Floor plan single-family house country house with garage

Hi everyone,

I didn’t have much time earlier, so I’d like to briefly share our thoughts and the framework conditions for the floor plan with you once again. For simplicity, short and concise in bullet points

[*]we are building with Heinz von Heiden and not with an architect
[*]we took the floor plan of the house and modified it ourselves to jointly determine the feasibility with the sales representative
[*]a lot of space in the living/dining area is important to us, as it represents the focal point of life and we don’t want to be constantly moving chairs around
[*]we plan to have a large U-shaped couch and a big dining table in the living room, so not much space remains in the living room, and coziness has nothing to do with size
[*]the terrace gable extends up to the upper floor so that straight walls are created upstairs in the bedroom. We also find it very chic, especially regarding the exterior appearance of the house
[*]the fireplace is not yet finally positioned; it will probably move more toward the living room door

about the upper floor

[*]the bedroom is in the terrace gable, which has no sloping walls. The windows are floor-to-ceiling, and the ceiling is open up to the gable of the terrace gable
[*]it was important to us not to split the terrace gable in half and to avoid creating a niche in two resulting rooms
[*]next to the bedroom, where only the bed and two nightstands are supposed to fit (no view of a wardrobe), is the dressing area
[*]the two children’s rooms should be the same size, not too small, and equally equipped so there will be no disputes later
[*]the gallery with the open space is open and a little highlight for us because we have always wanted that

Overall, we are always open to ideas or suggestions for improvement, since the planning meeting with the architect, where everything will be finally decided, is still pending. What are your experiences? Do you happen to have similar floor plans?

Attached is a sketch of the house on our plot, the shed, carport, and sketched terrace.

Oh yes, and here are the questions for creating the thread

Requirements of the builders

[*]gable roof, 45°
[*]1.5 stories, no basement
[*]4 people, 2 adults, a toddler, a baby
[*]overnight guests per year, perhaps 2-3 weekends with family
[*]rather open architecture, at least on the ground floor
[*]construction style: country house meets modern
[*]open kitchen, probably in G-shape
[*]seating at the dining table: at least 6
[*]fireplace: yes
[*]garage / carport: yes, later
[*]none: balcony, no stereo wall, greenhouse

House design

[*]see above
[*]heating: air heat pump, underfloor heating in all rooms

If you have to do without, which details/extensions

[*]you can do without: small, dark rooms
[*]you cannot do without: spaciousness, lots of light, open living feel

Many thanks

That's nice - but in the bay window there is neither the U-sofa nor the large dining table - I can already see that those will be the spacious obligatory 15 m² of free area for Grandma's beautiful carpet.. Why do you need solid walls in the bedroom? Ironically, your closets are next door - there are slopes again - 2 linear meters of closet are drawn in... The bed is not an option like that - it doesn’t fit. Are you getting roller shutters? Otherwise, the bedroom will heat up a lot in the summer. I also don't know if you really always want the panoramic view into your bedroom. The position of the shower and the whole bathroom upstairs doesn’t blow me away. Generally a model house, but with built-in flaws - I think it could be better.

Hmm... The fact is that you can't just change everything at will with this BU. You are allowed to mirror the staircase, and also swap the guest toilet with the utility room. The staircase will always be in the entrance area as standard... with a wardrobe underneath. The living area is only 4 meters wide, but 10 meters long. It takes some finesse to give the room a cozy feel. With a total of 57 sqm, there is plenty of living space, but there will probably only be an empty space in the middle where no children’s, crafting, or hobby corner can be set up, because it would be too prominent in the house. I don’t understand how you can place a big sofa in front of a window (floor-to-ceiling window) that you always have to shade for watching TV, possibly with blinds. This will eventually only be down below. It would be better to move the terrace window to the west. Advantage: western sun in the room, access to the west garden, and a more individual room layout. Where are the guests supposed to sleep? In one of the children’s rooms? As I said before: my neighbors have this house (without bay window and dormer), and the three of them manage... it’s a matter of cost when you decide on this BU. Personally, I don’t like the standards, and the flexible free room layout is also lacking. For me, it’s too restrictive. But that doesn’t mean someone couldn’t manage with the floor plans in a small apartment. And if I repeat myself here: something better can definitely be made from the area - but not with this BU. What kind of path is that on the west? The property itself looks quite nice.

We had a very similar floor plan in our old house like yours, with a prefab house manufacturer. And I have to agree with the others on pretty much all points. This bay window area eventually just annoyed us. At first, it was a play corner for the children. Great for the kids, frustrating for the parents, because the living room no longer looked like a living room, but rather like a playroom. So all the toys were put away. But then what to do with the bay window? No idea. It was always empty. Sometimes there was an armchair in it, sometimes a plant, but somehow we never found the optimum. Our new living room is about 20m² smaller and we don’t miss anything.

The bed in the upper floor is just not working at all. Why do you need the huge glass front in the bedroom? At night it’s dark and in summer you probably have the shutters down anyway. And during the day you rarely spend time in the bedroom. We also had the bedroom in this location, but with normal windows. In hindsight, we would have rather swapped the dressing room and the bedroom, as solid walls make more sense especially in the dressing room.
What I also notice is that if you open the door in the bedroom, you have to be careful not to hit your head. Take a look where the 2-meter line runs and how you get to the other side of the bed.

The open space/void is nonsense, too. It won’t look the way you imagine. It doesn’t even span the entire width of the front door or just barely. It will look like you want to — but can’t.

Where is the wardrobe supposed to go in [Kind2]? On the straight side, there is the window on one side and the entrance door on the other side, which you can’t move much further either, because then there is the unnecessary open space.

As Manu already wrote, and what I just meant, is the position where I have now placed the X. There will already be an incline there.

Thank you very much for the many responses. We probably would have hoped for more positive feedback, but we can still work on it.

Especially on the upper floor, we are open to changes. We are already quite satisfied with the ground floor; maybe we have thought about putting up a small half-height wall in the living area to spatially separate the TV corner a bit.

We can also make larger floor plan changes with Heinz von Heiden since we have taken an additional static package, which allows us to move all the walls. We wanted to keep the straight staircase for now if possible and we are also sticking to the gable.

Now we need to find a more suitable floor plan on the upper floor. We have considered moving the bathroom to the gable, basically swapping the bathroom and the bedroom. Then planning small windows in the gable for that. What do you think about that? Or do you have ideas for a completely different floor plan on the upper floor?