Floor plan with setback - yes or no?!

You have to look at what you need now and what you can afford. It doesn’t help to financially restrict yourself just because maybe a child will live there someday.

There are also stylish extensions. Often it clashes because pseudo-Bauhaus 2018 meets 80s chic.

Take a look at Stadtvillen floor plans (not because you should build one, but they are relatively well-thought-out family layouts on 2 floors).
Just think about 2-3 children now.
The staircase is more central in the house (then there is a continuous one all the way up to the attic) and a room with daylight is created in the basement.

Upstairs one side children, one side parents.
On the ground floor a nice large kitchen-living area with dining space for 10 to 12 people, fireplace, play corner separated from the living room by a sliding door.
So rather the classic 180 sqm floor plan with 2 full stories.
The attic gets supply lines, rafters are insulated, not the floor, screed goes in. Nice large storage space and in winter you can put Bobby cars and trampolines there.
What I don’t want to miss anymore is a laundry room on the sleeping level – that’s where the laundry really accumulates.

Now come the question marks.

3rd child – the oldest has to move out.
1st option: the oldest child moves into the basement and gets the nice bright room facing the street and peace.
2nd option: child moves into the ground floor office (which I would eliminate).
3rd option: you convert the attic.

2 children are already older and staying.
One gets the attic with dormers, builds it out as needed.
One gets the room with bathroom in the basement facing the street.
One simply gets the children’s area.

1 child wants to move in with family.
You move to the ground floor and separate off the living room as a bedroom.
The large kitchen-living area remains.
Upstairs the bedrooms remain and in the attic cooking, living, and dining are newly designed.

The upper apartment can, for example, be accessed via an outside staircase with a large balcony (which you don’t need now).

There are many possibilities and many solutions. You cannot plan all this.

Eliminate the unnecessary rooms from your floors, give the basement more purpose than just entrance and storage.
A nice big room can go in there that can be used individually. Now simply as a gamer-work-guest room, later as a small apartment.

I don’t think it’s successful – especially considering your thoughts. Regarding the staircase location: because of the corner solution, a long hallway is needed. The kitchen, which should normally be central in a household with many children, has the longest traffic route. Everything has to pass by the living room, although you’re seeking privacy. Your recess is neither fish nor fowl, it restricts a terrace in the passage area. There is no cloakroom and much space for 4-5 people at the entrance. Where you need less, a turning circle has emerged, which looks like a dead end. The pantry is too narrow to be walked through. A corner bench might work on the edge, but there is no space for a freestanding table. The counter is narrow at 60 cm. I already said a bit about the central open area. You don’t plan building blocks in front of the terrace door, nor in a passage area. A bathroom should suffice for visitors and later as a parents’ bathroom. And the room that is supposed to be a bedroom later should also be planned with at least 12 sqm and can be placed for the first few years so that it serves as a playroom.

Thanks for your very helpful thoughts – you’re certainly right about some of them. I had also thought about arranging the living room and kitchen/dining area exactly reversed. But that certainly isn’t ideal either. I just find it very difficult… I also don’t really like a bay/alcove, since it divides the terrace area into two parts. And I find a simple, rectangular house boring; it lacks the “special something.” We had searched so long for a floor plan that is open but doesn’t awkwardly line up all areas. And really thought we had found it here; I’m simply running out of ideas on how else to solve it. In modern show homes, you only find a fully open living landscape, and I just don’t like that. But having the living room as a completely separate room feels like 1990 to me.

Mmmhh... so actually you don't like the house from the outside, you don't like the bay window, you're unsure about one thing or another, you understand the criticism on some points.

Honestly? Crumple it up or alternatively throw it with a sponge-over-three-points toss, or if it hurts more, a slightly frustrated trash can dunk is also okay. Write down (textually, not graphically) what you liked... take to heart the various described approaches (budget - expectations - etc.) and start again from scratch.

Trying to adapt the proposal to the "corners" you have already mentioned only makes a mess out of it.

By the way... whether you only build once in a lifetime... there are definitely other opinions here. There are users who hold the (quite understandable) opinion that in the future people will rather build more than once. That may vary regionally and especially in more rural-traditional regions (still) not so much. But you shouldn't hold too tightly to the mantra of building today for 2-3 generations already. First see how it fits for you today or at least in the near future. Everything else is on top. There are not only bad examples when it comes to later additions or conversions.

I also saw a solution over the weekend where a child (with partner) builds a semi-detached house with the parents. The parents' half turned out to be slightly smaller, but both halves are stylistically the same. The entire building was harmonious. Only the "children's part" (which is already grown up) would be from my point of view as well. The parents had a living area, bedroom, bathroom, unfortunately only a very narrow kitchen without daylight, which I didn't like. Otherwise, an 80m² two-room apartment. Maybe one also thinks about whether such a solution is possible? Now the family house that you need, and you already plan the retirement residence with regard to location on the property, etc., and build it when the time comes?

