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
Nordlys schrieb:
It's true about the grout lines. You need to be a bit tolerant of dirt and not expect everything to look perfectly clean all the time. Just like in a swimming pool, grout lines can get a bit grimy sometimes. KarstenOur grout lines in the shower are the cleanest in the entire house.
S
stefanc8423 Jul 2017 16:29While we are on the topic of plumbing, another modern design that comes to mind is square-shaped toilets.
stefanc84 schrieb:
Since we are already talking about plumbing, I just thought of a modern design: square-shaped toilets.
And a bit off-topic (also for others who are reading here)
I also use TT, where the signature with your phone model is preset. But what does that have to do in this forum? Please consider turning it off or changing it accordingly.
Thank you
Best regards, Yvonne
I’d like to revisit a few topics from the recent pages:
Open Kitchen:
We are certain that we do not want a fully open kitchen. The main reasons have already been mentioned. Even when we have guests, I want to be able to leave pots out in the evening without them being visible or creating odors.
We are currently looking for a "semi-open" solution because we are attracted to the benefits of a very open living and dining area.
At the moment, we are considering a corner layout and a version with sliding doors.
Which, in my opinion, might be the next "trend."
What do you think about sliding doors? As a more complex solution recessed into a lightweight partition wall between two walls, or the simpler version running directly along the wall.
Floor-to-Ceiling Windows:
We decided against them. Even though the lot is large enough, we don’t like the idea of people being able to look directly into the rooms from outside. We also prefer the look of “classic” windows. If they are well positioned and sufficiently large, they still let in almost as much light.
However, we have planned large floor-to-ceiling doors leading to the terrace.
Walk-In Shower:
We have planned this for the large bathroom upstairs. I like having plenty of space in the shower. I’m still influenced by very small old showers in our first apartments where you had to practically fight your way in every morning, which was frustrating.
Since we like hot showers and want to keep the warmth, we plan to include some kind of partition.
Colored Windows:
These were always included in the first plans — the goal was a distinctive exterior look. However, we have now decided against them. We seem to get tired of real colors quickly, and gray, for example, appeared too dark and unfriendly.
Master/Parents’ Bathroom:
Not necessary for me. We are planning a large full bathroom upstairs and a guest WC with a shower downstairs, which should be enough. I don’t dislike the idea of a parents’ bathroom (accessible only from the bedroom), but if it’s going to be a wellness oasis, we lack the space and budget for that kind of luxury.
T-Layout in the Bathroom:
I find this topic too general. It really depends a lot on how the bathroom is laid out. In principle, I think it’s a good option for us. Since we don’t lock the doors and they are always open, in the morning one person can brush their teeth in front of the mirror while the other showers "around the corner." It is subjective, but we like it better than one large room.
I am not sure if this fits here or if it might be a bit too much, but for me, ventilation systems are currently somewhat of a trend. What are your thoughts on this?
Open Kitchen:
We are certain that we do not want a fully open kitchen. The main reasons have already been mentioned. Even when we have guests, I want to be able to leave pots out in the evening without them being visible or creating odors.
We are currently looking for a "semi-open" solution because we are attracted to the benefits of a very open living and dining area.
At the moment, we are considering a corner layout and a version with sliding doors.
Which, in my opinion, might be the next "trend."
What do you think about sliding doors? As a more complex solution recessed into a lightweight partition wall between two walls, or the simpler version running directly along the wall.
Floor-to-Ceiling Windows:
We decided against them. Even though the lot is large enough, we don’t like the idea of people being able to look directly into the rooms from outside. We also prefer the look of “classic” windows. If they are well positioned and sufficiently large, they still let in almost as much light.
However, we have planned large floor-to-ceiling doors leading to the terrace.
Walk-In Shower:
We have planned this for the large bathroom upstairs. I like having plenty of space in the shower. I’m still influenced by very small old showers in our first apartments where you had to practically fight your way in every morning, which was frustrating.
Since we like hot showers and want to keep the warmth, we plan to include some kind of partition.
Colored Windows:
These were always included in the first plans — the goal was a distinctive exterior look. However, we have now decided against them. We seem to get tired of real colors quickly, and gray, for example, appeared too dark and unfriendly.
Master/Parents’ Bathroom:
Not necessary for me. We are planning a large full bathroom upstairs and a guest WC with a shower downstairs, which should be enough. I don’t dislike the idea of a parents’ bathroom (accessible only from the bedroom), but if it’s going to be a wellness oasis, we lack the space and budget for that kind of luxury.
T-Layout in the Bathroom:
I find this topic too general. It really depends a lot on how the bathroom is laid out. In principle, I think it’s a good option for us. Since we don’t lock the doors and they are always open, in the morning one person can brush their teeth in front of the mirror while the other showers "around the corner." It is subjective, but we like it better than one large room.
I am not sure if this fits here or if it might be a bit too much, but for me, ventilation systems are currently somewhat of a trend. What are your thoughts on this?
Lobster schrieb:
I would also like to pick up on a few topics from the last pages:
I'm not entirely sure if this fits here or might be a bit off-topic, but to me, ventilation systems currently seem like somewhat of a trend. What are your thoughts?Ventilation systems are not a trend but a necessity.
tomtom79 schrieb:
Ventilation systems are not a trend but a necessity.I fully agree.
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