Floor plan design experiences - criticism?

The kitchen planning is done by a professional,

I advise against that. Nobody, not even a professional, knows what is important to you. You have to think about that yourself. Ideally, before the floor plan is finished. Because if you only realize then that the cabinets don't fit the way you'd like, it's too late. You write that in the end you don't care how the house turns out, but I don't quite buy that. You don't want to annoy yourself for the rest of your life, for example, about the sink being in the wrong position.

I don’t understand it again! I’m not stupid, but is it so that...

I will publish the architect’s plan here immediately after receiving it.

This is the result published here.

I haven’t thought about it so far, also because I wanted to leave that to the experts. I’ve learned here that we should probably place the master bathroom above the utility/shower bathroom on the ground floor or the kitchen on the ground floor.

...there isn’t one? You write that the architect’s plan was a condition for signing. But you don’t even have it. It is only in planning once you have signed. I don’t want to criticize (you sign for a house size, usually also house shape, the rest is changeable), but it is incomprehensible: it was a condition, but it doesn’t exist.
Then there is one, namely this one, where the bathroom has no drainage.

Anyway: please take away that your company probably twists the truth a bit and that the individual planning is simply a construction drawing whose errors are only corrected "during construction" or in the execution planning. This usually results in many changes being made that you had thought about carefully.

Fortunately, it is not a new development area.
I probably opened the thread too early and with too few concrete details and plans. I will change that as soon as I know more and have more available.

I don’t understand. You have a plot. And you want to build a house on it. Usually, you sketch it out, a little tree here, a fence there... the house there... "I want it like this, because..." and "is the driveway big enough?"
So: you visit it, measure it, google it on Maps, sketch it, doodle in it. Then the PC isn’t enough, so you take a piece of paper... it’s only a pile of stones, but it’s supposed to sweeten your life, right? It will be expensive. Money is not important, but if you don’t have it, you can’t build a house.
Your windows are just holes for light, but they get beloved shutters and grilles. Where is the relation there? I only see the show, not the living purpose.
No one here needs a survey drawing for a sketch... what is needed are a few real measurements.

I understand that when you get older, you consider many things more soberly (the main thing is a functioning roof over your head).
But if you now have the opportunity to implement many things in a way that will be comfortable for you, then use it!
For example, I think it’s great that each of you sets up a room as you need it. You can do without a dressing room, for others it is the two children’s rooms. But what is your daily routine like? I completely miss that: does Mr. sit in front of the TV while you fiddle around upstairs in your room? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a connection then? For example, a separate room on the ground floor so you have connection to your partner?
Or a TV room upstairs? Mr.’s study could be a bit smaller, e.g., downstairs?
Do you have guests so often that the big dining table is worth it? Wouldn’t a foldable one or a larger one in the kitchen suffice?
Basically, I would start with the location and then where the terrace is. Then consider your own routine: where and how would you most like to use the terrace with which activities and then judge the location of the kitchen accordingly.
At 57 years you should also deal with immobility sometime: I built myself at 47, my husband is your age: our all-round room has already paid off because of a foot operation. Neighbors, now in their early 50s, have a hip problem, with the standard house from Viebrockhaus (same layout as yours) they are no longer satisfied and don’t complain, but it would be nice to have a bedroom downstairs. "But we have two unnecessary rooms upstairs."

It is our wish and the development plan allows it.

That is explicitly asked separately in the questionnaire.

Apart from that, we currently don’t have much more space in our 11.8 sqm bedroom either. Your note is good, thanks.

...

They are narrower because we want to install shutters on the house right away or later.

It won’t be airy then.

Can one view your floor plan somewhere in the forum?

My house blog should still be linked here. But it will not correspond to your ideas because I broke symmetry two decades ago.

Shoes in the utility room, wardrobe as a wall wardrobe in the hallway.

...

We are a bit old-fashioned, ...

Old-fashioned means you only have one jacket?

A professional is taking care of the kitchen planning, that’s why I left everything open in the floor plan. What’s important to me is basically just a table/table with a view outside.

The kitchen planner will just as little question your wishes as the architect. Only you can do that yourself.
Build what you want, even if it all becomes mus-rooms)... but pay a little attention to WHAT you want and WHAT will still feel good to you in 5 (10) years.

P.S. A master bathroom is located behind the bedroom and is therefore often private, so no other residents can use it. Otherwise, it is simply just a bathroom.

I haven't read all 14 pages, I don't know if it has already been addressed: is the whirlpool accounted for in the structural analysis?

I don’t understand it again!
I’m not stupid, but is it so that...




...there isn’t one?

So far, we don’t have a plan from the architect.

You write that the architect’s plan was a condition for signing.

If it came across that way, I expressed myself incorrectly or at least ambiguously. It only became clear to me here in the forum that the signature under the contract was supposed to be done first --> after the architect’s planning was available. That was not the case with us and was not offered to us either. Now we have to live with it and make the best of it. It is not existentially threatening for us, and that is the most important thing.

But you don’t have it at all. It is only in planning once you have signed. I don’t want to criticize (usually you sign for a house size, often also the house shape, the rest is changeable), but it is incomprehensible: it was a condition, but it doesn’t exist.

