Floor plan assistance: 216 sqm single-family house with granny flat & double garage

I don't think the separation between living and cooking/eating is bad at all. When we have guests, everything happens around the kitchen island and dining table. Nowadays, when you have guests, you hardly sit on the sofa anymore. I don't even know the last time I did that anywhere, maybe at Christmas at grandma's in the "good room," but otherwise not. In that respect, I find the gallery to be by far the better solution than cramming everything together on the ground floor and ending up with no space after all.

That's true, although I also consider how we always sit in the kitchen at friends' houses.... Can anyone say from experience whether something like this is suitable for children? If the kids are wandering around down there while cooking or if it's too much running up and down. Possibly also dangerous because of the gallery railing?

I find it completely impractical. Our house originally had such a floor plan, it was one of the first things we changed. Even though that meant giving up a wood-burning stove in the living room. When you stumble up the stairs for the first time with an open bottle of red wine or beer, you understand why something like that is not common. Carrying wood and ashes up the stairs is also a pain. And yes, you constantly have to carry children's toys back up from the kitchen. For us, the laundry room then became the living room.

I suspect that as long as the children are small, the gallery will be more of an adult area. A separation is impractical. We had that in the apartment. No gallery, just 2 rooms. As soon as you leave one area, the children are out of sight. Children can learn stairs very quickly. The railing can be made so that they cannot climb over it without help. Eating and drinking should only be done downstairs. With the property and fixed conditions, you have no choice but to move TV and sofa upstairs. There is not enough space downstairs for everything, or it will be terribly cramped, especially for the size of the house.

That's true, especially when I consider how we always sit in the kitchen at friends' houses....

Can anyone from experience say whether something like that is suitable for children? If the kids are running around downstairs while cooking or if it's too much running up and down. Possibly also dangerous because of the gallery railing?

My aunt has it like that. When the children/we were younger, the place to be was 80% downstairs in the kitchen/dining area. Homework, board games, visitors – everything downstairs. Especially in summer with open terrace doors. The living room was really only used in the evening for watching TV. You have to like that, but then it can be nice.

"Our house has more rooms than we need - let's just destroy half a floor through an airspace." says no-one ever. :D A 60 sqm eat-in kitchen with 4,x m ceiling height, a sofa level and then a sleeping attic with sloping ceilings? That is really messed up.

The real question here is whether there are alternatives on this property and what they would look like. It must also be clearly stated that the floor plan is very open. The chill-out area is not a retreat where you can hide. Nevertheless, in my opinion, the gallery can create a really great feeling of living. The stairs to it could also be made wider to make them more inviting. Maybe one also considers placing the kitchen on the right-hand wall of the plan.