Hello everyone,
I have been following the discussions for some time now, and now it’s our turn. I would like to share our floor plan for discussion:
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 434 m² (4670 sq ft), 14.16 m (46.5 ft) wide on the north side, 14.28 m (46.9 ft) wide on the south side, approximately 30 m (98.4 ft) long
Slope: No
Number of parking spaces: According to the development plan, 2 are required. We would prefer 2 garages, but probably only one will be possible?…
Number of floors: Up to 2 full stories
Special conditions: The access on the north side is not very wide because a small fence separates the adjacent bike path. The location is quiet in a cul-de-sac, with the pedestrian/bike path continuing via a small staircase.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: simple single-family house with a gable roof
Basement, stories: basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of people, age: 2 people, 41 and 46 years old, no children planned
Room needs on ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: kitchen, living room, dining area, guest bathroom, storage space (for beverage crates, coat rack, etc.)
Upper floor: bedroom, bathroom, walk-in closet, guest room/office, and a study/library
Office: family use or home office? A “study” plus an office/guest room, no home office
Open or closed layout: rather open
Open kitchen with island: yes, please!
Number of dining seats: 2 to many, as I like to invite people over…
Fireplace: yes
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage (preferably 2)
Utility garden, greenhouse: we enjoy gardening on a very small scale; a greenhouse might come later if there is enough space/time, but it doesn’t have to be planned now…
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be included
In the study, at least my two bookshelves need to fit (HWD 98 x 233 x 54 cm (39 x 92 x 21 in) and 300 x 41 x 247 cm (118 x 16 x 97 in), with one side only 32 cm (12.6 in) deep over 88 cm (34.6 in) length; currently placed behind the door J). The kitchen is especially important to us because we enjoy cooking and have A LOT of accessories, devices, etc. Therefore, we need a lot of storage space.
House Design
Who designed it: planner from a construction company, together with us
What do you particularly like and why? The spacious kitchen, the separate wardrobe area
What do you not like and why? The entrance to the dining room from the east side because of the garage, the long hallway on the ground floor / the entire entrance situation
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump with controlled residential ventilation and photovoltaic system
If you had to give up something,
- what details/expansions could you do without: double washbasin, recessed front door
- what you cannot do without: fireplace, basement, walk-in closet!
Why is the design the way it is?
Design by the planner together with us
Unfortunately, we only have 8.16 m (26.8 ft) available for the house width, but we can extend further in length…
I am happy to receive any criticism! If you have questions, please ask here anytime!
I have been following the discussions for some time now, and now it’s our turn. I would like to share our floor plan for discussion:
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 434 m² (4670 sq ft), 14.16 m (46.5 ft) wide on the north side, 14.28 m (46.9 ft) wide on the south side, approximately 30 m (98.4 ft) long
Slope: No
Number of parking spaces: According to the development plan, 2 are required. We would prefer 2 garages, but probably only one will be possible?…
Number of floors: Up to 2 full stories
Special conditions: The access on the north side is not very wide because a small fence separates the adjacent bike path. The location is quiet in a cul-de-sac, with the pedestrian/bike path continuing via a small staircase.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: simple single-family house with a gable roof
Basement, stories: basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of people, age: 2 people, 41 and 46 years old, no children planned
Room needs on ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: kitchen, living room, dining area, guest bathroom, storage space (for beverage crates, coat rack, etc.)
Upper floor: bedroom, bathroom, walk-in closet, guest room/office, and a study/library
Office: family use or home office? A “study” plus an office/guest room, no home office
Open or closed layout: rather open
Open kitchen with island: yes, please!
Number of dining seats: 2 to many, as I like to invite people over…
Fireplace: yes
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage (preferably 2)
Utility garden, greenhouse: we enjoy gardening on a very small scale; a greenhouse might come later if there is enough space/time, but it doesn’t have to be planned now…
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be included
In the study, at least my two bookshelves need to fit (HWD 98 x 233 x 54 cm (39 x 92 x 21 in) and 300 x 41 x 247 cm (118 x 16 x 97 in), with one side only 32 cm (12.6 in) deep over 88 cm (34.6 in) length; currently placed behind the door J). The kitchen is especially important to us because we enjoy cooking and have A LOT of accessories, devices, etc. Therefore, we need a lot of storage space.