You have to see what you need now and can afford. It’s no use financially restricting yourself now just because maybe a child will live there someday.

There are also stylish extensions. Often clashes happen because pseudo-Bauhaus 2018 meets 80s chic.

Take a look at city villa floor plans (not because you have to build one, but these are relatively well-thought-out family layouts over 2 floors).
Just think of 2-3 kids for now.
The staircase more central in the house (then there is a continuous one all the way up to the attic) and a room with daylight can be created in the basement.

Upstairs one side children, one side parents.
On the ground floor a nice big kitchen-living area with a dining space for 10 to 12 people, fireplace, play area separated from the living room by a sliding door.
So rather the classic 180 sqm floor plan with 2 full stories.
The attic gets supply lines, rafters are insulated, not the floor, screed is poured. Nice large storage space and in winter you can put the Bobby Car and trampoline there.
What I no longer want to miss is a laundry room on the sleeping level – that's where the laundry accumulates.

Now the question marks:

3rd child – the oldest has to move out.
Option 1: the older child moves to the basement and gets the nice bright room facing the street and his peace.
Option 2: the child moves into the ground floor study (which I would cancel).
Option 3: you convert the attic.

2 children are already bigger and stay.
One gets the attic with dormers, builds it out as needed.
One gets the room with bathroom in the basement facing the street.
One simply gets the children’s area.

1 child wants to move in with their family.
You go to the ground floor, close off the living room as a bedroom.
The large kitchen-living area remains.
Upstairs the bedrooms stay and in the attic cooking, living, dining is newly designed.

The upper apartment can, for example, be accessed via an external staircase with a large balcony (which you don’t need now).

There are many possibilities and many solutions. You can't plan all of this.

Remove unnecessary rooms from your floors, give the basement more meaning than just an entrance and storage room.
A nice large room can go there that can be used individually. Now simply as a gamer’s-study-guest room, later as a small apartment.

Super good ideas and inputs – many thanks for that!

We will take a really close look at your ideas – for example, I think the external staircase is an awesome idea and also the room in the basement – maybe I can also plan the office there – I’m a little crafting enthusiast and want a room for my creative chaos.

Only the separated bedroom/living room thing makes me a bit skeptical... if you think further and grandchildren are around someday, it will get tight again on Sundays with the family or at Christmas/Easter... I see that now also with my in-laws (in whose house we live and who now only have the ground floor) – all children with partners and children are there and it really gets uncomfortable and our family gets together quite often and I hope that it will be like that for us too!

How can we approach this concretely now? Do we have to completely discard this plan or can we already build on the basement if, among other things, we rearrange the staircase differently? I’ve heard that you should plan a house around the kitchen, as it is the most important and central point, which is true. Now I’m uncertain whether to do a completely new design or continue working with what we have?

Mmmhh...actually you don’t like the house from the outside, you don’t like the bay window, you’re uncertain about one thing or another, you understand the criticism on some points.

Honestly? Crumple it up or optionally go for the Sponge-Over-Three-Point-Throw or if it hurts more, a slightly frustrated trash can dunk is also okay.
Write down (textually, not drawing) what you liked... take to heart the approaches described by various people (budget – expectations – etc.) and start over again.

The suggestion to adapt the proposal to the already mentioned “corners” by you just turns it into nonsense.

By the way... whether you only build once in your life... there are definitely different opinions here. There are users who (quite understandably) believe that in the future people will build more than once. That may vary regionally and especially in more rural-traditional areas (still) not so much.
But you shouldn’t hold on too tightly to the mantra of building today already for 2-3 generations. First see how it fits for you today or at least in the near future. Everything else is on top.
There aren’t only bad examples regarding later additions or remodeling.

well, I do like the house from the outside but with some changes... for example in the attic only one large (triangular) window (more as an ornamental element) + skylight for ventilation, entrance area designed differently, etc. etc...

you misunderstood the bay window. I don’t like this standard bay window that you see (at least in our area) on every new house, because it makes the terrace area look so separated. I think with our recess the terrace forms a much more harmonious picture and at the same time you also have a sheltered area thanks to the balcony. What I also don’t like about the projecting bay windows is that you sit in the shop window – we look directly towards the street where all the (even if not much) traffic passes by. I don’t want to have a bay window and then have to cover everything with curtains/blinds all the time so no one can see into my house... I thought that was better solved with the recess!

thanks for your tips regarding the further planning – looks like it really would be better to start over...