Floor plan Bungalow 172 m2 in Brandenburg south of Berlin

One more remark, since you will have a [Pfettendach]. It is of course great for photovoltaics, you can cover both sides completely. If you plan to do this, consider whether you might skip the expensive clay roof tiles and choose a cheaper solution.

I see it the same way as it’s less about liking it and more about the property being messed up. Even if you plan an exit in the bedroom for the morning greeting, the area, mind you in the NE, is hardly usable. The room "home theater" also divides the property into two halves. The consequence is that the SW garden becomes rather tight. From the remaining upper part of the property you hardly have anything. Not even visual contact from the terrace, let alone from the interior, except for the home theater window. The home theater itself is not used as a stay area during the day but is rather intended for a function. The living room area, which will be furnished, runs out of terrace space... that should be checked once furnished with a common daily routine. The daily routine is not: you chill and have a good time… The bedroom as a thoroughfare is often argued in detail that this is not exactly conducive to the one still sleeping.

It's less about liking it and more about the property being ruined.

"Ruined" is a strong term. We definitely don't see it that way, and surely not all planning experts would see it that way either. I think it's good that you write your opinion bluntly, but your wording accuses us of "ruining" it or as if we were stupid here. The wording is also too objective and general for my taste. As if this plan were ruining the property by consensus of all experts. Whether a majority forms for this majority, I leave open.

Even if you plan an exit in the bedroom for the morning greeting, the area, mind you in the NE, is hardly usable.

We find the matter with the morning greeting really great. That means a lot to us. We want it like that. We have ideas for the area in the NE, a sauna will go there and, if necessary, a small tool shed, which we do not want to see at the top of the plan. I think you could find ideas too. I trust you can.

The "home cinema" room also divides the property into two halves.

Not quite correct. You give the home cinema too much importance. The house divides the property into two halves over a length of about 20 meters. Since we want a bungalow, quite a large part of the house separates part of the property.

The consequence is that the SW garden becomes rather tight.

We definitely do not find it too tight. 5.29 meters to the boundary is already very decent. We are probably the only ones in the building field to have such a luxury problem because we have such a long property frontage. Precisely because of this, we have the option to outsource the utility room and plan a double carport. I don't want to see cars on two sides. For us an absolute no-go. Others just plan their standard urban villa there with 4 to 5 meters on one side and 3 meters on the other side. You can also design the SW area very nicely. This is still standard. There are many options for visual separation from the neighbor. Also, the neighbors are building downwards. Left of the terrace there is no house. It's already meadow. Sure, we could build further to the right. But then the utility room has to go back inside the house. The storage room would be missing, and we would have no double carport anymore. Then the utility room becomes bulky again, and the home cinema gets a question mark. Then you think again about a 1.5-story house. No-go. Bungalow, home cinema, and the big bathroom are a must!

You hardly have anything from the rest of the property at the top of the plan.

You say that, but we will plant this area properly with trees, flowers, herbs, etc. It will be a flower and herb garden with raised beds. There will be no bare English lawn up there. There is still almost 10 meters of space upward. Should I not use that just because I can't see it?

Not even visual contact from the terrace, let alone from the interior, except for the home cinema window.

In the upper area of the living space there will be small seating areas to read a book or have evening conversations with friends or together by the fireplace. Below that stands a long dining table. We have a great view to the west. That is the best view. You see the building field. It's flat in Brandenburg. We have no mountains to see, basically only distant single-family houses and clouds. Also, a wind turbine far away sometimes ;) The neighbor's house even stands more in a southerly direction from the living area viewpoint, as he is two stories and builds directly on the building boundary. We see that from the guest bathroom window and from the kitchen.

To the NW and north, there are old three- to four-story ruins of block buildings that will be demolished soon. But a daycare center and three-story residential facilities for seniors will be built there. The view will not be the very best. The view toward the building field in the west will be nicer.

Who says, moreover, that the terrace above behind the home cinema won't be extended, and we won't create private outdoor seating there as well? An outdoor lounge is planned, as well as a typical dining table on the terrace you see drawn now. So that one can look past the home cinema. But basically, the view to the west matters more.

The home cinema itself is not really used as a living area during the day but is rather meant for a function.

The home cinema will be a central place in everyday life when we are not eating or cooking. We are film and music fans and like gaming. The room is separated from living only for audio reasons. We will use this room very often. More than you can imagine. It had to be in the north. We want to use the southwest. That is evening sun.

We want these spaces in the rooms, and we want the home cinema, and we want it on one level. No stairs anywhere. We no longer want a huge square block with a hipped roof. Rather this loose structure. Something protruding forward and the home cinema recessed at the back unlocks the long building. There will also be a double carport. The little wall of the home cinema is worth it to us for the home cinema.

The daily routine is not: you chill and enjoy yourself…

Oh yes. You don't? Not only, but that's how we see it ;) So far, we live very well in our free time. Designing the garden, tinkering here and there at the house on weekends, and cooking well also counts.

The bedroom as a thoroughfare is often argued in detail that this is not exactly conducive to the one still sleeping.

Feng Shui experts will bang their heads together. Living room = walkthrough room, bedroom = walkthrough room with 3 doors. But draw the furniture in kitchen and living/dining, so we know how you imagine it.

Yeah, you die of one thing or another. Good that Feng Shui doesn't interest us at all. More pseudoscience than science. Sorry, we're way too much natural scientists for that.

We find the layout of our sleeping area very successful. Nothing will change there. There is a guest bathroom where you can also shower and brush your teeth if the other is already long in dreamland. If you plan the private bathroom accessible from the hallway, you worry about too long distances and recommend making it accessible from the bedroom to save distances and hallway. If you plan like we do, you worry about Feng Shui and walk-through traffic. What is it now???

