Floor plan design for a single-family house 230-235 m² on two full floors

however, we should not build such a roof and have completely excluded a balcony.

I don’t believe that meant with the Schwörerhaus “build exactly like this,” but simply wanted to show how a correspondingly large house can be better planned, get better rooms, and that you can just let yourself be inspired.

I do have a bit of the impression that "cosiness" and "usability" do not follow any objective scale but are quite subjective.

Much is subjective. But not technical matters.

The goal is to use the available money in the best possible way

But that is not the case if you are “doing something for the first time”

Since everything is a compromise, the usefulness inside has a higher priority for us than the appearance outside.

But that is not so… .

we are doing this for the first time,

The hallway on the ground floor now appeared twice, what size do you consider reasonable there?

The square meters alone are not decisive, they just have to be sensibly distributed/divided.

The hallway on the upper floor is deliberately without windows because the paths to the window are usually dead spaces that only enlarge the hallway

:oops: interior only with skylights or "daylight spots". I would not want either in a new build.

What is an all-room, the term is new to me?

I also learned this term here. I find it terrible, but it serves communication. (Besides, it is wrong, since hardly anyone except us probably sleeps here in their "all-room"...)

I wouldn't say that, but rather that we are looking for a compromise of the three axes space/use, cost and aesthetics. We are not fixed on 12x12, but don't find it visually unattractive either.

The nice thing is: With your budget you don't have to make big compromises. Instead of relying on the "brute-force" method of square meters, you will get the better house at the same price through architectural intelligence. Probably a few sqm less, but a lot more living quality. Good that you are not fixed. A square floor plan has inherently worse usable space in the building center beyond a certain size. It always looks better in comparison €/sqm because less outer wall has to be built for more space. This value is OK as an approximation for a budget but should not dictate the quality of life in the house.

The goal is to use the available money as well as possible, especially in rooms, i.e. slightly larger children's rooms or guest and study rooms as two separate rooms. Since everything is a compromise, the benefit inside has higher priority for us than the exterior look.

About the budget – see above. A house that functions excellently for a family is more than a covered frame for a number of desired rooms. Would you expect an intelligent person from a completely different field to have a chance to deliver the same quality in your profession without prior training as you do? If the answer is "no," consider the task of an architect this way: "Surely they can do a few things I can't even think of, maybe I should deal with such a guy." Still happily keep drawing and deal with floor plans – it is really helpful. Just don't believe that the probability is high that you will manage an even remotely best design for the money. From the life experience of a rather advice-resistant person: Sweet-talking gets very exhausting after a while...

Keep drawing cheerfully and work on floor plans - it's really helpful.

But only if he has nothing better to do. I'd prefer mowing the lawn; at least he can see progress there… ;)

I would prefer mowing the lawn, at least you can see progress there…

That's true. Seeing progress in understanding something is more difficult.
Drawing is a good way to engage with house building. Likewise, specifically looking at and exchanging ideas about other buildings, where one can also expect a directly applicable result as a consistent consequence of the actions. And yet creativity, which is only made possible by breaking away from a strict result orientation, plays a decisive role in whether a decent or very good result is achieved. Everything has its time – of course, also result orientation in implementation.

Thanks to hampshire for a very good and constructive contribution (yesterday at 8:46 PM). :)

Regarding the topic of completely free architectural planning, we would be interested to know whether you have all implemented this approach with your houses and are convinced by your own experience, or if you have built "conventionally" and would choose to work with a free architect next time based on that experience? If everyone has built with architects, we would be happy to see photos and floor plans for inspiration, even if details are different (such as a different number of children's rooms or similar).