Floor plan: Semi-detached house 8x12m. Opinions and creative ideas welcome :-)

Three showers for four people seems a bit excessive to me. The space could also be well used as storage in the utility room. Guests can then just use one of the showers upstairs.

About 2.70m (although we could also go up to 3m there )
But it really depends on the space - especially since we really only sit there once a day for about 15 minutes And even with guests, the area is really rarely used.

That can all change. I have been sitting at the dining table for years, doing the kids' homework .

Best regards
Sabine

Can you please show where exactly the property boundary runs? It looks here as if the dividing wall to the neighbor is in the SE, that is, where the staircase is. But since I know the floor plan from the green forum, the neighbor should now be where the garage is. And then the question arises whether you don't like the sun or if you are planning windows on the ground floor that way (yes, I know, just put like that), as if you are planning a terraced house. Because I don't see the staircase there where the main orientation to the light is. So, bring on the site plan!

Good morning, now it just clicked with your name

Regarding the fireplace: it should only be an electric fireplace purely for the look.

About the shower on the ground floor or the total of 3 showers. You are of course absolutely right. But I have the following problem: we are planning an extra guest room in case we take in people in need of care (parents). It’s uncertain, but we want to be prepared. Accordingly, the person has to somehow be able to shower – and especially there it should be as barrier-free as possible. Also for us, if something happens like a broken leg or something else, there should be the possibility to sleep downstairs and also to shower. I just find it absolutely advantageous for the kids later on to have their own bathroom upstairs. Especially when there are visitors etc. I’d rather not share "my" bathroom and guests don’t run downstairs at night anyway. Maybe we could do without the glass downstairs and only prepare a drain in the floor and a showerhead, but then I think you can just install the shower directly.

The technical room should be accessible via the garage and through a hidden kitchen entrance.

About the dining table: right now we don’t even have 2 meters width, it’s a bit tight but one meter more would already be generous (for us). Our table is 90cm wide and it won’t get any bigger. But I agree with you – maybe the needs will change, possibly the couch or the wall can still be moved a bit. It’s a total of 7.20m – maybe it can be better distributed.

well spotted – correct. The floor plan here is mirrored, but we still don’t know which side it will be in the end. They are celebrating right now :-P. But since both are cut completely the same, it’s "actually" totally irrelevant for the floor plan. Only in this case it would be a bit darker than the other side. But I didn’t understand the thing with the staircase. The short side (the 8m side) faces southwest. We planned the staircase on the wall of the other semi-detached house. There can’t be any window there anyway and on the other side the garage/carport and the open area where we will definitely place windows. If we’re lucky and get the "left" side, then the floor plan would be mirrored, the garage in the south and then we would also have a bit more light. Hope that was understandable.

Hope I forgot nothing

ah about the stairs: that was of course a bit exaggerated the main reason was actually that I don't want to constantly go through the hallway when I want to go upstairs. The dirt accumulates there and if everyone has to go through it on the way up then you take everything up with you - (so it is at my mother's place at the moment) even if not in the living area, the stairs should be further away from the entrance area

And about the balcony:
Yes for me it is really only for the laundry, but my husband wants a balcony upstairs anyway - ideally accessible from the bathroom and bedroom. For me it should only be big enough for the laundry

Then I would really try to design the kitchen differently and create a small intermediate space between the utility room and the kitchen. It doesn’t have to be wide, maybe one meter.

The shower downstairs... I can absolutely understand the reasons behind it. But three showers in such a small house and just for a contingency... Hmm. But of course, you have to decide that for yourselves in the end.