Sleeping on the ground floor / living on the upper floor. Experiences?

That depends crucially for me on the circumstances. Friends have built like that because the view from the upper floor is wonderful into the trees and on the ground floor only onto concrete. They are happy with it and look forward to the view (large windows) every morning when they come upstairs.

Thank you for your answers!

Maybe a bit of background: as mentioned, we are renovating. The attic is no longer in very good condition, so we are tearing it down and building a new upper floor. The idea now is that we would live there because we would then have great freedom in the design, and that would be great for living/kitchen areas. For the bedrooms, it actually matters less to us if we have to make a few compromises here and there, which is inevitable in a renovation. The view from the upper floor isn’t completely different but definitely more open. But I also see the mentioned disadvantages, especially the garden access and carrying groceries upstairs.

Carrying the groceries upstairs is manageable in everyday life. Millions of apartment dwellers do it too. It's only a bit tricky with furniture and bulky items. But not impossible either.

I personally like living upstairs. Even prefer upstairs to downstairs. The lighting conditions upstairs are actually almost always nicer than on the ground floor. When I moved from my apartment into a house, I really had to get used to living downstairs and sleeping upstairs. I have my living room upstairs, kitchen and dining room downstairs. It just feels a bit strange to decide on that because hardly anyone does it. Probably because of the groceries. :D

If the house gives you more possibilities for space usage that way, then I would do it. Unless you are true garden freaks.

It always proves worthwhile to plan with the house, the conditions, the lighting. Then it will turn out well. If you can imagine it, why not? I have often lived higher than where the garden was located. It worked well too.

I once was in a house with such a layout (new building). The reason was only the view. On the upper floor there was a lake view of Lake Zug. The garden was very small and almost fully built up with a long, narrow pool. On the upper floor, besides the living room and kitchen, there was a 50m2 roof terrace with a wonderful view of the lake and mountains. That was also the outdoor living area. I can’t think of any other reason for such an arrangement. But seriously, if the entire attic is being demolished and completely rebuilt, surely some renovation in the ground floor is necessary as well. Is the difference to a complete demolition and new construction still that big?

that we live there because we then have great freedoms in the design and that would be great for living/kitchen.

Let's be honest: what will the freedoms actually look like there? Are you really doing something quite stylish and elaborate in architecture, or would it look similar to any standard floor plan with an open-plan room around the corner or straight? If you simply remove one or two walls on the ground floor, you will surely get an interesting design that offers more than a new build?! Best would be if you show the ground floor plan and have it discussed in the floor plan forum (don't forget to fill out the questionnaire and, if applicable, include a photo)