Location of city villa or single-family house on 500 m2 plot - rectangular

The open-plan living area is not comfortable in terms of proportions, and whether a dining table can be comfortably walked around and the terrace door easily accessed is questionable.

What do you mean by proportions? The distribution of the space among the individual functional areas? Or the LxWxH of the room?

The stairs don’t need a wall there, do they!?

Ahh, thanks for the example. I have to clarify that with the architect or the general contractor. That was just the architect’s statement for now. Maybe he was representing the general contractor’s usual strange sensitivities out of preemptive obedience. Thanks for the picture!

That only applies for the first 2 years. That’s why I don’t plan my house to be free of exterior wall cupboards for the rest of my life.

Ok, good to know, but how do you plan a kitchen then? Or is it enough if the cupboards simply don’t get a back panel at first? Or can you somehow get the plaster moisture out faster?

I wouldn’t worry about cabinets on the walls. Should the bathroom upstairs be set up like that? I think the bathtub is in the way when you come in. Also, it reduces the space in front of the sink, which is probably essential for a large family. Can anything still be rearranged there?

I wouldn't worry about cabinets on the walls. Is the bathroom upstairs supposed to be arranged like that? I think the bathtub is in the way when you come in. Besides, it reduces the space in front of the sink, which is probably essential for a large family. Can something still be moved there?

Yes, we've already talked about that. The idea at the moment is simply to move the tub into the corner by the window. The contractor didn't want to swap the tub and the washbasin (probably because of some piping routes).

But in a new post, because you respond so quickly: So, the surcharges are here: double-wing door in the living room €580.00 increase of room height in the ground floor shell from 2.75 m to 3.00 m €3,800.00 windows cannot be higher than 2.25 m. also the large stairwell window the general contractor rather does not want to do, but apparently is still waiting for an offer. So it suggests itself to go back to 2.75, that would make the LRH finished 2.55 and the windows sufficiently high at 2.25. And maybe the staircase start would not be so bad anymore, because you can save one step?

If I were you, I would think more about increasing the living space than about increasing the room height! If I understood correctly, your floor buildup is at 20 cm. Why so high? We have 2.70 m finished height on the ground floor, but our rooms are significantly larger compared to yours. Our living/dining room is almost 60 sqm. Upstairs we have 2.60 m and that is perfectly sufficient for normally sized rooms, children’s rooms are 18 sqm.

In your place, I would think more about increasing the living space than about adding room height!

I would feel the same, but the floor area ratio here is quite small – how far the building authority will go with that would have to be tested. But I also consider additional height to be wasted money, especially since the stairs would then become longer again and throw everything off. A central bay window in the middle of the living room would ease the situation much more – both downstairs and upstairs, even if it seems a bit old-fashioned.

The furnishings in the living area are not the planned ones, are they? We already had furnishings here that fit well with the room size.