Single-family house 180-190 sqm on a 10x20m building plot, first draft general contractor

Well, I'll quote our architect once again: a floor plan should be so simple that you can pee it into the snow.

But with you guys, you have to be quite an artist to pee...

Every corner, every bay window costs extra, you do realize that, right? I'd rather put the money into the furnishings.
Especially with completely unnecessary ones like those for the kitchen – you really have planned three seating options in close proximity there, am I seeing that right? Once the counter, once the small seating area in the kitchen bay, and then the large dining table? Don't you like each other and everyone wants their own little spot to eat? The bay window in the kitchen as it is now is totally pointless! The kitchen as it is currently planned is a disaster, sorry, working there is no fun. Make the bay so big that the kitchen with island fits nicely and a nice big table. And at the moment the dining area is rather tight, if you pull the chair out on the window side you risk banging it into the window. I would give a little more space there, and if it really has to be a little bay window for the lovely wife, better separate the living area a bit with such a one.

Scratch the door from the pantry to the utility room area – it costs you a lot of space and I see no point in it.

Sauna preparation: what kind of sauna complex do you want to install there? A sauna for 2-4 people needs max. 6sqm. And usually the children are not enthusiastic sauna-goers – so it’s more for the parent couple; then 4sqm is enough. Plan it so that you can enter it from the bathroom, then the shower is right there, and then you might have space to put the utility room for laundry upstairs. Makes more sense in my opinion.

Roof terrace? Forget it – make it a green roof. Then your house will also be approved even if you don’t put a railing on it. You can still go out, e.g. to get some fresh air after the sauna or to put the laundry out. But I would save myself a proper balcony/roof terrace (which also makes it cheaper in the literal sense).

I also find the walk-in closet suboptimal like that – but you can only properly plan the upper floor once you have created a sensible ground floor – in my opinion, when the kitchen with dining area has been sensibly adjusted and then you know what the floor plan looks like (then some changes will happen with the various little bays).

But it will still be a challenge to pee…

By the time you get from the door to the cloakroom, you’ve already taken a long march, I find it totally impractical. If the WC is already so far away from all other water lines, then please swap WC with the cloakroom. Or, if the laundry moves upstairs, plan the WC where the washroom was, add a shower then, and guests can use it as a guest bathroom; the gained space makes the hallway bigger and there is room for the cloakroom. I would scratch the door between cloakroom and entrance area – it will always be open, I give you my word and seal. You already have a covered entrance area, how many airlocks do you want?

Personally, in this design too many square meters are wasted in the hallway, which I personally don’t like. But if that makes you happy...

Well, I don't think the draft is totally crazy, but it's also not worthy of a 500K castle. Especially the exterior views, with all those bulky bay windows, look to me like they were just slapped on. If I were you, I would first clarify how much and which part of the property you would like for the garden and terrace and for the house - in other words, mark out the placement including paths, driveways, and parking spaces.

Compact floor plan - more garden - lower budget - better usable layout - you can treat yourself to a sauna right away

First of all, thank you very much for your comments, I will try to work through/process them one by one:

Every corner, every bay window costs extra, you do realize that, right? I would rather invest the money in the equipment.

Yes, that’s why I asked at the beginning whether a “simpler” floor plan wouldn’t be more sensible – I’m going out on a limb here and take that as a “yes”

Especially completely unnecessary ones like the ones for the kitchen – did you really plan three seating options in close proximity, am I seeing that right? Once the counter, once the small seating area in the kitchen bay, and then the big dining table?
Don’t you like each other and everyone wants their own spot to eat? The bay window in the kitchen as it is now is just a token gesture!

The furnishing is only exemplary, as mentioned the first draft from the general contractor (without us having already discussed our kitchen planning in detail). For example, we don’t want a counter at the island (is 2m a reasonable size? Seems quite bulky to me...) and the "seating area" on the right side of the plan will be removed. What we were thinking of was a little "niche window" with a bench in the kitchen (I can’t link here, but I hope it’s clear what I mean), where you can have your coffee and read the newspaper in the morning, for example. And at the bottom side of the bay, I thought of a door to the terrace, so you don’t have to always navigate around the dining table…

The kitchen, as it is currently planned, is a disaster, sorry, working there would be no fun.

No problem, it will never be implemented like this anyway, see above

Make the bay window big enough so the kitchen with island fits nicely and there’s a beautiful big table. Right now, the dining area is rather tight, if someone pulls out the chair by the window side there’s a risk of hitting the window.

Hm, I thought 3.2m width is quite okay, with a 1m wide table there is still 1.1m to the window (the table is currently not centered). Do you think that’s not enough?

Delete the door from the pantry to the utility room area – it costs you a lot of space and I see no sense in it.

I find the door very practical there because otherwise, we would have to drag our groceries through the whole apartment each time before they end up in the fridge or the pantry.

Sauna preparation: what kind of sauna area do you want to install there? [...]

That’s exactly how we actually imagined it, a sauna for 2 to max 3 people directly in the bathroom. I fear that when planning there was just some extra space left... That’s also one of my “what I don’t like” points.

and then you might have space to move the utility room for the laundry to the upper floor. In my opinion, that makes more sense.

I worry that washing machine and dryer on the sleeping floor will annoy me, since we usually only do laundry in the evening or at night. Currently, these machines are in the basement laundry room.

Roof terrace? Scratch that – make it a green roof. [...]

I can actually do without the roof terrace, I see us use it at most after the sauna or for hanging laundry anyway.

I also find the walk-in closet suboptimal as it is – however, you can only properly plan the upper floor once you have created a sensible ground floor first.

Yep, that’s the problem

By the time you get from the door to the wardrobe, you’ve already made a long trek, I find that totally impractical. If the WC is already that far away from all other water lines, then please swap WC with wardrobe.

I agree. I’m still wondering if the WC is not very narrow (but I don’t see where else you would find more width).

Or, if the laundry moves upstairs, plan the WC where the current laundry room is, then add a shower, and guests can use it as a guest bath; the gained space will make the hallway bigger, and you have space for a wardrobe.

Good idea – if we want to move the utility room upstairs (see above)...

Personally, I find too many square meters wasted in the hallway in this design, I don’t like that personally. But if it makes you happy...

That is also one of my “what I don’t like” points, especially on the upper floor. I fear that cannot really be avoided with a straight staircase (which we don’t mind), right?

Especially the exterior views look to me like the many chunky bays were just slapped on.

I also find it visually unusual, but my wife likes it...

If I were you, I would first clarify how much and which part of the plot you want for garden and terrace and which for the house – in other words, position including paths, driveways, and parking spaces.

Sounds reasonable, we will give that some thought...

Compact floor plan
- more garden
- lower budget
- better usable floor plan
- you can indulge in a sauna right away

Let’s see what my wife thinks about that ops:

Less investment more shoes

If the corners may fall, maybe Kaho will create a convincing floor plan