Ground floor approx. 100 sqm, upper floor expandable (planned bathroom, 2 children's rooms, 1 storage room)

So, an open door is quite normal here. Sometimes I also forget to lock up when I leave. But usually, you lock up when you go out or go to sleep. Yes, there are break-ins. But rather few compared to other areas.

Don't let your insurance read this here, then your coverage will be gone....

An unlocked door is surely a deterrent for burglars. It means the residents are just briefly at the neighbor’s and will be back soon.

There are regions where people only know about burglaries by hearsay. It’s the same for us.

Changes faster than you think... it was the same for us until the first Romanian gangs came (this is not racist, it was just like that: organized gangs that broke in and they were all from Romania; in the far north they might come from somewhere else).

And therefore: if it can be proven that it was not locked, you won’t get a single euro from your insurance. So if the door was only opened with a credit card and there were no other signs of a break-in, then you’re out of luck.

: Topic smells: First of all, it should be clear that I did not mean that no smells can be detected in the house except in the closed kitchen. I am well aware that smells always spread.

I also know three variants. My parents have a closed kitchen. The prospective parents-in-law have a kitchen separated from the living room by a door. We live in a rental apartment with an open kitchen.

For us, the open kitchen is by far the worst option. Clattering is annoying when watching TV, the smells spread throughout the entire room – I once cooked grey peas. The smell lingered for 2 days despite the extractor hood and later airing – never again. Also, the kitchen always has to be clean...

That leaves the other two variants. I like both, but the one of my parents-in-law suffers from the counter space. It works if you don't want to eat with the children in the kitchen. But that's exactly what we want to be able to do. Therefore, only the variant you consider the worst remains for us.

: The utility room increases the number of windows in that I definitely want 2 windows facing the street. However, the kitchen also needs light through a window if it is located in the east. So one window more than in the original variant. Ultimately not a huge problem.

@Topic open door: I actually only know it like that too. The doors are always open and you go in, call "Hello" and move on after a response. When absent, of course the door is locked...

The variant I last posted with swapped kitchen/utility room and bedroom/bathroom I could imagine, but my girlfriend can't really get used to it. She wants the kitchen facing the street to be able to look forward (okay, I don't need that). However, the utility room is a bit too far from the later planned carport for me (which will start at the planned living room and then extend into the depth of the plot).

Swapping bathroom/bedroom is a bit suboptimal for the upper floor since the bathroom on both levels is supposed to be in the same place.

In the end, maybe we are not modern enough, but for US it fits like that.

What I did take away and what really helped us is that we eliminated the kink in the hallway and thus straightened out the kink in the bedroom. That helped us a lot.

I want to thank everyone, even if most cannot quite understand our decision and would have built it quite differently. Thanks again to everyone.

PS: If the costs do turn out to be higher than predicted (I hope not, but anything is possible) and we do have to fundamentally change the floor plan, I'll get back in touch ;D

...On our side of the street with odd house numbers, everyone has it like this: back door-utility room-kitchen or hallway if the kitchen is in the living room. On the even side, one without a back door.

Number 1 among house-building mistakes: believing that just because everyone has it, it is right or well planned. And that you have to have it yourself. Standard may work, but is often not optimal. The standard from Heinz von Heiden is 6 sqm for a freezer room for 4 people, which includes everything else, like washing machine and storage space. Also in Schleswig-Holstein. Even a single neighbor curses this tightness... As a builder, you can choose lump sum and standard, but usually also individuality for the same costs, which, however, also requires some brainpower.