Hello,
My wife and I visited a model home park for prefabricated houses yesterday, and we noticed that each house offered various features and floor plans whose practical benefits I don’t quite understand. That’s why I’m starting this thread, hoping you can explain the advantages of these choices or point out what I might be missing and why it still makes sense to design a house that way:
1. Almost every house had floor-to-ceiling windows installed. What’s the purpose of these? I imagine they would be terrible both in summer and winter. Wouldn’t it get extremely hot in summer? And in winter, don’t you constantly have to lower the blinds so that anyone passing by can’t look directly into the living room or inside the house? Also, isn’t the effort to clean those windows huge? Am I missing something? Do they have advantages that I don’t see?
2. There wasn’t a single house where the kitchen and dining area were separated from the living space; at best, the kitchen was separated from the dining area. I understand that having everything open makes the space appear larger and is better for hosting many people, but isn’t it very impractical? If I’m frying or cooking something in the kitchen, doesn’t the whole living room end up smelling like food? It would also bother me that as soon as my wife or I have guests over, the other person couldn’t sit in the living room and watch TV quietly, for example. This might sound a bit picky, but for me, it’s important that everyone can invite their friends without the other person always being within earshot or needing to get out of the way somehow. Why are open-plan ground floors so common? What are the real advantages?
3. The balconies on the upper floor are always accessible from one of the children’s bedrooms and the parents’ bedroom. Doesn’t that significantly affect privacy? I can’t imagine it’s great if my child can constantly knock on our bedroom door via the balcony, for example. Also, if you have two children, wouldn’t the one without a balcony be at a disadvantage?
I don’t want to bias you with my opinions here—I’m completely open to your views because I’d like to be convinced of the benefits. So I would like to know your reasons for including such features in your plans. Alternatively, has anyone built in a more “traditional” way and can speak to the practicality of these layout choices?
Best regards
My wife and I visited a model home park for prefabricated houses yesterday, and we noticed that each house offered various features and floor plans whose practical benefits I don’t quite understand. That’s why I’m starting this thread, hoping you can explain the advantages of these choices or point out what I might be missing and why it still makes sense to design a house that way:
1. Almost every house had floor-to-ceiling windows installed. What’s the purpose of these? I imagine they would be terrible both in summer and winter. Wouldn’t it get extremely hot in summer? And in winter, don’t you constantly have to lower the blinds so that anyone passing by can’t look directly into the living room or inside the house? Also, isn’t the effort to clean those windows huge? Am I missing something? Do they have advantages that I don’t see?
2. There wasn’t a single house where the kitchen and dining area were separated from the living space; at best, the kitchen was separated from the dining area. I understand that having everything open makes the space appear larger and is better for hosting many people, but isn’t it very impractical? If I’m frying or cooking something in the kitchen, doesn’t the whole living room end up smelling like food? It would also bother me that as soon as my wife or I have guests over, the other person couldn’t sit in the living room and watch TV quietly, for example. This might sound a bit picky, but for me, it’s important that everyone can invite their friends without the other person always being within earshot or needing to get out of the way somehow. Why are open-plan ground floors so common? What are the real advantages?
3. The balconies on the upper floor are always accessible from one of the children’s bedrooms and the parents’ bedroom. Doesn’t that significantly affect privacy? I can’t imagine it’s great if my child can constantly knock on our bedroom door via the balcony, for example. Also, if you have two children, wouldn’t the one without a balcony be at a disadvantage?
I don’t want to bias you with my opinions here—I’m completely open to your views because I’d like to be convinced of the benefits. So I would like to know your reasons for including such features in your plans. Alternatively, has anyone built in a more “traditional” way and can speak to the practicality of these layout choices?
Best regards
D
dragonfreak17 Jul 2017 13:52Caspar2020 schrieb:
And you're worried about microwaves and cancer?
If you cook like that or don’t have a working range hood, your husband is sitting in a fine dust cloud. And since the room is small, the concentration is even higher than in an open kitchen with a functioning range hood.By "stale air," I guess you just mean the normal smell from cooking, and usually, even a range hood can’t remove 100% of it...I agree with kaho—the smell of food in the living room disappears quickly because it’s usually eaten right away [emoji14]
In the kitchen, during cooking and depending on ventilation, it can smell of frying or, in kaho’s case, steamed vegetables.
What honestly discouraged me from planning an open kitchen / living room / dining area is the fact that I always have to tidy up the kitchen first to make it feel cozy. I’m far from being a good cook. And when guests come at Christmas and you’re preparing and carving more than two courses, I can never manage to clean everything up at the same time. I don’t have enough dishwasher capacity for that, either. I’m always relieved when I can simply close the door and start the holiday meal.
You save a wall. Good. Plus an interior door, also good. But then you have a kitchen island in the living room with fake leather bar stools in front, like on the set of a soap opera. Then there’s this massive extractor hood hanging in the living room! You look at glossy, laminated kitchen cabinets that loudly contrast with our cognac leather and the old teak dining table. Even the wife’s old oak cabinets, originally inherited from her grandmother with glass doors, don’t match at all with the modern kitchen. No, kitchen in the living room—I might as well demand a workbench and vise integrated into the living space. If the woman gets to watch the Thermomix, the man should be able to keep an eye on the jigsaw... along with the Würth adhesive and sealant workshop calendar, every month freshly illustrated with a cartridge in hand...[emoji1]Karste
Nordlys schrieb:
... I also insist on integrating the workbench and the vise into the living space. If the woman can admire the Thermomix, then the man should be able to keep an eye on the jigsaw too... along with the Würth glue and sealant workshop calendar, refreshed every month, featuring a busty model holding a cartridge...[emoji1]Karste Wait, what? You're supposed to be cooking! Or what did you think?
C
Caspar202017 Jul 2017 14:24Nordlys schrieb:
You save a wall. Good. Plus an interior door, good. But then you have this kitchen island in the living room with faux leather bar stools in front, like on GZSZ in the studio. Then there’s that huge extractor hood hanging in the living room! You look at glossy, wrapped kitchen cabinets that shout bright red against our cognac leather and the old teak dining table.Open doesn’t automatically mean a kitchen island; there’s no need for any faux leather stools either.
We have an open U-shaped layout to the dining area without all that fuss. Also, the kitchen matches well in color with our old solid wood display cabinet, which is just a meter away from the kitchen area.
Nordlys schrieb:
No no, kitchen in the living room, then I demand to integrate the workbench and vise into the living area. If the woman gets to check out the Thermomix, the man should be able to keep an eye on the jigsaw too... along with the Würth adhesive and sealing workshop calendar, every month freshly illustrated with a busty figure holding a cartridge...KarsteHaven’t seen that calendar in a long time, have you?
I can’t even remember when tools were ever shown on those pages.
But I’m probably too young to see the kitchen as a place only for women.
C
Caspar202017 Jul 2017 14:25Nordlys schrieb:
do not fit at all with AlnoAnd I thought you were going with Ikea?
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