As mentioned above, I expressed myself incorrectly.

Then it exists, namely this one, where the bathroom has no drainage.

So far, I still assume the price for the house includes drainage, etc., even if we did not draw this in our layperson’s floor plan. I’m starting to get afraid, since you ask about drainage, that we might have to pay extra for every line, electricity, water, gas because they are not drawn in our floor plan and we did not receive an architect’s drawing before signing the contract. Fortunately, we have comfortable, free exit clauses, but I still hope it will not come to that.

Anyway: please take away that your company probably distorts the truth a bit and that the individual planning is simply a construction drawing, whose errors are only corrected “during construction” or in the execution planning. This usually means that a lot gets changed, about which one has put a lot of thought.

It is not a construction drawing but simply a layperson’s floor plan created by us, which came with the offer. The basis is a standard house offered by the company.

I don’t understand. You have a plot. And you want to build a house on it. You basically draw the sketch yourself, a little tree here, a fence there... the house there... “I want it like this because...” and “is the driveway big enough?”

We wanted to wait for the surveying to be done so that we have a secure basis of where and how many meters we may build with what. Only the house size is currently secured as possible in the building envelope.

So: you visit it, take measurements, google on Maps, trace it, doodle on it. Then the PC isn’t enough and you take a sheet of paper... it’s only a pile of stones, but it should sweeten your life, right? It will be expensive. Money is not important, but if you don’t have it, then you cannot build a house either.

I don’t think it will be expensive.

Your windows are just holes for light, but they get beloved shutters and bars. What is the relation there? I only see the show, not the living purpose. No one here needs a surveying drawing for a sketch... all that’s needed are a few real measurements.

The thing with the windows is a good hint; we will probably give up the shutters, instead take casings (windows without shutters or casings are a bit too naked or plain for me; I actually think they then look like holes) and rather install more windows or slightly larger ones. But I insist on the bars.

I can understand that one looks at many things a bit more soberly with age (main thing is a functioning roof over the head)
But if you now have the possibility to implement many things as comfortably as possible for you, then use it!

So far, the current planning is by no means unpleasant to us; it is an improvement compared to now: smaller house and plot, fewer rooms, fewer floors. And everything nicely new, of course.

For example, I think it’s great that each of you sets up a room as needed. One can do without a dressing room, for others it is the two children’s rooms. But what is your routine like? I totally miss that: does Mr. sit in front of the TV while you fuss about upstairs in your room? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a connection then? For example, a separate room on the ground floor so you have contact with your partner?
Or a TV room upstairs? Mr.’s study can be a bit smaller, for example downstairs?

I don’t quite understand that now. Usually, we stay together on the ground floor, the two rooms upstairs are intended for clothing, extra computers, and a bit of personal stuff. Also for the respective craft stuff, my handbags, my husband’s electronics. Basically two children’s rooms for adults but without a bed.

Do you have guests so often that the large dining table is worth it? Wouldn’t a folding one or a larger one in the kitchen be enough?

The large table in the living room is not primarily for eating. I just called it that way because large tables in living rooms are usually called that.

Basically, I would start with the location and then where the terrace is. Then consider your own routine: where and how would you like to use the terrace most with which activities and then judge the location of the kitchen accordingly.

If possible, we want a terrace running around the house, deeper at the back towards the garden/field/forest. You should be able to enter the terrace from every room on the ground floor, also from the kitchen.

At 57 years old, you should also deal with immobility: I myself built at 47, my husband is about your age: our all-round room has already paid off due to a foot operation. Neighbors, now in their early 50s, have a hip problem, with the standard house from Viebrockhaus (same layout as yours) they are no longer satisfied and although they do not complain, it would be nice to have a bedroom downstairs. "For that, we have two superfluous rooms upstairs."

Possibly we will later put up a wall in the living room for a bedroom downstairs. But most likely we will move to an elderly- and disability-friendly apartment with a medical center next door anyway.

My house blog should still be linked here. But it will probably not match your ideas because I jumped out of my symmetry 2 decades ago

I will look at your blog and read it with attention and interest.

Old-fashioned then means that you only have one jacket?

A wall coat rack is enough for both of us and when guests come the few jackets or coats still fit there. We do it like that at the moment as well.

P.S. a master bathroom is located behind the bedroom and is therefore often trapped, so no other roommates can use it. Otherwise, it is just a bathroom.

Thanks for the hint, I will change it right away. I thought a master bathroom is the main bathroom as opposed to the guest or shower bathroom.

I haven't read all 14 pages, I don't know if it has already been discussed: is the whirlpool considered in the static calculations?

Thank you for your question. Not yet, but we will inform the structural engineer/architect if it remains that we want to install a bathtub with whirlpool function. At the moment, however, we are in the process of deciding against a bathtub with whirlpool function.

I advise against it. No one, not even a professional, knows what is important to you. You have to think about that yourselves. Ideally, before the floor plan is finished. Because if you only realize then that the cabinets don’t fit as you would like, it’s too late.

To reinforce this: Have a professional advise you on the kitchen and build it so that it fits. Sometimes it's just a few centimeters one way or the other, which don’t play a monetary role during planning and construction but determine the feasibility of your kitchen wishes and prices for special dimensions.