Floor Plan Critique: Single-Family House with 3 Children's Rooms

Hello everyone,
We are quite far along in our floor plan design, so now I dare to "throw it to the professionals as a feast."

I thank you in advance for your tips and suggestions!

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 843 sqm
Slope: no
Floor area ratio
Floor space index
Building window, building line and boundary
Edge development
Number of parking spaces: 6
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: gable roof
Style: modern
Orientation north/south
Maximum heights/limits: 18m
Further specifications: no earth probe, 3m boundary distance

Requirements of the builders
Style, roof shape, building type: gable roof, minimum 23 degrees
Basement, floors: yes, 2 floors
Number of people, age: 5 (> 35, > 35, 13, 9, 2)
Space requirement on ground floor, upper floor: guest bathroom, office, kitchen, living room, dining area, utility room
Office: family use or home office? Home office and guest room
Overnight guests per year:
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes
Number of dining seats: 1
Fireplace: yes
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: possibly later on canopy/garage
Garage, carport: yes
Utility garden, greenhouse: raised beds
Further wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or should not be

House design
Who did the planning: combination of DIY and architect
What do you particularly like? Why? large children's rooms, orientation to the garden
What don’t you like? Why? kitchen not very large, dining area borderline too tight, but both not dramatic; no airspace, staircase not ideal (straight or with landing would be better but difficult); facade facing north (street) is currently not very harmonious
Price estimate according to architect/planner: n/a
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: n/a
Preferred heating technology: trench collector, alternatively air-to-water heat pump (groundwater protection area)

If you have to do without, which details/extensions
- can you do without: garage could be a bit narrower
- can you not do without: children’s rooms

Why did the design turn out as it is now?
For example, standard design from the planner? Basic considerations regarding garden orientation, design of the children’s rooms, and experience with open living in our current apartment
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? Everything that was possible
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion? economical reduction of walking distances, large children’s rooms

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Are we overlooking an important detail in the planning?

Regarding the size, I miss a bit more building services/storage space.

Washing machine and dryer are marked on one spot, in the new building I would allow more space there. You can't turn around with a laundry basket in that room if all the meters and vacuum cleaners, etc. are stored there.

Since you are already 5 people, I would furnish the dining area to scale with furniture to see if you have enough space. Possibly plan with a larger table?

What length is your wardrobe now? The planned wall is not very wide.

Poor child, who has to tidy up 20 m2.

At this size, I miss a bit more building services/storage space.

We still have a basement for building services and storage space. I’ll attach the floor plan later, but it’s nothing special.

Washing machine and dryer are drawn in one parking space; in a new building, I would allow more space there. You can’t turn around in that room with a laundry basket if all the meters, vacuum cleaner, etc. are stored there.

The room will have shelves, cordless vacuum, freezer, and a washing machine/dryer tower. Do you think it’s too small to turn around with a laundry basket? Hmm, but I don’t know where else to get the space from. Otherwise, the office gets too small.

Since there are already 5 of you, I would fit the dining area exactly to scale with furniture to see if the space is enough for you. Maybe plan with a bigger table?

Today, we have the same area in the apartment, arranged exactly the same way. It’s not very generous but just about works. It couldn’t be narrower.

How long is your wardrobe now? The planned wall isn’t very wide.

It is currently 2.5 m long, 2x1 m plus 1x0.5 m.

Poor kid who has to tidy up 20 m2

Our oldest will get the room and he is very tidy and structured. I worry more about my daughter on the west side

Thanks for your comments!

Floor plan of the basement, but nothing special:

I like the floor plan, although the kitchen would offer too little space for me; a lot of kitchen stuff will probably end up in the basement. It also remains to be seen whether one would want to plan the office & guest area directly in the [Disponibel].

If it were my house, I would swap the kitchen with the living room to get more storage and work surface in the kitchen.

I like the floor plan, although I find the kitchen offers too little space; a lot of kitchen stuff will probably end up in the basement. The question is also whether one doesn’t want to plan the office & guest room directly in the Disponibel.

What do you mean by that? One large room for everything?

If it were my house, I would swap the kitchen with the living room to get more storage and workspace in the kitchen.

That is also my wife’s wish, but I see a problem with the current stair arrangement. The living room wall would then be quite short/narrow, which wouldn’t work together with the fireplace anymore. If we moved the kitchen back again, we’d have to make quite a few changes upstairs as well.

Our kitchen today is almost exactly the size as here on the plan. That is actually sufficient. Large items like fondue, raclette, or rarely used appliances we would store in the Disponibel. It’s not far.

My thought was: In the living room you either have reading light in the evening or the TV is on. So it’s either bright or you have ambient light. Today it’s the exact opposite for us and my wife almost always has the light on above the dining table because it’s too dark to work there. Therefore, during the day and morning, I prefer a bright dining area and a “dark” living room. I would have also liked to swap it (water connections closer to the heating in the basement, shorter ways from the front door/car to the kitchen). But I can’t manage to make it really fit.