The rooms on the other floors are flexible and currently less relevant.
It has already been mentioned in the meantime that due to the stair location and a change to the ground floor, the upper floor will also be altered.
Also, by placing the bathroom in the upper floor, you are routing drainpipes downward that will appear again on the ground floor. Toilets are vented upward, so always make sure they are planned to be as stacked as possible.
So if you change the ground floor even slightly, you have to check whether this negatively affects the upper floor, and so on.
It is written everywhere that you should definitely plan living spaces to the south or southwest, and the north is practically a cold death. :) Hence our uncertainty.
I'll keep it short and insert a post of mine from the day before yesterday here. It also has some supporters (visible through likes).
By now, everyone has shading on their south-facing terrace.
One also has to clearly say again that south-facing terraces do not have sun in the evening.
Terraces are also not meant to lounge all day in your own garden like on vacation. First, you usually have your lawn or a spot in another corner of the garden for that. Second, during everyday life, you often don't want the sun because it simply disturbs your daily work.
When planning, I like to separate windows and terrace use: windows preferably in the south so that from October to Easter you get light and warmth into the house; the terrace preferably in the west or north to still catch sun rays there in the evenings during summer everyday life.
Everyone has to look at how their everyday life and day are structured.
If you plan frequent coffee visits from grandparents, you should have a terrace that is somewhat shaded. If you have daytime free time and like to sunbathe, your lounge chair is in a different place than the dining area for grilling.
If I were to build again, I would plan a small south terrace, but pay more attention to west/northwest.
West, on the other hand, has the disadvantage of wind, but you can counter that with planting and elements. I also know nobody who hasn't planted their terrace at their single-family house to make it cozier.
Regarding your list: that is exactly what it’s about. You describe your lives, and this should be reflected in the house. I’ll summarize it briefly and purposefully:
What matters to us is that we would like to have a bright living room as much as possible,
Understandable. You want light where you spend time. And also in winter, to enjoy the sunlight indoors.
During the day, the child (+ possibly more children) spends a lot of time in the living room or outside
We like to eat on the terrace
- also sitting on the terrace in the evenings during the summer months
This is the classic: enjoying life outdoors on the terrace. Am I correct that shading on the south side was planned? Good.
So ideally the main living focus dining table and kitchen close together, also in summer. Then the terrace replaces the dining area.
Short routes from the kitchen to the grill and outdoor seating area.
TV is only watched in the evening when the child is in bed
And then preferably with dim light, cozy and chilling out—winding down from everyday life.
We still don’t know exactly how to position the sofa, but in my opinion, that’s not decisive for the fundamental question of orientation.
We don’t want to fight wars here but plan the house perfectly if at all possible.
At the moment, I don’t see a nice TV corner as drawn. Somehow, the sofa does not have the space to look straight ahead at a screen.
Cooking takes place daily, so the kitchen is used often
And preferably bright, nice, maybe with a view of the garden?
In the current plan we like that we look completely to the south and have sun in the living rooms or terrace from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (during the warm months), and also some short amounts of sunlight in winter.
Yep, to be honest, I would leave the location roughly like that. But really with the drawn option to also be able to sit in the back on the north side. The compact footprint makes it possible to access both terraces on a short route.
If the orientation is right, the north terrace could be a nice sundowner terrace. This roughly fits the room orientation sketch from , which he posted meanwhile in #13. The kitchen is also positioned well for everyday use.
You’re lucky not to need a freezer room on the ground floor.
I would swap the parking space and carport so that you can cover the carport side with climbing plants and not have to look at the car. The parking space on the right side can be nicely separated to the garden with bushes.
Just a quick idea for a different layout. Upstairs, the bathroom could be above the entrance area and WC, your bedroom above the living room, and the children's rooms above the kitchen/dining area. Unfortunately, I have little time, so please consider it only as a sketch.