Floor plan new two-story single-family house 200 m²

I find the second shower valuable and sensible. We also had that in my parents' house. At first, no one used it. But later, when we children became teenagers, we used it a lot. There are families where children sometimes want privacy and prefer to shower alone. Then one bathroom is not enough. This was not the case with us, but the daily routines in the evening and early morning overlapped so much that otherwise someone would have had to shower in the bathtub. And at least we never found that really pleasant. That is why I would definitely install a second shower. However, perhaps with one square meter more than currently planned. Then it is also pleasant to use. In our house now, we have a large bathroom with a shower and bathtub. Here too, the children prefer to shower. We often come home together or all have to shower when we go out. Then you have to wait, and a second shower would be well used.

Reminds me of Gerhard Polt and his staircase scene with Hanna Schygulla. Do you also get goosebumps and hot flashes when you use angled stairs? "Absolutely terrible" the walking experience at a staircase bend??? I believe that this is where even my supposedly broad horizon of imagination about different people comes to its limits. I think you impose one limit after another on yourself, and thus on the house, which will show in the end.

I can relate very well to the straight staircase. I grew up for the first 13 years with a half-turned staircase, then in the following years with a straight staircase. In the apartments after that, always with turned staircases. I still find the straight staircase at my parents’ place super comfortable. You have to put more planning effort into it so that you don’t need too much hallway space. I also don’t understand the argument that a straight staircase requires much more space. If you can sensibly accommodate a straight staircase, I would absolutely prefer it. Maybe that requires the iterations currently underway.

At that size and price range, I wouldn’t save on a second shower.

But later on, when we kids became teenagers, we used it a lot.

Thanks also here for the assessments. We are still pondering this. However, we don’t have pets (and I don’t see that changing), and I don’t quite agree with the argument about dirty kids. If it’s too cold outside to wipe off the worst of it there, hopefully the dirt is stuck to the clothes and not the kid. But the usage scenarios do add up. Personally, I just think a shower that is used maybe 20 days in its entire lifecycle is unnecessary, and I experienced that in a house with 4 people and guests.

By the way: with 4 people, possibly including guests, I would plan for two washbasins in the family bathroom.

We have the direct comparison between my parents’ and my in-laws’ houses, each with two or one. We prefer the solution with just one.

Older plots/houses were built only with or for one family car.

That is also the case for us, and I see that with many friends (also with children). Not for financial or practical reasons, but simply because today you don’t need more. In the last 5 years, I’ve maybe sat behind the wheel of a car 10 times.

Everyone responsible for their stuff and also children. And... 99% of the time such a thing will never happen.

I don’t like running into a wall right after the door, then having to go around the open door (only a narrow passage remains with the door open), then having to turn the next corner to finally stand in front of a door planned to open inward that I don’t need because it’s always open anyway.

I personally value the entrance situation higher than an extra meter of garden. Because one is what "must" be, the other is what "can" be. The yard must work, the garden can.

We are currently still evaluating whether 50–100 cm of garden is worth it to us in order to slightly enlarge the entrance. That means our south facade lies 10% closer to the neighboring house and you do notice that.

The argument regarding the front door being in the way is very good. We hadn’t really thought about that. We will check again if this is a show-stopper.

About the “twisty” entrance: It really bothers me if someone standing outside the door has an immediate view of the main traffic routes or even into the dining area. An entrance with an “L” shape (more like a “Z”) is therefore not a makeshift solution for us but actually desired.

One would think that here 30–50 sqm are only there to make the house more complicated.

That’s of course not the goal, even though I don’t want to go through hundreds of interactions just to squeeze out the last bit.

And in a group, not a day goes by without photos of real hallways with open shoe racks and coat racks being shown and requests for improvements, because this obvious mess is very disturbing, especially since it’s the first thing one sees in their home.

My experience is that if there is no open shoe rack, then the most frequently worn pairs of shoes of each occupant just stand somewhere on the floor. Not better for me. Also: do you put your guests’ shoes in a closet?

I still find the straight staircase at my parents’ place super comfortable.

Thanks, I was beginning to think that we are really the only ones feeling that way.

Where does it say that?

I’m almost certain that was taken out within the 4-minute editing period after your post. But I can’t prove it and if I imagined it, I apologize.

We have the direct comparison between my parents' house and my parents-in-law's house with two and one respectively. We prefer the solution with one.

But that has less to do with "liking" or solution-oriented planning than with common function in daily routine.

My experience with that is, if there is no open shoe rack, instead the most frequently worn pairs of each resident end up somewhere on the floor.

That too is about education or also solution-oriented planning: plan a generous action and storage area close to the front door for the wardrobe, then it will be used.
Years ago we had a Grym here who also planned his house around his little commodes for over a year. That’s exactly the difference, planning functionally according to the daily routine.

Besides: do you put your guests' shoes in a cupboard?

Sort of. We don't have a cupboard but planned a storage room in the hallway especially for and as a wardrobe, where everything disappears, including the guests' things. By the way, they do that themselves.

I am slowly beginning to believe that you only consider the current state of affairs for you and do not even think about eventualities or 10 years down the line, just as habits change and children develop needs as they grow older. Be it with bathroom usage, be it with access to the garden or even vehicle fleet usage. I also include bicycles and other items in this. All habits are based on your past personal experiences, but not on situations that do not yet exist but can happen.

All habits are based on your personal past experiences, but not on situations that do not yet exist but could happen.

Firstly, our memories do indeed cover the entire family life cycle of a house, only from the perspective of a child in these houses until we moved out and now as guests when we visit our parents.

Secondly, we have been having many conversations about the house planning in recent weeks with exactly these parents, who have experienced this period from the perspective that now lies ahead of us.

That we also strongly guide our future use of the house by our own experiences and in some details then deviate from the majority opinion is, of course, a very individual decision. However, we are actually planning the house for the next 30 years. After retirement and the children leaving home, it will probably be too large. We do consider that time as well.

But that has less to do with "liking" or solution-oriented planning than with common function in day-to-day work.

An example of this is the washbasin question. "Liking" is a strong simplification of the evaluation process we went through to arrive at the decision to install only one. We included the expected usage and maintenance intervals based on our habits and the expected (and unexpected) changes over the bathroom’s lifetime (maybe it will last the 30 years). Then we made a decision based on this assessment.

Costs play no role in either the washbasin or the finishing level of the bathroom downstairs. If we believed that in the end we would be more satisfied with a double washbasin and a second shower, we would (or perhaps will) plan for them.