What walk-through traffic at all? We are too few and just the two of us. In our apartment, it certainly won't be like the highway at the start of the holidays. When we have visitors, these are usually no more than four people who leave after 6 hours.

The bathroom should also bring the private spa home. Hence the separation. The bathtub there is slightly oversized. The shower will be 1.13 * 2.26 m.

Viewing the living area and bedroom as walk-through rooms in a two-person household is very questionable for us. When sitting together, no one walks through. If one is reading a book and the other is gaming, the book reader will surely not loudly complain about the one who has to go to the toilet or is thirsty. If one is sick and sleeping in the bedroom or someone comes home late, you can, as said, use the guest bathroom.

The argument really doesn't hold.

"Ruined" is a strong word.

Yes, but that's how it is.

That argument really doesn't hold.

Which one?

Just as an example

We find the division of our sleeping area extremely well done. That will not change.

You said that about the first draft too… everything great and well thought out…. Sorry, but your reflection on criticism leaves much to be desired.
But:
Build it as planned and in 3 years you’ll know what is meant ;)

You feel attacked, I understand that. Still, you shouldn’t defend your floor plan to the death. Be open to new ideas once again. If you write that the southwest side is the highlight, then create space there for the garden. You have a beautiful large property, you can get more out of it than 5.29 m. You never know what the neighbor or a successor might come up with. They could put a shed right in front of your nose or a playground or pool where their children splash loudly. Or even a house someday.

I’m not really a Feng Shui type either, but you feel more secure and sleep better when you don’t have doors on three sides of the bedroom, especially not behind the headboard. A central spacious dressing room as a distribution area with a window/exit to the outside would be much more practical in my opinion. We’re also just two people, and still it’s nice when one has to get up earlier or goes to bed later and doesn’t have to run back and forth between bathroom and dressing room but lets the other sleep.

So here’s a new idea. I basically just played Tetris with your rooms. Treat the media room to a southwest window with a shutter, maybe you’ll want to use it differently sometime. In comparison, you can see how much southwest garden you gain. In the northeast garden, you can put up a hedge or a tall fence and build a sauna in the protected area between sauna and storage room. There’s also enough space for a shed.

You feel attacked, I understand that. Still, you shouldn’t defend your floor plan to the death. Be open to new ideas again.

It’s probably human nature :D

I am.

If you write that the southwest side is the highlight, then create space there for the garden. You have a nice big plot, you can get more out of it than 5.29 m.

But we love having exactly these niches on both sides. We don’t need these large areas. However, I fully understand the argument and totally get that others want it differently. We would rather plant the rear part with useful plants.
It doesn’t have to be so pronounced in the southwest. On the bedroom side, we also want to have a hidden outdoor shower and possibly other wellness gadgets and corresponding planting and design. I want to have space when stepping outside there as well.

Give the media room a southwest-facing window with a roller shutter, maybe you want to use it differently one day.

The TV will go there. Window behind the TV is not good. ;) The media room will be the room with the most use. Therefore the window faces northwest. With more view during the day when you’re lazing and gaming. When watching a movie, it will be darkened. The home theater must be arranged lengthwise. When entering, the TV and front speakers are on the left side and the couch is centered to the back third on the right side. A sound system will be installed throughout the room. Cable laying in ceilings and walls. The room will never have another use.

So here is a new idea. I basically only played Tetris with your rooms.

Thanks for that. It looks good, but we only have a building frame with 20 m depth x frontage length. The carport must also be 5 m away from the street boundary. So 1 m behind the building line. The house would be too long and the parking space wouldn’t be approved like that. We don’t want to see the car near the terrace. It should remain a double carport.

With the utility room (HAR) in the house, our rooms can’t be properly arranged. A utility room outside the house is not allowed to be built right on the boundary, though. Hence, the solution with the utility room, double carport, and the storage area next to it.

The architect also suggested placing the home theater in the southwest. But only one parking space would fit on one side and the utility room would again have had to be inside the house, and we’d lose the nice windows in the southwest. That’s why we rejected the architect’s idea.

I somehow don’t see any other solution.

I’m not a Feng Shui type either, but you simply feel more secure and sleep better if you don’t have doors on three sides of the bedroom, especially not behind the headboard. A central spacious walk-in closet serving as a hub with a window/exit to the outside would, in my opinion, be much more practical. We are only two, too, and it is still nice if one has to get up earlier or goes to bed later and doesn’t have to run back and forth between bathroom and closet but lets the other sleep.

I agree with you. Your solution looks very good and your reasoning is understandable and you present a solution. That’s why I find this exchange good. But to generally throw out "it’s less about liking and more about ruining the plot" or "Feng Shui experts will be tearing their hair out", which was not from you, I find inappropriate, somewhat condescending, and not helpful for a solution-oriented discussion.

People always say you can seek help and support in forums. But often I have the feeling that for some it’s about who can deliver the best quip or who writes the most linguistically sophisticated post as a form of self-presentation without really helping. Food for thought is good, but I also expect concrete solutions.

Of course, you look for help and support here when you don’t know what to do next, and of course you hope to save money by approaching things smarter and better prepared. That’s precisely the advantage of exchanging ideas in such a forum. In such a forum I rather expect something like:

Thread creator has problem X and asks a question --> Forum members XYZ read --> If I have no clue, I won’t comment; if I have a clue, I think about if and how I can help --> Forum member XYZ writes an answer with precise, unembellished problem identification and simple, understandable solutions.

In many comments, also in other forums and other topics, I mostly see elaborate prose for stating and describing the problem. Solution ideas are often missing or only very briefly mentioned, so you always have to ask again.