Floor plan single-family house, 140 sqm with basement

The living room is now closed off. The person going up the stairs is directed to the right towards the dining area, which is generally a central gathering place for family life. The path then leads towards the kitchen. For me, my route always first leads from upstairs into the kitchen. Not for you? In the evening, the last stop is the sink. I always have the ideal in mind of everything gathering around the dining table or in the kitchen. Whether family members or friends or friends of children. The living room is completely out of the question. I also don’t find it appealing if all the basement—or rather garden and outdoor—dirt is first carried through living spaces. The hallway is central and easily accessible through the entrance.

Okay, so I can imagine that more for the kitchen than for the living room... That's true. However, you still have the disadvantage that after the front door you walk straight into a sort of hole. In the house that was the model for our plans, you almost walk straight to the stairs going up... They are then indirectly lit... looks quite nice. Would you then put a door in front of the basement stairs?

I would make a door to the basement. The stairs are also in the dining area at my parents-in-law's place (kitchen next door but open). I lived in that house for a while as a teenager, and neither my parents-in-law, nor my husband, his siblings, and I ever really found it disadvantageous. The only thing is the noise transmission to the upper floor, but at their place the stairs are also open in the room and half of the room is open up to the upper floor (gallery).

Have thought again about ypgs's suggestion. But I am still undecided... The last trip to the kitchen in the evening is also possible like that... Even if the stairs upstairs are at the bottom of the plan, there is a door from the kitchen to these stairs... Garden tools from the basement would have to - if the basement stairs are at the bottom of the plan - be carried around the building once through the front door. Otherwise, just once through the kitchen to the garden door... Maybe both variants are now conceivable with this floor plan, and it is a matter of taste...

Garden tools from the basement would have to be carried around the building once through the front door if the basement stairs are at the bottom edge of the plan. Otherwise, just once through the kitchen to the garden door... Perhaps, with this floor plan, both options are conceivable now, and it is a matter of taste...

That's precisely the individual difference: we also have a garden area or yard at the front and prefer to go around the house with a spade and rubber boots rather than through the house.

That's why we also opted out of having a basement.

We have it extremely like ’s in-laws do: my parents had it that way too, and we (my parents and I) never saw it as a problem – the open stairs from the dining area going up to the gallery.

We haven't decided yet. I like both options now. Many thanks already to everyone who has given it some thought... It was pointed out that the passage between the dining area and the living room might be too narrow. In the first draft, the fireplace was in the living room at the bottom left corner... It has now moved into the passage because that's where the laundry chute was placed... Your idea now was to move the laundry chute into the hallway. So the fireplace could also go back into the corner... On the other hand, I also like it near the seating window. Where would you put it?