Floor plan design for a single-family house - Ideas from you are welcome

Many thanks in advance for your responses.


The second offer was supposed to serve as a comparison to the first one. However, the approach and planning seem much better to me here.

@all
So, the airlock is primarily intended to allow dry-footed access to the house with shopping. Passage to drinks in the cool garage, food storage, and later – keyword barrier-free living – for the washer/dryer.

The shower on the ground floor serves as a backup bathroom or should also ensure barrier-free living in old age.

The furnishing in the upper bathroom is exemplary; there will be a second washbasin! I have to check if a laundry chute is possible.

I actually find the current layout with the kitchen and dining room facing the garden practical because you have the garden more in view...

Nevertheless, we have also already considered swapping the rooms and eliminating the airlock but have not yet come to a conclusion. I need to discuss kaho674’s suggestion with my better half.

Regarding the window at the staircase, I have to defend the architect. He had it retrofitted after being asked if the staircase was sufficiently illuminated.

I also don’t like the entrance situation of the bathroom/wardrobe 100% yet; I think it will come down to a large closet and a bigger bathroom.

I wouldn't restrict myself now because of a possibility in old age. Especially if you actually move your bedroom downstairs, then presumably one of you is physically limited. Without necessity, no one leaves the familiar large bedroom or the comfortable bathtub. Therefore, the idea of the ground floor in old age should also be expanded to include accessibility. Whether you still maintain a big house with a garden then is the big question mark? Perhaps the trend will reach us in Germany as well, and we sell our four walls, buy a large mobile home, and travel through Europe as long as we are mobile.

The approach and planning seem clearly better to me here.

I cannot judge which of the designs is closer to your needs. Objectively, there are definitely major differences. And therefore ...

The second offer was meant to serve as a comparison to the first.

... this would be an apples and oranges comparison. One would have to ask crosswise what the one would charge if you had the house built according to the other's plan.

Regarding the window at the stairway, I have to defend the architect. He installed it afterwards after being asked whether the stairway would be adequately lit.

I would not call that defending - I read it as: without the hint he would have completely forgotten the lighting there.

I have quickly sketched attached – without claiming that I find the design worthy of saving – how one could change that:



1. instead of the roof window above the stairs, facade windows rising with the stairs, and possibly additional daylight spots;

2. a gable dormer (or for that matter also a shed dormer) for the bathroom.

Hello, I also think that you are approaching the topic of living in old age somewhat incorrectly. IF the need arises, it will certainly require more space than you currently have in the guest WC. Perhaps it would be an option to make a elongated WC instead of having the WC and closet side by side, to place a large wardrobe in the hallway, and in case of emergency to expand the WC at the expense of the hallway. This way, you would at least have a more spacious entrance area now and could remodel more easily as needed, depending on what a disability specifically requires.

The two offers are similarly priced. They are also roughly the same size in terms of living space, only the layout is different. Office in the basement or not, that's the crux. I find solution 2 more practical for everyday life. Basically, the staircase would probably be sufficiently bright due to the window at the entrance and the open stair construction. The building authority will not approve a dormer. The facade windows look nice, that would be an option. & haydee Ok, I hadn’t seen it that way before. We thought it would be sensible to plan it that way from the start. We will reconsider that ...

About the lock: it is only "two additional doors" without benefit.