Climbee
2016-11-16 10:20:59
- #1
I still consider the planning to be unripe. Do you really need the bump on the upper plan? There is only the TV down there, but with this positioning it really torpedoes an open floor plan. If it absolutely has to be there, it can also stand against a flat wall. The balcony above is really useless, you will never use it. Even if the bump is to remain, I would create a green flat roof above and only a French balcony in the bedroom.
The kitchen is such a disaster, I hope you know that. Why the short wall between the kitchen and living room? Get rid of it and then plan truly open. The kitchen island has already been mentioned; as it stands now, it disturbs and is completely unusable. The sliding door to the pantry can stay, but it doesn’t have to (I’m from the camp that finds it quite practical). So remove the short wall, move the kitchen island to the long counter on the lower plan, and then the dining table can also shift somewhat more towards the kitchen.
Upstairs: I find the two small hallways in the separate areas really a waste of space, especially the one in the parents’ area. They are so small that you couldn’t even put a few hooks for clothing there. So really wasted space. If you create a dressing room, the bedroom does not need 16 sqm. I would shift the wall to the dressing room more into the bedroom and ultimately enlarge the bathroom. Overall, it should be considered whether this useless entrance area could be integrated into the dressing room and from there have doors or passages to both the bedroom and bathroom. For Joris, a hallway might make more sense, but not if it is, like here, too small. Possibly enlarge the bathroom and hallway at the expense of the room, then for a young gentleman it would basically be like his own two-room apartment. I would also consider whether upstairs preparation could at least be made so that later, if needed, a small kitchenette could be installed. Overall, I find the bathroom planned in the middle not well thought out; the bathroom could rather go under the slant and then the play and certainly later living room can be in the middle without sloping ceilings.
Is the office worked in daily? Is it used a lot? Otherwise, I would rather set up a multifunctional room here, so plan the guest room in here as well and add the small storage room on the ground floor to the bathroom and make a shower bath there (how often do you have overnight guests?). Cleaning supplies etc. can go into the pantry, which I would probably enlarge somewhat at the expense of the office and which then offers sufficient space. This small storage room is almost unusable, I would omit it.
You want a closed cloakroom, which has its charm (because you can keep disorder out of sight), but as it is now, it doesn’t work. I would keep the hallway at its full size and rather think up a clever built-in solution with a good carpenter (money seems to be available).
Wellness in the basement: I am not a fan; the basement saunas I know are all kind of musty. What have you planned here? If it’s only a sauna for the two of you, I would consider whether it couldn’t be integrated into the bathroom upstairs. For example, instead of the weird storage room.
The gallery is puny and as it is planned now it won’t have the effect you hope for, it is too small for that. Either plan it completely differently (stairs lead from the living area to the gallery and upstairs a different room concept) or close it off. Then you have good space for a sufficiently large storage room where the open space is now or you could even give Joris a bit more room. If you have to have a gallery, then think about what you want to do with it. I give you my word, those two little chairs and the small table, no one will use them. With sufficient size (like here), you can do great things with a gallery, e.g. upstairs the TV area or a library where you can retreat to read. I also find galleries very nice and they create an airy, generous impression, but only if they make sense. Here it looks more like trying but not succeeding.
You seem to have a good financial background. Invest the money in a good (!!) architect, who can make a design that will surely correspond better to your ideas than what has been put together here.
The kitchen is such a disaster, I hope you know that. Why the short wall between the kitchen and living room? Get rid of it and then plan truly open. The kitchen island has already been mentioned; as it stands now, it disturbs and is completely unusable. The sliding door to the pantry can stay, but it doesn’t have to (I’m from the camp that finds it quite practical). So remove the short wall, move the kitchen island to the long counter on the lower plan, and then the dining table can also shift somewhat more towards the kitchen.
Upstairs: I find the two small hallways in the separate areas really a waste of space, especially the one in the parents’ area. They are so small that you couldn’t even put a few hooks for clothing there. So really wasted space. If you create a dressing room, the bedroom does not need 16 sqm. I would shift the wall to the dressing room more into the bedroom and ultimately enlarge the bathroom. Overall, it should be considered whether this useless entrance area could be integrated into the dressing room and from there have doors or passages to both the bedroom and bathroom. For Joris, a hallway might make more sense, but not if it is, like here, too small. Possibly enlarge the bathroom and hallway at the expense of the room, then for a young gentleman it would basically be like his own two-room apartment. I would also consider whether upstairs preparation could at least be made so that later, if needed, a small kitchenette could be installed. Overall, I find the bathroom planned in the middle not well thought out; the bathroom could rather go under the slant and then the play and certainly later living room can be in the middle without sloping ceilings.
Is the office worked in daily? Is it used a lot? Otherwise, I would rather set up a multifunctional room here, so plan the guest room in here as well and add the small storage room on the ground floor to the bathroom and make a shower bath there (how often do you have overnight guests?). Cleaning supplies etc. can go into the pantry, which I would probably enlarge somewhat at the expense of the office and which then offers sufficient space. This small storage room is almost unusable, I would omit it.
You want a closed cloakroom, which has its charm (because you can keep disorder out of sight), but as it is now, it doesn’t work. I would keep the hallway at its full size and rather think up a clever built-in solution with a good carpenter (money seems to be available).
Wellness in the basement: I am not a fan; the basement saunas I know are all kind of musty. What have you planned here? If it’s only a sauna for the two of you, I would consider whether it couldn’t be integrated into the bathroom upstairs. For example, instead of the weird storage room.
The gallery is puny and as it is planned now it won’t have the effect you hope for, it is too small for that. Either plan it completely differently (stairs lead from the living area to the gallery and upstairs a different room concept) or close it off. Then you have good space for a sufficiently large storage room where the open space is now or you could even give Joris a bit more room. If you have to have a gallery, then think about what you want to do with it. I give you my word, those two little chairs and the small table, no one will use them. With sufficient size (like here), you can do great things with a gallery, e.g. upstairs the TV area or a library where you can retreat to read. I also find galleries very nice and they create an airy, generous impression, but only if they make sense. Here it looks more like trying but not succeeding.
You seem to have a good financial background. Invest the money in a good (!!) architect, who can make a design that will surely correspond better to your ideas than what has been put together here.