Floor plan. Opinions, ideas and constructive critiques.

Good evening,

I admit, I often amuse myself with the discussions about the floor plans posted here ... when reading some of the comments, the houses (at least according to the users of this forum) should almost all look the same :D I confess frankly ... I have to get this off my chest this time ... if the statement is made that the bedroom faces "east," then what is the purpose of this question:

Could you perhaps mark the cardinal directions again or say something about it? So the parents' bedroom east - children's room south? And what about the ground floor?

That just cries out for a chuckle ... especially since the question implies that the ground floor might have a different orientation than the upper floor :D

On the upper floor, I find both the bathroom and the bedroom too large and a waste of space. Better to make the children's rooms (even if their size is okay) a bit larger and reduce the size of the other rooms.

Not bad either. I'm curious about "the" solution :D

Not your best day, Bauherren2014 ... or?

Regards from the Rhineland

:-) I've wondered about that too.

The cardinal directions don't matter to me at all. If I were to show someone the floor plan of our house and then explain that the kitchen and utility room are located in the south, and the living room has a northeast-south orientation, and there's only the carport in the west, there would be lots of counterarguments and criticism. But we consciously decided this way and even redesigned the house so that the orientation is as it is now. The orientation itself has nothing to do with the layout of the rooms, but rather with the personal needs and preferences of the residents - some like the sun, others don't ;-)

Exactly. That’s why we wouldn’t want to be talked out of having our southwest garden. My wife is, due to her background, more of a darker type and loves the sun. Currently, we get sun from about 11 until sunset, perfect for her. Others would prefer the garden facing east or north; she would simply never want to live there. Personally, I don’t mind, I find shade everywhere 8-)

Oh, regarding the cardinal directions: as a geographer, I had to chuckle briefly :eek:

What should really be considered is the space in the utility room. There are 2 doors and a floor-to-ceiling window if I have read that correctly. Is the heating / hot water tank and washing machine, dryer going in there? It might get tight.

. The orientation itself has nothing to do with the layout of the rooms, but rather with the personal needs and preferences of the residents - some like sun, others don’t ;-)

Of course, the orientation of the rooms has something to do with the location on the property and the cardinal directions. If you have consciously decided against a south-facing location, that’s perfectly fine. Others are grateful for the note that it might get a bit dark in winter. In the floor plan discussions, suggestions from users are passed on so that one gets a second opinion on their own floor plan. Nevertheless, every builder should/must decide for themselves what they want. Only this decision should, as in your case, be made consciously and not by simply sketching without thought. The discussion about open/closed stairs comes up every time again. As long as the builder is aware of the pros and cons, everything is fine :)

I am glad that I was able to make some of you smile. ;) Maybe I should try to defend myself a little.

Regarding the point about the cardinal directions: There are plenty of floor plans online (also in other forums) where the individual floors are rotated relative to each other. In fact, I probably wrote that a bit prematurely. To defend myself, however, I have to say that I looked at the floor plan on my phone when I first posted, where I couldn’t properly see the dimensions nor notice that it was a rectangular and not a square floor plan. However, I admit that I could have recognized that from the orientation of the staircase. So, ashes on my head. :) It was certainly not my intention to complain about the orientation of the rooms, but rather about the overall concept. I wouldn’t let anyone talk me out of my south-facing terrace, just as the neighbors wouldn’t do with their north-facing terrace. Just as I wouldn’t criticize the wishes of the OP. For example, the fact that I can’t do anything with a straight staircase is irrelevant here. The OP needs to feel comfortable, not me.

Regarding the upper floor: The OP wanted opinions, and I gave mine. To my taste, the bedroom and bathroom are simply too large. If that’s what the OP wanted, that’s fine. It was only meant as a point to consider. I am well aware that I can’t just make the corridors larger and the bedroom and bathroom smaller in the case of the staircase and room layout. Even I see that as a layman. Optimizing all that is not my job, but an architect’s. And yes, presumably one would have to change the entire staircase situation, with all the changes that would then also affect the ground floor. Whether one wants that is up to each person. As can be seen from my other posts, I also wrote that I already quite like the floor plan and that my points are overall rather small things to think about.