Floor plan design single-family house solid wood construction 140 sqm in Lower Saxony

Doesn't every individual floor plan have to have been built 50 times in advance to see if it works?

From an architect without quotation marks, the first try should already be a hit, after all, there is the preliminary design phase (and a degree). Maybe you could also show/name the model house ;-)

I can’t exactly imagine in my head what you want to rotate… Can you try to explain that again more precisely?

Within the scope of the fee-free effort: see sketch (scaled fitting not checked in detail). There you can also see in the rotated house in red the change in the wall course between the children’s room and the spare room, as well as the captain’s gable. So also that you are on the wrong track, I would want to move the bay window.

Is there a rule of thumb for window sizes according to room sizes or wall widths?

As a minimum standard, probably one eighth of the room’s floor area as window area.

From an architect without quotation marks, the first shot should already be a hit, after all, there is the preliminary design phase (and a degree). Maybe you could also show/name the model house ;-)

I do not want to discredit the profession by any means, the response was rather meant humorously to your side note - sorry if that came across the wrong way. :)

"Model house" is too much said, as this is also an individual floor plan. However, we really liked some elements during the viewing, which we adapted. Am I even allowed to name the manufacturer here?

Within the scope of effort that can be done without a fee: see sketch (scale fitting not checked in detail). There you can also see in the rotated house in red the change of the wall course between the children's and spare room, as well as the captain's gable. So also that you are on the wrong track, I would want to shift the bay window.

Oh, I didn't expect that now. I'll have to take a closer look and inquire whether that is even possible statically with our construction method and how one can sensibly incorporate the chimney there. Thanks for the interesting suggestion :)

Arch ... seemed quite fitting and charming to us - consciously styled in the 70s and old-fashioned I didn't really perceive it that way. It may also be because I hardly enter any new buildings and therefore obviously am really not up to date. We currently live in a 200-year-old half-timbered house, ....

What distinguishes a 1980s kitchen from a 2020s kitchen?...
However, I have never worked at such a cooking island thing (doesn’t stuff keep falling off all four sides there?) and this bar counter solution is really not for me.

The idea of the window seat is interesting, but I had to google it. I've never seen it anywhere before. Does anyone actually use that in everyday life?

I was just mentally going through the floor plans of our families and friends. Nobody has direct access from the kitchen to the main terrace
...

When you read that, you have to smile a little. It somehow sounds like the wooden cabin in the forest behind the 7 mountains with the 7 dwarfs, who have little to nothing to do with real life. That’s okay, but for me, modern house building is not a question of fashion. Of course, tastes vary, but dark farmhouses with small windows and low ceiling height are simply not up to date in a new build. The same applies to impractical dining corners, poorly planned kitchens, arched doors, or lack of connection between the main rooms and the terrace. You can build this way, but you give up decades of experience and developments the industry has made. I want to emphasize that I am deliberately exaggerating - this is not terrible or somehow decisive for a conflict but possibly a little bit unfortunate somewhere.

In real life, we won’t be sitting at the table daily with the big family and 9 children. However, without that pulled-out dining corner in 140 sqm, we probably wouldn’t be able to invite more than 6-8 guests for dinner – otherwise you have the same problems: The big uncle sits right at the bottleneck; if someone wants to get around, everyone has to scoot up, and in the end, someone trips and spills the potatoes all over the table. In everyday life, the child doesn’t push the chair back properly, and I catch my little toe on it because everything is too narrow.

Here I would like to disagree. You can very well plan a proper dining area with 8 people in a 140 sqm house. Of course, it’s always a matter of priorities, but nowadays(!) it’s no problem. No one gets caught on the chair or trips with the potatoes. The built-in U-bench cannot compete with a free dining place, however. But I understand that one longs for the nostalgic dining bench of the grandparents...

For me, however, it was always super cozy and very sociable rather than annoying.

I just hope you don’t recreate your childhood memories and later are disappointed about how annoying it actually was for the adults.

Are my standards just too low for a new build that I see essential improvements as a success and positive, but soberly considered it is still stupid and impractical?

I would soberly answer that with “yes, a little bit.” You probably missed out on 50 to 100 years of development. One must not confuse coziness with practicality or taste. There are newly built country houses that would make even my grandmother’s heart rise and still are absolutely cozy and at the same time practical and above all bright. That’s why I want to repeat Yvonne’s sentences again, as I consider them very important so it does not become a dark cave:

The terrace door absolutely must be wider, otherwise you don't get outside at all. I personally would also choose bigger windows, i.e., deeper or wider everywhere to let light into the house. Keep in mind that you have spruce on the inside and no white walls like most. The wood will not reflect any daylight and will absorb a lot of light.

You see it in the rotated house

Do I not understand the point of the visual rotation now? Or did you forget that the ridge is predetermined?

Window is noted. Your objection is plausible… What size do you recommend?

It can be small, it can have a higher parapet, it can gladly fit next to the WC window. But I would place the carport next to the house wall… possibly offset… then the window can also stand alone there.

5 meters of straight path without obstacles is really cool though.

I also prefer the 5 meters at our place instead of 2 meters by the kitchen. But I don’t go straight through the house, not through the open plan living area. So, I understand 5 meters, but not straight through the house or past the sofa. The chill zone should be kept free from traffic if possible and appropriate.

But basically, I don’t need or want an island,

Good. Then that’s settled! And then a U-shape is also a great thing. Or an L.

What distinguishes a 1980s kitchen from a 2020s kitchen?

The 80s kitchen had a door so the housewife wouldn’t disturb her husband with housework after work. Mind you, until 1979 a woman legally had to get her husband’s permission for paid work. However, the modern 60s/70s kitchens are still more modern nowadays than some supposedly contemporary kitchens. There’s among other things the country style, also in modern. But that’s all irrelevant: nowadays, for example psychology and ergonomics have progressed further than back then and one knows that room design is not only about silk wallpaper and bazaar carpet, daylight and colors influence the psyche and a well-thought-out arrangement of furniture and appliances can save a visit to the orthopedist.

making the kitchen itself a bit more inviting

Not too dark, not too bulky a tall cabinet wall, a friendly backsplash, tidy in the arrangement and overall. Then it would probably be inviting.

Would you have a suggestion on how to better design the kitchen?

There is a kitchen and a forum… both can be found at HTTP ;)

The idea of the seat window is interesting, but I had to google it

It is basically your bay window, only with the difference that there is no table in front and it is used more because one doesn’t have to squeeze oneself there. For a child it might all still be play, but a blocked bench doesn’t make sense to me.

Does anyone actually use that daily?

That would interest me too. I’m more the sofa type ;) probably old-fashioned :D When you are old-fashioned, by the way, you don’t choose a solid wood house. Then you rather take clinker in red-brown. I rather see it that you prefer another style. I see it rather rustic. It doesn’t have to look dusty though, see ’s house: that’s also a wooden house without knee wall. You just have to look at the gables, they are more modern than many houses here where the builders think they have a “modern house” just because it’s white plastered or has no roof slopes. Or look at the kitchen by : a half-round work cabinet, which is really coolly staged by a white worktop. Someone could learn a thing or two about modernity from that, but many would say it’s not modern. Holzhäuschen has also replied here in the thread, by the way. Her profile picture shows the homepage or the Instagram name. Just take a look ;)

I do not in any way want to discredit the profession, [...] "Show home" is too strong a word, since this is also an individual floor plan. However, we really liked some elements during the viewing, which we adapted accordingly. Am I even allowed to mention the name of the manufacturer here?

Which profession did you discredit then? Hopefully you have not made the adopted elements smaller than where they function. I think it is long overdue to name the manufacturer. You are not saying anything bad about him, and after all, he is publicly engaged in business.

Oh, I didn't expect that now. I have to take a closer look and inquire whether that is even statically possible with our construction method and how to sensibly incorporate the chimney there. Thanks for the interesting suggestion

I do not understand the purpose in the visual rotation now? Or did you forget that the ridge beam is predetermined?

