Floor plan single-family house, approx. 200 sqm without basement - assessment

Here we are again with me having to prove exactly why I want it that way.

Division or not, we want a room, many call it a utility room, whatever, we want this one room as an intermediate section between the house and the garage. We then enter the house through it; our jackets etc. hang there.
That’s why it shouldn’t have been like that with you back then. Additionally, because of the separation between the ground floor and upper floor, primarily for the children/family.

If it ever comes to that and it is rented out to outsiders, having the party room would certainly be problematic. On the other hand, it’s good that I have my second staircase!

The kitchen could be in the southwest children’s room. There are 4.8 rooms width available there. If that is too small, the party has to simply deal with it or get kicked out!
Currently, my kitchen in our 140 sqm house isn’t even 4.8m long. Even on the ground floor in our current plan, the kitchen is not quite 4.8m long.
Of course, it is then designed as an L-shape. I am of the definite opinion that then upstairs a 4.8m kitchen unit has to be sufficient.

As I said, however, it is not really my focus.
And yet we want the utility room accessible from the garage and only from there and, of course, from the hallway inside.

The architect will probably have to deal with that one way or another.

I would also be interested to know how you live? Everyone has different perspectives/living habits. But you can’t impose those on others.

At ypg I know the floor plan, but not the others. Maybe it doesn’t matter here either, you don’t have to reveal it if you don’t want to. But I live in the countryside and not in the city. Disadvantage: longer ways to work, not as good connections, etc. Advantage: Because of this fact, I can build somewhat larger since the plots allow it.

When I look around in my own and also the older generation’s circle of acquaintances, many have 200 sqm. My parents only 130 in the American half-story style (the garages on the ground floor INSIDE the house, half a flight down half-basement with heating, storage room and party basement, half a flight up then the ground floor, half a flight up again = room above the garage, in our case the children’s rooms. In addition to the 130 sqm, my parents have the basement, then they added a conservatory and converted the attic. Of course, I grew up well there, but that also shows that without those extensions and conversions the space would not have been enough.

Our neighbors have the mirrored semi-detached house with 140 sqm. 2 children, 2 cats, 1 dog. That thing is jam-packed. Laundry is also dried in the hallway, utility room is full of shelves all the way to the roof, every corner is fully utilized. Sure, that works too, but I just don’t want it that way.

Parents-in-law (or rather father-in-law) have 163 sqm, but fully basemented with laundry room, party room, toilet, + 2 extra rooms.

And so it goes on.

Clearly, my 20 sqm hallway is somewhat wasteful. Although in the newest design it is only 17-18 sqm. The 20 sqm utility room is debatable. 15 would probably be enough too, but whatever.

I find the living room borderline small, especially the length of only 6-max 7 m bothers me a bit.

The rest I find fully OK. The upper floor hallway is on one hand wasteful, but on the other hand the stairs or a possible gallery do not waste any space. I prefer to convert the space directly into rooms.

The newer design with the entrance in the west offers less hallway downstairs, the same hallway upstairs, a bigger toilet downstairs, the rest almost unchanged. Oh yes, the utility room is smaller, but that should not cause any objection. The exact position of the windows still needs to be found, of course, so that it looks appealing from the south and west. The east side can’t be seen anyway, but should of course also look proper.

I think that works too. Bathroom window on the left west. Then the front door element with narrow window elements on the sides, then possibly double kitchen windows. Upstairs then children’s room window above the double kitchen window, upstairs bathroom above the entrance area, utility room upstairs will unfortunately be a problem… I already showed one view here once. Based on that, you can imagine the changes.

Slammer, you always only read what you want.

There is a difference for planning whether this room is only to be used by one EG party in the event of a separation .. because then the rest must be planned in such a way that this is observed. And the goal is to break away from predetermined room layouts. And that was your previous statement .. and then you come in here and say, "the upper party can also use the kitchen on the ground floor" .. and then one wonders which of the many wishes/requirements etc. has which priority.

I am not a fan of planning a generous house while already keeping a separation in mind. And, that would also possibly free up a few other options.

Well, the stairs near the front door are the only thing that should be provisionally planned for safety reasons, roughly speaking.

The room through which we enter the house should only be for the ground floor. That would be the direction. Because should I share the utility room with others in case of rental? Certainly not.
So it makes sense one way or another, in my eyes.

Now to the third draft.

I don’t think it’s bad in a way, but I can’t live better with it from various points of view than with my drafts.
The stairs could be rotated 90° and placed directly at the front door. The wardrobe accordingly a bit to the right.
The only problem is that the garage would be too small. And if it gets bigger, the front door would inevitably shift downwards, which conflicts with the bathroom.
But I don’t want to give up on this essential thing like the garage workspace (or enough space in front of the cars) in favor of a centrally located front door on the north side.

That’s how it is and I know you certainly won’t be mad at me and won’t take every word so harshly.
Living/Dining/Kitchen in an L-shape, I think it’s good.
However, in my case, I can go from the kitchen to the garden or onto the terrace (walk and look). Here I would only be able to look at the kitchen. Sure, that works, but I find it better for me.

In the living room, I’m into a big wall unit/hi-fi wall or a TV hanging on the wall. In any case, my big floor-standing speakers and my subwoofer should fit next to it. A drop-down screen would also be good, in my opinion.

I’m not a fan of "putting the TV in some corner" where it just fits.
At my in-laws’, you look straight past the TV onto the terrace, so it’s like the TV wall and sofa are mirrored compared to mine.
The TV is placed slightly diagonally in the room, hence flowers and decorative stuff.
However, that wouldn’t work for me. I kind of give up the view to the garden from the sofa for it.
Some might argue now that it makes more sense from there than from the kitchen, but now you have my opinion too.
If I need sofa + view of the garden, I sit on the east wall (from the inside, of course) and look to the left toward the garden, straight also over the dining table into the kitchen and if I’m interested in the news at the same time, briefly to the right.
So basically all options remain open.

I’m aware that if the stairs were more inside, it would create much more scope. Also, the stairs wouldn’t be in the so-called “dirty area.”

But I want to keep it open if I build such a big house. Many walls can be changed, a staircase only with difficulty.

If a draft blows me away and the stairs can’t be at the entrance, that might change my mind. But so far I haven’t managed that.

There are many nice floor plans; if they have to be adapted to my conditions, they look different!

PS: I still need to look at the floor plan in detail, I haven’t been home for long.

In the last generation, there was a lot of building, yes. However, that was before the first oil crisis, heating costs didn’t matter, insulation was not necessary, and so the square meter was cheap. The topic hasn’t even been addressed here yet, has it? Should the party room be within the thermal envelope? Presumably not the garage, so in that case it would have to be appropriately insulated and, of course, there should be a corresponding door between them.

I live alone in a 66 sqm apartment and work from home. The apartment offers a combined guest/work/ironing room, all with nicely hidden storage space, a bedroom with a walk-in closet (about 300 cm wardrobe), a "large" (28 sqm) living/dining/kitchen area, a small bathroom with a large walk-in shower and a small storage room for laundry, supplies, vacuum cleaner. Hallway with enough space for "my" 2 to 3 season jackets used alternately, a large shoe cabinet, and for greeting guests. Additionally, a large 24 sqm terrace... more of a balcony, since I live on a hillside, underneath which is my garage.

It is a renovated old building, which I rent and which has been renovated according to my wishes.

Floor plan: