Floor plan of a single-family house approx. 190 sqm with basement on millimeter paper

Your suggestion is great! This takes our concerns about brightness off the table! In addition, you can enter the guest WC without stepping into the dirty area! Thank you so very much for that!!! The elaborate work with the drawing on paper has once again paid off thanks to your support.

Now the following questions arise:

1.) Due to the removal of the pantries, the "north exterior wall" has been shortened, but it is still not flush with the north exterior wall on the upper floor. This is not quite optimal visually. We are now considering whether to extend this wall on the upper floor completely towards the top of the plan, so that the walls on the north side (except for the bay window on the ground floor) are flush. Consequence: Even larger children's rooms, but a more comfortable master bedroom (which is also a point of criticism here).

2.) Due to the panoramic window in the south in the kitchen, there is enough light. Now the north terrace could also be covered. This actually makes sense because of the bay window. On the upper floor, the area of the bay window plus the covering of the north terrace could then be used as a balcony. The covering of the west terrace, on the other hand, could be equipped with skylights.

3.) Due to the shortened hallway, the path to the kitchen from the garage for groceries + the way from the kitchen to the cellar is significantly shorter. Question: Is a door to the kitchen really necessary? Instead, a closet (winter jackets, vacuum cleaner, cleaning stuff, etc.) could be planned on the left side of the entrance, which was previously in front of the stairs:



This keeps the dirty area the dirty area.

One more quick question just for understanding: Why did you move the stairs slightly to the right?

Re 3) Yes, there definitely has to be an opening: for lighting the hallway, bringing in groceries, greeting guests while cooking, shouting upstairs that the food is ready, quickly grabbing a drink/snack from upstairs, etc... you don’t want to have to do that through the entire hallway and half of the dining/living room every time. Personally, I wouldn’t even make it a door, but rather a (floor-to-ceiling?) passage. If a door, then a sliding door running inside the wall. You could still design the cabinets as you have drawn them – but if there is an opening there, you don’t need that (then the vacuum cleaner/cleaning supplies are just one turn around the corner).

Ok. Convincing. Something has to go there.

I just didn't understand how I can represent a door plus cabinets?

A simple passage is out of the question, by the way, because otherwise all the cooking smells from the kitchen would spread into the hallway/wardrobe. I know that from my parents; the jackets smell like a chip shop afterwards. A sliding door is borderline. A glass door seems to be the best solution.

I just didn't understand how I can represent a door plus cabinets?

You could leave out the top two hallway cabinets and put a door there. Or the entire hallway cabinet row and a cabinet door would then be the passage door. But both are just playthings. The better option is then design from post #24.

One more quick question just for understanding: Why did you move the stairs a bit to the right?

Because a wall still had to fit next to the stairs on the left. I didn’t want to make the hallway narrower, and the double-wing door should still fit. That means I had to shift the stairs by the wall thickness.

Now you could also roof the north terrace. This actually makes sense because of the bay window. On the upper floor, the area of the bay window plus the roofing of the north terrace would then be usable as a balcony.

I wouldn’t need a balcony there at all. Are you sure you will use it? I also wouldn’t want to roof too much firmly. You do want to be able to sit outside under the open sky sometimes.

Is a door to the kitchen really necessary?

I wouldn’t need a door there. The path to the tall cabinets, where groceries are stored, is about the same distance through both doors. So I think your solution is good!

However, this is still not flush with the north exterior wall on the upper floor.

Can you post an exterior view? I’ve lost track.

Because a wall still had to fit to the left of the stairs. I didn’t want to make the hallway narrower and the double-wing door should still fit. That means I had to shift the stairs by the wall thickness.

Alright, understood!

I wouldn’t even need a balcony there. Are you sure you’ll use it? I wouldn’t cover that much solidly either. You want to be able to sit outside in the open air sometimes.

The balcony is useful to get a quick overview when you’re upstairs and the children are playing in the garden. We would also use it for hanging laundry. There is still enough space on the property to sit outside.

I wouldn’t need a door there. The way to the tall cabinets where the groceries are stored is about the same distance through both doors. So I think your solution is good!

If you do want to carry the groceries through the front door into the kitchen, the door there actually makes sense. Then the way is much shorter. However, the following dilemma exists: The most visually elegant solution including the door would be your suggestion. But then the door is in the dirty area. The other solution would be, as suggested, to place the door further into the hallway and put a cabinet in front of it:



However, this is not a visual highlight. Therefore, we are now torn back and forth...

Can you post an exterior view? I’ve lost the overview.

Now I can’t get any further with the millimeter paper and have redrawn everything on the PC. The different wall lengths on the north side don’t look so bad after all: