Floor plan redesign, use of existing structure

Hello everyone,

I have not found a forum for existing floor plans, so I hope to get some ideas here. If there is a more appropriate forum, please feel free to move this.

The following situation:
I have the opportunity to take over my mother’s parental home. As the floor plan currently stands, it is difficult for us to use. I have to say, my daughter and I are leaving a house of over 200 sqm and have to manage quite suddenly with significantly less space and 400 km away from the old house.
Because of the move, I will be working 100% from home office, so I urgently need a study room.

My sketch (scale 1:100) shows the current state of the house. I will try to explain my thoughts for changes per floor and hope for feedback on whether these are bad or good ideas. My sketch is not 100% aligned to north, but it’s close.

Basement (not sketched):
Partially cellar, under the living room there are oil tanks and a heating system, under the dining room there is another room.

Ground floor:
Here I would like to demolish the building housing the workshop and the laundry room to gain more open space.
Yes, the kitchen is so narrow and the bathroom so tiny. I remember the bathroom as a pigsty, really ;-)
I would like to keep the bathroom as a guest WC with a small backup shower.

Upper floor:
I am not sure about the wall between the two large rooms here. But it makes no sense if it is different from the ground floor.
If the wall situation is really like that, I would like to move the bedroom door to the hallway. Then the walkthrough room situation would be solved and the small children’s room could be my home office.
I would like to fully renovate the side building with the small WC. The unfinished part was straw and hay storage for the pigs and rabbits. I see a bathroom there with a separate room for the washing machine and dryer to replace the demolished laundry room.
The medium-sized room will probably become the bedroom and the large room my hobby room with guest sleeping possibility.

Attic:
Here I see my daughter’s realm. At the moment (she is 3 years old) she still sleeps with me. But if she ever wants her own space, it will surely be nice up there.
At the top of the plan, I would try to get approval for a large dormer to let enough light into the room. At the bottom of the plan is the street side, there will be no approval for a dormer because no house in the street has one. Roof windows will have to suffice here.
I would also like to plan a small bathroom here, roughly at the top right corner of the plan. Unfortunately, it cannot be placed in the side building here because the roof is too low.

What do you think, are my ideas sensible or should I rather leave my grandma’s house alone?
In case of doubt, it’ll be a rental apartment.

Best regards
Nicole

Hello, can you please provide explanations about the measurements? According to your explanation, 2 boxes equal 1 meter. However, with your sketch, one has to consider that the walls basically have to be added. It would be quite important to actually fit a standard kitchen or something similarly adequate into the kitchen. Do you know where the pipes are located? Is the staircase drawn correctly? According to the roof, it should be the other way around. (The arrow should point upwards on the drawing) Also, it is not clear to us whether the courtyard is outdoor or indoor, for example. Is this basically a semi-detached house? I’m missing a bit of the idea whether everything is worn out or nicely romantic. It would be nice to have photos for the impression… also of where the journey begins.

What do you think, are my ideas meaningful or should I better keep my hands off my grandma’s house?

What does the building substance etc. look like? Is it worth preserving or renovating the house? Is the budget available? Has a professional ever been there regarding load-bearing walls, rot in the timbers, etc.?

I’m trying with the details :)

Hello, can you please give explanations about the measurements? According to your explanation, 2 squares equal 1 meter. However, with your sketch, one has to keep in mind that the walls basically have to be added. It would be quite important to know whether you can fit a standard kitchen or something similar adequate into the kitchen. Do you know where the pipes are located?

Correct, 1 cm is approx. 1 m, I am aware that the wall thicknesses are missing. It was really meant to be just a sketch, which doesn’t include 100% accuracy.
A standard kitchen will be difficult. On the left between the window and the bathroom door fits a standard cabinet plus a hanging unit. On the right wall at the bottom of the plan is the sink, next to it the stove. Behind that are narrow cabinets until there is no more space because the room gets narrower.
In the bathroom, the pipes must be on the north wall. From left to right on the north wall are: toilet, washbasin, bathtub.

Is the staircase drawn the right way around? According to the roof, it should be the other way around. (Arrow should point upwards on the drawing)

The staircase is always at the north wall of the house and the stairs go up towards the middle of the house. It ends in the attic, sorry for the wrong drawing.

Also, it’s not clear to us whether the courtyard is outdoor or indoor, for example. Is this basically a semi-detached house?

The courtyard is outdoor, it’s a terraced development without uniform fronts. Except in the south, there are houses/plots all around. Basically, the courtyard is like an atrium, on the left there is an approx. 2 m high wall to the neighbor.

I’m a bit missing the sense of whether it’s all worn out or nicely romantic.
It would be nice to have photos to get an impression… also where the journey begins.

My grandma lived in the house until about a year ago. Now she lives with my aunt, the house is still maintained and now also heated frost-protected.
At the moment, unfortunately, I can’t get away here for pictures. There’s just too much to sort out.

What does the building fabric etc. allow? Is it worth preserving or renovating the house? Is the budget available?
Has an expert ever been there regarding load-bearing walls, dry rot in the beams etc.?

The building fabric is basically good, as said, the house is still maintained. Theoretically, we could move in immediately. Practically, a lot no longer fits the present time. My grandparents raised four children in this house; I can hardly imagine that.
There are things that have to be changed, e.g., electricity and water I would like to have newly installed. The heating must be different since in the ground floor you can only heat with wood stoves. My aunt thought that was a great idea 10 years ago and had the pipes for the ground floor removed or disconnected right away. Aside from that, possibly an alternative to oil.
The roof structure needs to be looked at more closely. But if I remember correctly, the roof was re-roofed in the 90s.
The budget is theoretically available, depends on the sale of the current house and the condominium. Part of the life insurance is still available for initial work.
No expert has been there yet.

I hope it’s a bit clearer now :)

Apart from that, possibly an alternative to the oil.

Depending on the age of the heating system, you may even be required to take action. You can search for "Sanierungspflicht bei Eigentümerwechsel."

Depending on the age of the heating system, you might even be obligated to take action. You can look up "Sanierungspflicht bei Eigentümerwechsel."

I know, we had that in the current house as well. At least we thought so, but our chimney sweep then clarified that it is not the case here.

In my grandmother's house, however, this still needs to be checked and an appropriate consultation is required on what alternatives might be possible.

For an evaluation of your idea, you cannot avoid measuring the current state of the rooms down to the exact centimeter. Wall dimensions as well as doors and windows with measurements horizontally, vertically, and sill height are also important.

Are there no plans of the property? Try asking the building authority.