Floor plan: Preliminary draft from the prefabricated house provider is available

Hello dear knowledgeable ones!

We now have the 5th preliminary draft from our prefabricated house provider on the table and the list of our correction requests is noticeably getting shorter.
Time to ask the real experts for their opinion.

We will no longer (be able to) change the basic floor plan concept as we want/need to submit the building application soon. But maybe you have tips / warnings / new ideas in detail.
Secretly, I hope that this thing will be more or less approved benevolently by you – but many here have had that hope before and were bitterly disappointed

Important to know:
Child 2 will not be a children's room, but a combined dressing, storage / guest room.
Up to this draft, we had planned a 3.75x1.50m bay window (external dimensions) in the area of the dining table, which we wanted to equip as a dining area with a seating corner made by the carpenter.
Since we fear the costs might get out of control, we wanted to see whether and how the whole thing might also work without the bay window. The final decision pro or contra bay window will be made as soon as we find out what savings the omission of the bay window would bring us. My impression: not super spacious, but it works.

I am particularly interested in your feedback on the following details (besides what else catches your eye, of course)
- narrow doors for WC and utility room on the ground floor – problematic or totally okay?
- Staircase: open preferred because it lets light through, or with risers and a front wall so you don’t look under the stairs every time you come from the living room? How practical / superfluous is the storage space under a non-closed staircase (without front wall) really?
- How and in which exact position is the best way to design access to the living room: front / middle? single or double doors? No door at all, but a wide, open passage (also to get light into the hallway)?
- We chose the extreme wide format in the kitchen among other reasons because, due to the open floor plan, you can basically look from the street all the way to the living room couch. Additionally, there would be an option to plan roller blinds in the kitchen (the bay window or the dining room window will definitely get Venetian blinds)
- We tinkered with the arrangement of the sanitary fixtures in the upstairs bathroom for a long time and were never 100% happy. What is your opinion on the current state? Suggestions for improvement?
- There are nicer things than the niche under the slant in Child 1 – clear. But it’s there and we wonder how it can be used more sensibly: in a children's room (e.g. as a sleeping place, cozy corner, later a desk) or in a dressing room?
- Actually, we didn’t want floor-to-ceiling windows on the street side, but even more we “fear” gloomy rooms... The alternative would be windows with parapet – but they only have about 2.5 sqm of glass area instead of 3.3 sqm...
We are now so blind to it that I can hardly assess whether one/this exterior view is consistent...
Many thanks for your interest and any feedback!

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Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 500 sqm
Building window, building line and boundary: 15m deep (except for extensions), distances to street and sides each 3m
Further specifications: 70s stuff

Client requirements: 2 adults, 1 toddler. Office on the ground floor, shower on the ground floor, at least one large built-in closet, high ceilings (275cm on the ground floor), entrance on the gable side, “sunny” (house and garden should open to the sunny side)
Style, roof shape, building type: classic-modern, gable roof, single-family house
Basement, floors: no basement, 1.5 floors
Number of people, age: 2x approx. 40, 1x <5
Space requirements on ground floor / upper floor: total 120-150 sqm
Office: family usage or home office? Home office
Guests per year: 1
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: rather modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: yes (option to switch to a closed kitchen in the future)
Number of dining seats: 1
Garage, carport: prefabricated garage 4x9m

House design
Who made the plan: customized prefab house (timber frame)
What do we like particularly? The implementation of our requirements
What do we not like? the slants due to the low knee wall (BB), windowless stairwell, narrow hallway, rooms on the garden side of the ground floor (office and living) relatively small, niche in Child 1 behind the stairwell, inspection shafts directly in front of the front door
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 230-250K (technical completion plus sanitary, painting and flooring)
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: 350-400K including additional construction costs and interior finishing, garden, kitchen & Co.
Preferred heating technology: gas condensing boiler, underfloor heating, balanced ventilation with humidity recovery

If you had to give up something, on which details / expansions
- you could do without: possibly bay window, possibly shower on the ground floor
- you cannot do without: built-in closet, office on the ground floor

- 25 cm tread width is rather narrow
- The hallway will feel a bit like a cave - especially because the stairs are also in there
- Do you have at least 65 cm behind the door in the upstairs bedroom for the wardrobe row? Prepare for a more expensive wardrobe - at least if it should be more than 2 meters
- When your child 1 grows up, they won't have a nice time getting up in that niche
- The hallway upstairs nicely continues the cave atmosphere
- Child 1 will possibly be a bit dark at the back of the room
- Does the heating circuit distributor interrupt the wall between the children's room and the parents' bedroom!?
- Views are unspectacular... but well
- Not floor-to-ceiling in front of the dining table? Is there a garden? The living-dining area would also be too dark for me
- Unclear if the shower on the ground floor is needed
- Is the staircase correct? 17 risers at 18.7 cm would be 3.14 m - do you have 3 meter high ceilings? It also looks rather big somehow.

Conclusion: it’s not a disaster, but somehow feels cramped and plain. Possibly a few ideas will follow shortly.

Child 1 gets a dark corner in the room. Here I would still plan a skylight. I would always use the space under the stairs as storage. You can always put a cupboard/dresser in front of it. If the dresser stands under the stairs, it can often cause headaches. Also, the lowest steps always become an ugly storage place for junk and shoes. The dining/living area would definitely be too small for me now. Also, the cooking/dining/living area reminds me more of a terraced house than a detached house. If the finances allow it, I would still plan a bay window here. You don't have to extend it over the whole house, but just move the roof at this point. But on the whole, the area should also work like this. You can, for example, bring light into the hallway on the upper floor with skylights in the bathroom. We did that too and it is amazing what it achieves. Another alternative would be a daylight spot.

Maybe an idea: living room door - hallway: double glass door, floor-to-ceiling window in front of the dining table about 3 m, without a bay window that fits in terms of space. I would possibly design the kitchen without the peninsula - rather as a U-shape - stove facing the garden (southeast direction) and without a door.

By the way, I also think that the staircase does not really fit the type of house. The best space you have on the upper floor is used up for the staircase.

- 25 cm tread width is rather narrow - do you have at least 65 cm behind the door in the upstairs bedroom for the wardrobe row? Prepare for a more expensive wardrobe - at least if it should be longer than 2 m

the space is there. however, we will rather place a chest of drawers in the bedroom than a wardrobe. what do you mean that the wardrobe would be expensive? I don't see anything that would prevent an ordinary wardrobe (Pax or similar)?

- when your child becomes 1, it won’t have a nice time getting up in the niche

I was thinking more of a lounge corner where you can listen to music or read a book.

- The hallway upstairs nicely continues the cave atmosphere

the question is how to best brighten up the hallway? light comes in at the front door, and somehow something with glass still has to be done from the office or living area. upstairs we are thinking of a frosted glass door/transom for the bathroom...

- Child 1 might be a bit gloomy at the back of the room - Does the heating circuit distributor interrupt the wall between the kids’ room and the parents’ bedroom!?

I hope not!!!
- views are unspectacular... but well

- Not floor-to-ceiling in front of the dining table? Is there a garden there? Living-dining area would be too dark for me as well - unclear whether the shower is needed on the ground floor

we asked ourselves whether to have floor-to-ceiling windows in the dining area too - but does it make sense if the table is in front of it and maybe even pushed right against the window (there are only three of us in everyday life). and yes, there is still about 6 m of garden.

- Is the staircase correct? 17 risers at 18.7 cm is 3.14 m - do you have 3-meter high ceilings? It also looks rather big somehow.

ground floor is 275 cm - I seriously hope the stairs are correct :O

Conclusion: not a catastrophe, but somehow cramped and sober. Maybe some ideas are coming soon.

phew, those are harsh words. we even enlarged the house last, but somewhere I also resist generating even more space for just 3 small people and even more expenses.