The staircase, this has already been mentioned here several times, is really very narrow and small. Have fun carrying furniture upstairs. And a bathtub still has to go up... that’s going to be tight. Also, you should always think about later. Something can always happen, so you have to live in a disability-friendly way. What if you can no longer climb narrow, winding stairs? There is no space left here for a stairlift. I would always plan a staircase in a new building in such a way that you can retrofit it if needed (and of course always hope that the case never occurs).
The staircase will be changed again. Many thanks for the numerous suggestions.
I reread the thread. The planning has been done so far without an architect? Especially with a hillside plot, I wouldn’t want to do without their help. They might still have some clever ideas.
Yes, it’s self-planning so far including floor plan drawings. That’s why there are still some issues in certain places. The floor plan is now with the planner as a basis. According to him, the hill is not a problem – the immediate neighbors built with the same company, so I believe him. The slope is 2.38 m from south to north or 6.8% gradient over 35 m if I didn’t miscalculate.
- TV in front of a window??? Seriously? (Have you thought about “turning around” the living room? So TV where the seating area is now and seating area next to the dining table?)
We currently have almost exactly the same living situation in the living room including furniture. And we do it exactly that way. Turning it around is possible, but then you permanently look into a dark hole with the TV.
Others must have the same problem, right, or don’t you have windows, doors, etc., in the living room?
- the living room is large, there are still some good possibilities (e.g., adding a free-standing wall so that the TV comes closer to the seating area, behind which you can wonderfully put bookshelves and have a somewhat separate reading corner, for example)
Good idea!
- I wouldn’t want the entrance area to go all the way to the stairs, but rather have the stairs in the living area, but that’s a matter of taste.
I like that a lot too but with the kids... I also want to be able to watch TV sometimes without waking the kids. And conversely, they might come home with friends, girlfriends, relationships... etc.
- to me, all the windows are too tiny; there are no exterior views, but those are many small holes in the wall; I would prefer larger windows. For example, if you leave out the bay window in front and make a straight exterior facade there: install two large sliding doors, or one large one in the middle and two French doors on the sides, etc.
Well, we’ll just keep the bay window then... right?
About the windows/doors: They were repositioned by the planner so that everything is reasonably symmetrical and fits with the roof. However, in standard sizes. I hope to get the updated plan tomorrow, then we’ll get into details here. Sliding doors are a good idea.
- the two drawn shafts, is that a double-flue chimney? Do you have a wood stove planned somewhere else? I don’t see that; maybe this shaft could be better integrated. As it is now, it stands right in the middle; surely that can be done differently.
A wood stove is planned in the living room, yes, or rather it should be possible to connect one. It has already been adjusted and moved to the north wall of the living room.
- I also see many wall sections that, in my opinion, are not necessary at all and unnecessarily make the living space awkward. There is still a lot of room for improvement.
Which ones? The wall in the living room is there intentionally:
[*]either the stove goes here
[*]or the wall remains at 1.10 m height
[*]or some other kind of room divider (bookshelf) goes here
What I think is good is to start kitchen and bathroom planning early, then during detailed planning you can possibly still take that into account, for example if a wall needs to be moved a few centimeters for a better kitchen situation, where connections should go, etc. Especially if you plan a kitchen island, that’s not unwise. However, that also requires a good kitchen and bathroom planner. Here too, I still see, well, as I said before: a lot of potential.
It’ll work – we have already achieved a lot in a short time.
By when does your detailed planning need to be finished? I would still invest a lot of time and brainpower into it and ideally find a competent architect. The money is well spent.
We were already “briefly” with one... he slapped down three hand sketches with utopian room sizes despite precise specifications (bathroom 27 m², kids’ room 30 m², pantry 10 m²) and charged almost €1000 for it. Well, there was a preliminary discussion too... but yeah. We didn’t pursue it further for now.