Our floor plan design for an affordable house

It's been a good year, and back then I received very mixed reactions to our planning (to put it mildly ;)). But here is an update:

In the end, we decided on the last floor plan discussed, with the half-landing staircase that leads off from the living room. However, we adjusted the upper floor again because our building application was initially rejected with the reasoning that on rear plot properties, no 2 full stories may be built. Yeah, inconvenient when wardrobes, showers, and everything are planned on the eaves sides o_O. After some research, we came across a court ruling from Munich, which interprets §34 in such a way that no distinction may be made between front and rear development in the surrounding buildings. We referred to this and the building authority then finally said yes :D. In the meantime, we had rearranged the upper floor and stuck with it because we simply liked it better. Attached is the final floor plan.

Just before Christmas, the foundation slab was poured; in March, the masons were able to start, and now the shell is already standing with a finished roof and windows. Progress is going well; the construction site never stands still for a day. So far, we are sticking to the financial plan; our constantly updated spreadsheet currently shows us a final price of around €205,000, so we actually still have some leeway. This does not include the pile foundation and, for example, the kitchen, but it does include the foundation slab. We still have something left for the kitchen, carport, and terrace.

For cost reasons, we have also given up on some things. Actually, the higher ceiling in the ground floor, which we have now left at 2.60 m, just like on the upper floor. The facade will now be plastered; we have saved ourselves the wood or brick veneer, even though I miss that a bit. But I see the house from the inside more often, and especially with floor coverings, fittings, and doors, I want to avoid compromises more than with the exterior design. For this, we have slightly increased the footprint from 11.5x7.5 to 11.5x8 m, so the living area now amounts to 142 m² approximately. We have also enlarged or added some windows.

We have mainly taken on the development and complete earthworks ourselves, the drywall construction and sanitary installations (my boyfriend and father-in-law are working on those at the moment), as well as window and door installation. We did not tackle the roof after all; a roofer friend of my father-in-law gave us a very good offer and kindly told us that we would only be in the way when roofing. Mainly thanks to my father-in-law, we get materials and services very cheaply. My sister is building in parallel with a large construction company, and I am always amazed at what every small deviation from the standard is supposed to cost there.

Looks nice. The staircase is somewhat questionable to me and the result of a "planning dead end": always wanting an open staircase to the living area and as a consequence, enclosing it. Instead, it would have been an added value to place it from the hallway area, i.e., rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise. Then the parents' area could also have been planned somewhat differently - the widening of course has a very positive effect! I also find the low window in the kitchen somewhat questionable - what is it about?

Thank you, :)!

Yes, the staircase is certainly special and not everyone loves it. Although I never really wanted the staircase to be very open, for example I also don’t particularly like staircases without risers. The walls had to serve as storage space. However, I like them connected to the living room. We also tried other variants, including the one you mentioned with the staircase rotated 90°, but none of that appealed to us that much. An architect from another forum also suggested an L-shaped staircase starting from the hallway, which wouldn’t have changed the floor plan much otherwise. But – maybe it’s just a weird quirk of mine – do you know what it’s like when you wash up late at night and shuffle from the sofa to bed in your slouchy clothes? And then walk again through the hallway with dirty shoes and jackets? Even though houses today are well insulated and the hallways are warm and sometimes open… probably it’s just a very special feeling thing ;).

The kitchen window has the same sill height as the seat window and the one in the office. Another fully functional terrace door seemed unnecessary, but we wanted more light and a view of the garden from the kitchen. It can also be used as a pass-through ;). That’s why we added this window late and changed the kitchen from a U-shape to an L-shape with a small island.

I’ll post more pictures again when something has changed.

I also had a staircase in the middle of the living room. After a few years, I remodeled. It is much more comfortable when the staircase is in the hallway.

I would have wished for such a forum back then.

Do you know that feeling when late at night you've already washed up and are shuffling from the sofa to the bed in your Smurf clothes? And then again through the hallway with dirty shoes and jackets?

After work, I often shuffle barefoot and clean from upstairs to downstairs :) Our staircase starts in the dining area, the cloakroom is partly underneath it, closer to the entrance. I would build something similar again.

A stairway at the front door has almost only disadvantages and is not well regarded in this forum. However, it is acceptable if the building is to be done in a small space and cost-effectively.

I think this really is a nice floor plan for your given budget. Of course, you can always do something better. We already have a list of things we would build differently in the second house. But we are not perfect, so why should our house be? I am happy for you. You will definitely have a lot of joy in your home.