Rough planning + basic floor plan proposal - single-family house 950m²

I would first go to an architect and already swap the 400,000 for 600-800 thousand.

The house feels completely cramped and not spacious at all on the ground floor. More like a prison with the long corridor.

Your ground floor reminds me a bit of the younger versions in - maybe you can find something transferable for yourself there.

2 adults, currently 1 baby

I call three children's rooms "ambitious"

What should be covered by the budget?

There is a lack of storage space.
An enormous amount of hallway
Kitchen to the terrace
What is the empty space in the kitchen for?
I would build the staircase a bit wider.

We are currently building 240 sqm with 3 children's rooms. Your budget will never be enough. Let alone with the equipment. First, make a basic consideration of how much you can spend and adjust the house accordingly. That makes a discussion pointless. The often mentioned 2000 EUR/sqm here is a good guideline (but then + garage + additional construction costs + outdoor facilities + kitchen + other furnishings/fittings/special requests) or with a lot of personal effort and connections to several trades (but even then, 400k all in will not be enough).

Where is your storage space?

Valid point. I counted again and come up with a possible "wardrobe length" of 8m on the ground floor (cloakroom + study). The cabinets could be room-high and are currently drawn with a depth of 50cm. Additionally, there is the entire storage room behind the garage, two large cabinets in the dressing room, and the attic. Although the attic, with a knee wall of 30cm and a roof pitch of 27°, is probably a bit tight. Also, I want to use the space under the stairs. Either as storage accessible from the hallway or as an extension to the pantry for water crates, potato sacks, etc.

Why don’t you plan the garage as a boundary development to the north? That would enlarge the garden to the south. Otherwise, I find the orientation on the plot quite right.

I have thought about that too and initially thought it wouldn’t work if the garage is directly connected to the house (= one building). However, I now believe that the garage counts as a separate building, even though it is directly attached to the house. The state building code, as I have just learned, speaks of a separate building if it can be used independently as such (i.e., it has its own entrance).

Your ground floor reminds me a bit of the newer versions in – maybe you can find something transferable for yourself there.

Calling three children's rooms "ambitious" here

Honestly, the two children are the "problem" that worries me the least. Thanks for the link; I’ll skim through it.

What all should be covered by the budget?

There is a lack of storage space.
A huge amount of hallway.
Kitchen facing the terrace.
What is the empty space in the kitchen for?
I would make the stairs a bit wider.

Storage space see above. A lot of hallway, maybe, I have thought so myself. But if I count everything below the stove towards the living area, I only have 10% hallway on the ground floor. The kitchen can still be arranged completely differently. The access to the pantry must remain clear. I think with 18 m² of kitchen area, I should manage, right? The stairs are currently 1.0 m wide, and the main corridor next to it is 1.2 m. I didn’t want to make the corridor too narrow. I will keep the stairs in mind though.

We are currently building 240 sqm with 3 children’s rooms. Your budget will never be enough. Let alone the equipment. Make a fundamental consideration first about how much you can spend and adjust the house accordingly. Then discussing makes sense. The often mentioned 2000 EUR/sqm here is a good reference point (but then still + garage + ancillary building costs + outdoor facilities + kitchen + other furnishings/fittings/special requests) or with a ton of own work and connections to several trades (but even then 400k all in is nothing).

Did you open your own thread? I would like to take a look.

The price expectations have been criticized repeatedly; I was probably too optimistic. I want to say that the plot is not included in the 400k (we already have that). Otherwise, we are planning with a lot of own work. I come from a village where you know many people who help you with crafts (unfortunately no architect among them). We can also manage 500k, but maybe I have to shorten the floor plan again.

I noticed I forgot an important detail, which is why the analogy "prison corridor" was mentioned here. The wall behind the sofa should only be about 1.10m high, see attached picture. In addition to the window in the cloakroom, enough light should fall through the entire house.

I have probably "wasted" the most space in the area between the stairs and the dining table. However, I don’t want to block that, and I can’t think of anything better. On the other hand, it is nice if you have a bit of space that is not planned. What do you think? Too wasteful?