I did not suggest anything "interesting," but at most simply rotated the house by 90°. I did not change anything structurally. However, I only integrated into the sketch to clarify the misunderstanding regarding the asymmetrical (non-)division of the captain's gable. I did not adjust the relative ridge direction of the floor plan, as mentioned, the effort of my response should remain within the unpaid scope. However, I had already proposed earlier to rotate the relative ridge direction. If both the relative ridge direction and the house as a whole are rotated, the absolute ridge direction remains as it is. I took the chimney into account in the proposal, but I assume a relaunch of the design anyway – enough suggestions have already been offered. I strongly recommend far to banish a mere patch or even a makeshift job. With an attitude of "please tell us that everything before the comma can remain as it is," one could have spared themselves the consultation of the forum; that would have been a wishful thinking. I even maintain questioning the finality of the provider's decision. has already offered to bring his builder into play (for the shrub carpenter, the construction site is probably too far).

Morning everyone! :)

Thanks again at this point for your numerous replies so far!
In the meantime, we have developed an adapted draft with the manufacturer. Larger windows on the ground floor, the wardrobe also received a window. A door from the kitchen to the utility room has been planned, kitchen furnishings adjusted. The wall extensions between the kitchen and dining room have also been shortened so that the kitchen doesn't feel so cramped. The "arches" have not yet been finally decided, they are still included as is ;) We are still carrying the carport along in the drawing. If it comes, it will come much later...

The dining bay has also become a bit bigger to have more window area and possibly to use the space more flexibly... The house has been widened by 20 cm to the west and this space has been added to the living room and the rooms above. The furniture on the ground floor floor plan is not 100% to scale, but we have measured everything again. It should fit. On the upper floor, however, we have nothing fixed yet, as we are still looking for a solution to make the upper floor more usable. For better illustration, I have left the furniture in there...

Now we come to the main problem: The ceiling height of 4.00 m is immutable. The husband has done a rough height survey – if I understood the building authority correctly, the reference point for this is the natural ground surface in the middle of my plot to the middle of the top edge of the finished roadway. Is that standard? Then this point on our property is about 10 cm above the current road level (the street is already there, but the "final layer" is still missing). This probably means that the knee wall cannot be enlarged here because the roof construction leaves no further leeway. So we would actually end up with a 45° roof pitch and 30 cm of sand-lime brick – although it must be said that these 30 cm refer to the visible beam and thus one would have 190 mm more headroom between the 90 mm wide beams. Also, these 30 cm do not refer to the top edge of the ground floor ceiling but to the top edge of the installed floor covering.

So now the considerations are how to make our upper floor more usable... So far, the ideas have gone in the direction that the two knee walls get large dormers with as close to two meters of usable interior space each and for this the walls under the ridge would be moved 50 cm south so that a bed can be placed in the bedroom and the shower (currently partly outside the 2.00 m line) and bathtub in the bathroom no longer cause problems. Then the floor-to-ceiling windows in the knee walls would become very narrow. Four dormers – one for each room – are actually not in the budget (the development plan allows 50% of the eaves sides) – but maybe the manufacturer could accommodate us a little here... We have also considered whether to completely overhaul the layout upstairs and work with a captain’s gable, then place a room behind it and arrange the rest differently – but so far we have not come up with any brilliant idea how that would work. It is not set that both knee walls have to have 20 sqm – currently we have only one child and as of now no further planning. So we would be flexible there, but there should be at least 3 separated rooms. We have also talked about climate floor plates to gain another 20 cm, but the manufacturer has had only bad experiences with those because the interfaces did not work well when you have to plan very precisely in log construction.

Does anyone perhaps have an idea or suggestion on how we can manage the upper floor without making ourselves unhappy? Are we better positioned in terms of brightness here than in the previous plan? (At least on the ground floor – upstairs is still all a bit unsettled...)

We have booked a slot for the Saturday after next at "Full-scale floor plan." I don’t yet know if it is possible to try out different things there... But it should be at least good for getting an impression. Has anyone done something like this before? I found the idea very exciting...

Thank you very much :)