House Design
Who designed it: planner from a construction company, together with us
What do you particularly like and why? The spacious kitchen, the separate wardrobe area
What do you not like and why? The entrance to the dining room from the east side because of the garage, the long hallway on the ground floor / the entire entrance situation
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump with controlled residential ventilation and photovoltaic system
If you had to give up something,
- what details/expansions could you do without: double washbasin, recessed front door
- what you cannot do without: fireplace, basement, walk-in closet!
Why is the design the way it is?
Design by the planner together with us
Unfortunately, we only have 8.16 m (26.8 ft) available for the house width, but we can extend further in length…
I am happy to receive any criticism! If you have questions, please ask here anytime!
However, we couldn’t find any building setback lines...
On the left side of the plan, there is a fence (approximately 2m (6.5 feet) high) because the property behind it is slightly lower (which actually works for us since there is a shopping center behind it). From this lower property, there is access to the dead-end street, including some steps for pedestrians and a kind of “loop” for cyclists. This loop is fenced off from our property with a wire fence (blue line). On the right side of the plan is a neighbor, and another neighbor is located at the bottom of the plan, but at a distance of x meters (x feet), since that house is on the other street and connected there. The neighbor on the left only has a small picket fence and some flower plantings; this side gets plenty of sunlight for us. We are also fairly well shielded from view on that side by the garage.
The exterior dimensions of the house are set. A shower toilet requires a certain width, as does a hallway, and a wider kitchen wouldn’t be ergonomically practical either. As it is, the kitchen is “wide enough but not too wide” for working with two people.
We have already tried rearranging the upper floor, but that always resulted in rooms with too many corners or rooms where even a bed wouldn’t fit... I guess we lack the spatial imagination for that...
That’s why I’m here.
On the left side of the plan, there is a fence (approximately 2m (6.5 feet) high) because the property behind it is slightly lower (which actually works for us since there is a shopping center behind it). From this lower property, there is access to the dead-end street, including some steps for pedestrians and a kind of “loop” for cyclists. This loop is fenced off from our property with a wire fence (blue line). On the right side of the plan is a neighbor, and another neighbor is located at the bottom of the plan, but at a distance of x meters (x feet), since that house is on the other street and connected there. The neighbor on the left only has a small picket fence and some flower plantings; this side gets plenty of sunlight for us. We are also fairly well shielded from view on that side by the garage.
The exterior dimensions of the house are set. A shower toilet requires a certain width, as does a hallway, and a wider kitchen wouldn’t be ergonomically practical either. As it is, the kitchen is “wide enough but not too wide” for working with two people.
We have already tried rearranging the upper floor, but that always resulted in rooms with too many corners or rooms where even a bed wouldn’t fit... I guess we lack the spatial imagination for that...
That’s why I’m here.
Tanita schrieb:
The kitchen will definitely be extended longer than shown in the floor plan, and it will have a small breakfast bar. It will be located roughly where the double balcony door is currently marked. That door will be reduced to a single, and the kitchen will extend up to that point. Our dining table is also quite large, so it should fit well.
I also find it a pity that the living room is so narrow, especially since there will be a corner sofa, which is usually about 3m (10 feet) wide, so it will almost reach the south-facing window. Hello,
if you reduce the double balcony door to a single door, you will definitely need to plan additional windows, as the kitchen will get hardly any light from the north-facing window. If you’re unhappy that your living room is so narrow, I would consider redesigning it. You don’t have to accept it as it is! Where do you plan to put a TV? I really don’t see any suitable space for it.
Best regards
Sabine
Hello Sabine,
It’s true that the first side light only appears at just under 5m (16.4 ft), but that comes from both the balcony door on the right side and the large opening in the hallway. The hallway is quite bright at that point due to the open staircase and two wide windows there.
I don’t find the 3.65m (12 ft) depth in the living room particularly narrow. A corner sofa is roughly about 2x3m (6.5x10 ft). That leaves between 0.65 and 1.65m (2 to 5.5 ft) of space to the corner on the side. The coffee table isn’t very large; its dimensions fit exactly into the corner in front of the sofa. I think that’s enough, especially since nothing is placed in that corner because of the large sliding door. Over the weekend, we were in a living room with exactly that width, and it didn’t feel cramped at all (okay, it had a small sofa, but also a cabinet along the wall). We even set it up to see how it would look in our space.
