Single-family house floor plan before approval: Please provide opinions

Hello.

We are a small family with a 2-year-old child and another baby on the way. We have already purchased a plot of land and have now planned a floor plan that is to be submitted for approval. Before that, we would be happy to hear some opinions on it. We want a house that still offers us enough space in case we have a 3rd child. In the basement, we would later like to set up a sauna. To be well positioned in terms of space, we have decided to cellar the garage (little sealed area) and build a nice room on top of it. The garden is very important to us, which is why a later extension would bother us because of the additionally built-over area.

Development plan/restrictions: Eaves height 3.80m Size of the plot: 700sqm Slope: no Number of floors: 2 full floors Roof type: gable roof Orientation: street to the south

Requirements of the builders Style, roof shape, building type: country house with a central bay window to the south Basement, floors: cellar, living on ground floor, sleeping in attic Number of persons, age: family with currently 2 small children/baby Space requirement on the ground floor: besides living area, another room + toilet with shower Space requirement on the upper floor: master bedroom, 2 children's rooms, 1 guest room (possibly for 3rd child) Office: home office Open or closed architecture: kitchen not totally open Conservative or modern construction method: hmm? Open kitchen, kitchen island: no kitchen island Number of dining seats: at least 5 Fireplace: gladly, but rather as a cozy secondary heating Music/stereo wall: TV wall Balcony, roof terrace: covered balcony Garage, carport: double garage Utility garden, greenhouse: garden should not be occupied with extension or tool shed Further wishes/special features/daily routine: work kitchen in the basement

House design From whom is the planning: architect What do you like especially? south-facing rooms on the ground floor What do you not like? wife does not want a window behind the sofa Price estimate according to architect/planner: 400,000 Personal price limit for the house, incl. equipment: 500,000 Preferred heating technology: air-water heat pump

If you have to give up, on which details/extensions - can you do without: - cannot do without: bright house, space in kitchen

Basement:

Ground floor:

Attic:

We look forward to all comments. Thank you!

Toilet in the upstairs bathroom .. how tall are you that the toilet is behind the 2m line? Also the shower .. I don’t know if it’s really ideal like that.

Kitchen .. is the L-shape kitchen as drawn enough for you? Due to the room layout, much more won’t be possible, i.e. almost 12 sqm with a rather minimal kitchen. Why no terrace access there? Because the terrace access from the dining area will turn into an obstacle course if a reasonably large dining table is used (i.e. bigger than drawn).

Pantry depth of 118 cm .. you can’t even place a freezer cabinet or the like on the top wall of the plan because the door won’t open fully.

Master bedroom ... single file to the upper side of the bed ... or what? Ah, not quite, there is a dormer ... but the transition from normal room to dormer, is that going to work? And then only about 200 cm of wardrobe space for 2 people?

What will be the rise of the stairs?

What kind of room is supposed to be under the garage? Should a kitchen be provided?

Hello kbt09,

thank you very much for your reply.

OG bathroom: Where would it be better to place the toilet? (We are average to tall.) Would the access to the shower be too narrow because of the sloping roof? A changing table and a cabinet would be good in that bathroom as well. Is an acceptable bathroom possible in that room, or is the room and thus the room layout upstairs rather unfavorable?

Parents' bedroom: it is true that a 2m wardrobe is not enough for the two of us. We still do not really know a solution. Maybe another wardrobe can be placed on the west wall or at least dressers. Or should we rather redesign everything and do without one of the children's rooms?

Kitchen: The architect had planned access to the terrace through the kitchen, but for us it was more important that the L-shaped work surface runs along the east and south walls, i.e., the kitchen is drawn incorrectly. Possibly, the work surface or cabinets can also continue along the north wall. Access to the pantry should be through a sliding door. There should be no freezer or refrigerator in the pantry. Only non-perishable foods and drinks should be stored there. We had an initial conversation about the kitchen planning this weekend. It is also still possible to cancel the pantry. We actually thought that the size of the kitchen is already quite generous. Isn’t it? Should it be bigger?

Dining room: access to the terrace: if it is too narrow this way, then perhaps rather through the living room? It would be rather uncomfortable for us not to have the work surface in the kitchen facing east and south. Our dining table is about 90 cm wide. Is there enough space to get past there, or would that be too tight?

Living room: Unfortunately, we have not yet agreed on how the furniture should be arranged there. The lady prefers the sofa on the west and north side, with a cabinet or shelf also welcome on the north wall. The TV could then stand between dining room and living room in front of a shelf. Terrace doors would also be imaginable in the living room. The gentleman wants the living room furniture as drawn, to be able to project onto the north wall and have a large, open space.

Stair incline: we will submit the cross-section tomorrow.

Room under the garage: this should still be divided into two rooms. One of them should have a kitchen for a hobby.

What is the room above the garage supposed to be? Office? Is that approvable? Boundary etc.

Is there also a site plan?

Why do you need a pantry AND a storage room on the ground floor? Especially since you have a basement. I would get rid of the pantry and make a door to the hallway on the northern wall of the kitchen. The kitchen will then have a good size, and also the slalom run with the groceries through the living/dining room will be eliminated.

At the same time, I would move the wall between the guest bathroom and the storage room a bit to the left on the plan. 6.58 m² for a shower bathroom is quite decent, but if it’s only 5 m², it doesn’t matter either; however, the storage room becomes much more usable as a result.

The distance from the couch to the TV is almost 6 meters, which is quite large. What size TV do you have/want? Of course, it’s a matter of taste, but if the distance is a bit smaller, the other room with its 11 m² gains a bit of space, which wouldn’t hurt it.

I see the same problems as the writers before me. In the bedroom and bathroom, you will have problems with the 2m line.

Also the living room – exactly for this reason I don’t like this typical layout of living-dining area in this house variant – the table is simply always in the way. You constantly have to walk around it – whether you want to go from the kitchen to the living room or out onto the terrace. At least I would plan sliding doors there, so the terrace doors don’t extend so far into the living area.
I would place the door to the storage room opposite the window, then you would have space on both sides for shelves (or vacuum cleaner and co). I would also miss a door from the hallway to the kitchen. And I never find a terrace door in the kitchen a bad idea.

Do you really need all these rooms? I think you have very, very many rooms and also a basement garage and an overbuilt garage. Do you really need the space? How is the use of the basement rooms intended (except for sauna and utility room)? Will there also be a WC there? If the kitchen is planned under the garage and there also is a sauna, then there should be a toilet somewhere there as well – there would be enough space for that.

I find the bathroom on the upper floor very, very difficult to arrange reasonably well. Maybe reconsider the room layout.