... but maybe a gable roof would be a solution or feasible with the storage space created by it...? I would always plan from the inside out, it can be a beautiful house with (almost) any roof shape.

The gable roof was originally also our first choice. However, we have to green the roof, as stated in the development plan due to drainage in the area. I looked at green gable roofs. It looks like the rain washes away the substrate from the roof quite quickly, and visually we don't like it at all.

I took a look at green pitched roofs. It seems that the rain washes the substrate off the roof quite quickly.

A fairly flat shed roof or asymmetrical pitched roof, if permitted, could be suitable both price-wise and technically for greening and still provide storage space in the form of a "crawl storage."