I also hesitated at first about the TV, but it will simply go on the wall facing the garden, at the bottom side of the plan. There’s 2.65m (8.7 ft) of space between the south-facing windows. Probably no cabinet underneath, just the TV itself.
Best regards,
Tanita
It’s true that the first side light only appears at just under 5m (16.4 ft), but that comes from both the balcony door on the right side and the large opening in the hallway. The hallway is quite bright at that point due to the open staircase and two wide windows there.
I don’t find the 3.65m (12 ft) depth in the living room particularly narrow. A corner sofa is roughly about 2x3m (6.5x10 ft). That leaves between 0.65 and 1.65m (2 to 5.5 ft) of space to the corner on the side. The coffee table isn’t very large; its dimensions fit exactly into the corner in front of the sofa. I think that’s enough, especially since nothing is placed in that corner because of the large sliding door. Over the weekend, we were in a living room with exactly that width, and it didn’t feel cramped at all (okay, it had a small sofa, but also a cabinet along the wall). We even set it up to see how it would look in our space.
I also hesitated at first about the TV, but it will simply go on the wall facing the garden, at the bottom side of the plan. There’s 2.65m (8.7 ft) of space between the south-facing windows. Probably no cabinet underneath, just the TV itself.
Best regards,
Tanita
Tanita schrieb:
I also initially stumbled over the TV placement, but the TV will simply go on the wall facing the garden, at the bottom of the plan. There is 2.65m (8 feet 8 inches) of space between the south-facing windows. Probably without a cabinet underneath, just the TV itself.
Best regards,
TanitaAs I understand it, the sofa is supposed to be placed as drawn, right? The TV will then be on the exterior wall, and you would be watching it at an angle. Who would want to watch TV like that? Personally, I find the entire kitchen, dining, and living area too narrow. Your kitchen including the dining space is about 2.9m (9 feet 6 inches) wide and around 10m (33 feet) long.
Best regards,
Sabine
OK, so what are the alternatives? Unfortunately, the plot doesn’t allow for more width. At 8.16m (27 feet) wide, that’s definitely the limit. We still have space towards the back...
Wider kitchen (then the ergonomic flow between work zones would be less efficient), narrower hallway? Not possible. Smaller shower toilet? Also unlikely. A storage room/wardrobe is definitely useful so we don’t have to go down to the basement all the time... The staircase shouldn’t be made smaller either.
We also considered placing the entrance on the left-hand side of the plan, but it would then be quite hidden from the street and not easily accessible if we put another garage or parking spot closer to the street.
We really like the combined living/dining/kitchen area. The only thing is we don’t need as much space for the dining area as it appears here, so we plan to expand the other two areas instead.
One practical option for accessibility might be swapping the large sliding door and the fixed window on the bottom side of the plan. Then possibly replacing the balcony door and fixed window on the right side of the plan with a similar sliding door? Would that be a reasonable alternative? For the dining room, we only have a cabinet about 1m (3 feet) wide that we want to place there. A bright house unfortunately always means less wall space for furniture… oops.
Wider kitchen (then the ergonomic flow between work zones would be less efficient), narrower hallway? Not possible. Smaller shower toilet? Also unlikely. A storage room/wardrobe is definitely useful so we don’t have to go down to the basement all the time... The staircase shouldn’t be made smaller either.
We also considered placing the entrance on the left-hand side of the plan, but it would then be quite hidden from the street and not easily accessible if we put another garage or parking spot closer to the street.
We really like the combined living/dining/kitchen area. The only thing is we don’t need as much space for the dining area as it appears here, so we plan to expand the other two areas instead.
One practical option for accessibility might be swapping the large sliding door and the fixed window on the bottom side of the plan. Then possibly replacing the balcony door and fixed window on the right side of the plan with a similar sliding door? Would that be a reasonable alternative? For the dining room, we only have a cabinet about 1m (3 feet) wide that we want to place there. A bright house unfortunately always means less wall space for furniture… oops.
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