Our targeted floor plan - please provide assessments

Thanks for your assessments!

I don’t think it’s ideal to make eating and cooking a single area in principle. Then you would have the situation again where you have to sit with guests in the fully cluttered and dirty kitchen. I don’t like that.

Regarding the kitchen, I currently only see the option of making the house wider. That would actually suit us better overall.

I do believe that 150 sqm can be very large. With this floor plan, which we initially really liked, I see the problem that many rooms are squeezed into not so many square meters after all. Especially downstairs, with kitchen, living room, guest room, utility room, and shower bathroom, it is quite cramped, and if the entrance area is not very spacious either... I think that is unfortunately too tight for us.

I’m now also unsure whether we should stick to this design and rearrange it or start completely from scratch...

If you have a plot of land without building restrictions, I suggest visiting model homes. This helps you develop a feel for spaces and quickly notice where you feel comfortable. Then consider whether to choose a general contractor or an architect.

When I read something like "dirty" kitchen, I always wonder what is going on in the kitchens. Most parties I know end up in the kitchen anyway, and if there is a small dining area there, unfortunately it often ends with the statement, "oh too bad we don't all have a place here, it's so cozy." It just somehow seems pointless to keep a spot free for the occasion's "official" guests that ideally would fit 6 to 10 people.

And, someone already wrote it here, if the children are of school age, it will often happen that friends come along etc. Then you actually don't want to be in the "official" dining area, but the kitchen area might not be enough.

Ideally, the main terrace is also located by the kitchen, because in summer you will almost always need this connection rather than the path through the "clean/well-kept" living room.

...I suggest visiting show homes. That way you get a feel for spaces and quickly notice where you feel comfortable. ...

Certainly a good idea... for example in Frechen. But always keep in mind, the companies always display nice "bunkers" there. Mostly with 200 square meters and more. That quickly amazes you, but it's nothing for your own reality.

We have now also received a possible floor plan from the second provider with whom we are in talks. Regarding the living space, there is practically no difference here; financially, we are also in a range that is comparable overall.

We would now also like to hear your opinions.

This variant definitely includes a basement, with the utility room and technical equipment in the basement level.

What we like about this design is that the kitchen is larger, and we could probably realize my dream of having a table there. It would also be worth considering that the guest room is just under 13 m², but since we do not have guests very often, it might be possible to take about 2 m² from this room for the kitchen, if structurally feasible.

A storage room of just under 3 m² on the ground floor is certainly practical, but we are not sure if we really need it on the ground floor if there is a basement. This is always connected with the question of whether we could better organize this space differently, for example by enlarging the hallway.

The hallway here measures 10 m². This seems possibly very, very small to us.

Regarding the upper floor: the room sizes and the size of the bathroom are basically okay for us. But the office seems really small to me; the knee wall would be 1.40 m in this variant. As a teacher, I spend a considerable amount of time in the office and have quite a bit of stuff that needs to fit there. A floor-to-ceiling shelf, a large desk, and a proper chair are absolute necessities. Is that feasible in this size?

A storage room of just under 3 m² on the ground floor is certainly practical, but we are not sure whether we really need it on the ground floor if there is a basement.

It is not exactly practical to have no storage options on the ground floor or the upper floor.
You need a broom several times a day, laundry should be done where it is generated, and beverage crates are rarely carried down to the basement since you regularly consume liquids throughout the day.
I do not see any space for the wardrobe at all.
I don’t find the floor plan bad, but if I were you, I would think about your other habits instead of planning everything around the kitchen table. Often, additional rooms, here: guest and office, are then converted into storage rooms, and only miscellaneous stuff is stored in the basement if it is not also used for hobbies and such.