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
I tend to belong to the group that finds it strange to place anything in front of floor-to-ceiling windows.
So why install floor-to-ceiling windows at all?
We actually only have floor-to-ceiling windows in the dining area and at the patio doors. But we are 100% sure that nothing will be placed in front of them, except maybe a plant in advance. In the living room, we decided against them for better furniture arrangement, even though it would probably have looked great, especially around the corner.
The children’s rooms, bedrooms, and office have windows with a normal window sill height, so that a desk can be placed there...
So why install floor-to-ceiling windows at all?
We actually only have floor-to-ceiling windows in the dining area and at the patio doors. But we are 100% sure that nothing will be placed in front of them, except maybe a plant in advance. In the living room, we decided against them for better furniture arrangement, even though it would probably have looked great, especially around the corner.
The children’s rooms, bedrooms, and office have windows with a normal window sill height, so that a desk can be placed there...
Personally, I think having a desk in front of a floor-to-ceiling window is great, but that’s a matter of personal preference. Of course, not placed directly against the window, but about 30 cm (12 inches) away.
The same goes for a sofa. If there is some space between the window and the sofa, I find that completely fine.
The same goes for a sofa. If there is some space between the window and the sofa, I find that completely fine.
Climbee schrieb:
Personally, I think having a desk in front of a floor-to-ceiling window is great, but of course, that’s a matter of personal taste.
Not placed directly against the window, but about 30cm (12 inches) away from it.
The same applies to a sofa. If there’s some space left between the window and the sofa, I find that perfectly fine. I feel the same way.
Climbee schrieb:
I personally think, for example, that a desk in front of a floor-to-ceiling window is great, but of course that’s a matter of personal taste.Then the young guys line up in front of the house when the daughter is doing her homework in a short skirt.
My desk was never tidy either back then. It must have looked messy from outside. On top of that, there’s often the cable clutter from the desk lamp, computer, and so on.
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