ᐅ Looking for help with floor plan decisions

Hello fellow home builders,

We have made some progress. Our floor plan has been designed, and we have had an initial meeting with the construction company.

We now have the option of using the neighbor’s old floor plan (B) from the semi-detached house next door, or going with a new one. The new plan (A) has been revised to include our requested changes.

Plan A is our modified version. Plan B is the neighbor’s half. We made changes because we were interested in a half-landing staircase and wanted a small storage room for the vacuum cleaner and beverage crates. Additionally, a glass door was added at the end of the hallway to reduce drafts. Unfortunately, in this version, the guest toilet became unnecessarily larger.

Now we are having doubts...

• Is the kitchen too small in the new plan, with a width of 281cm (110.6 inches) at the window side?
• Would it be better to give up the luxury of the half-landing staircase in order to have a bigger kitchen or, more generally, more living space? Living area old: 63.35 sqm (681.9 sq ft), new: 53.44 sqm (575.1 sq ft).

My father suggested keeping the half-landing staircase but shifting the hallway to the right (the staircase stays, the cloakroom becomes smaller), and installing a slanted glass door at the end of the hallway instead. I hope that makes sense.

I am always open to other criticism or tips. After all, you only build once. What’s built in masonry stays.

The kitchen is on the left side of the plan... however, I would remove the "storage room," limit the WC to about 2 meters (6.5 feet) in length, and then allocate 0.5 meters (20 inches) each to the corridor and the kitchen. After that, I would reassess whether the wardrobe is really wide enough for two rows of cabinets.

Furthermore, you should generally be aware of the noise transmission caused by open staircases in living areas.

I think the idea from the father is great, but I wouldn’t go for a slanted door. I would only keep the door on the kitchen side. Instead of the living room door (which wouldn’t fit anymore anyway), I would put in a narrow vertical window strip to let daylight into the hallway. Best regards, Steffi33.

Steffi33 schrieb:
but leave only the door to the kitchen side. Instead of the living room door (which wouldn’t fit anymore anyway), create a narrow vertical window strip,

Thanks for the suggestion!
Hmm, isn’t it unusual to enter the kitchen directly from the hallway instead of the living room? I need to think about that some more.

BeHaElJa schrieb:
The kitchen is on the left side of the plan... however, I would remove the "storage room," limit the toilet to about 2 meters (6.5 feet) in length, and then allocate 0.5 meters (20 inches) each to the hallway and the kitchen.

Where would you place the second door then? That one would be removed.

Regarding odor issues: I need to ask around again. I know some friends who have the same staircase. So far, I haven’t heard any complaints. But I will review it again with my husband. Also, the width of the cloakroom. Thanks!

Winterkind schrieb:

... because we were considering a half-landing staircase

With a house width slightly larger than the usual semi-detached standard, I find a half-landing staircase out of place. Even the neighbor’s staircase design wouldn’t appeal to *me*; I wouldn’t have recommended it to my clients either.

If the staircase is meant to be a design feature anyway – which is why the individual areas on the ground floor aren’t separated – then why not opt for an open, airy design? You can also carve out a cloakroom from the still quite spacious kitchen 😉

Best regards, Bauexperte