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
B
Bieber081519 Oct 2017 06:32Caidori schrieb:
What exactly don’t you understand? You currently live with an open kitchen, but you say you’ll be very relieved once you have moved. So, you want a closed kitchen, right? At the same time, you mention that an open-plan kitchen is a must. I see a contradiction there and I’m a bit puzzled...
Of course, in addition to our large cooking/living/dining area, I would have liked a separate living room ("salon"), but the budget just didn’t allow it...
Bieber0815 schrieb:
...
Sure, besides our large kitchen/living/dining area, I would have liked a separate living room ("salon"), but the budget just didn’t allow for it... Most floor plans show a large living/dining area with a separate kitchen. I actually think that’s wrong. In my opinion, it’s better to have a huge kitchen/dining area on the sunny side and a small salon as the living room. Especially now that open-plan kitchens are no longer distinguishable from living room furniture. I’ll definitely design it like that in my next house.
In the past, large kitchens were built where the whole family could eat together, with a table and all. Next to it was a pantry. There was a living room, but it was not used for dining. In more affluent households, there might have been a separate dining room as well.
Then, in the 1960s, the trend for dining rooms emerged. Kitchens became smaller and there was a pass-through to the dining room. People no longer ate in the kitchen but only prepared food there.
The next step has been to eliminate the pass-through, even the dividing wall, combining the cooking, dining, and living areas into one open-plan room.
To me, this is a step backward. The ideal solution is the old one: a living room and a dining room for formal meals. In this area, there is also the Vertigo display cabinet with a showcase, where Holmgaard and Rosenthal glassware delight the viewer’s eye. For everyday use, we use the kitchen table. For that purpose, the kitchen itself needs to be large enough as a separate room.
Next to it is the utility area, with a sink, washing machine, freezer chest or cabinet, and a pantry cabinet. I built ours on Sunday from a 202 x 80 x 40cm (79 x 31 x 16 inch) Billy office shelving unit with two Ottebol doors as a great cabinet for under 100.
Karsten
Then, in the 1960s, the trend for dining rooms emerged. Kitchens became smaller and there was a pass-through to the dining room. People no longer ate in the kitchen but only prepared food there.
The next step has been to eliminate the pass-through, even the dividing wall, combining the cooking, dining, and living areas into one open-plan room.
To me, this is a step backward. The ideal solution is the old one: a living room and a dining room for formal meals. In this area, there is also the Vertigo display cabinet with a showcase, where Holmgaard and Rosenthal glassware delight the viewer’s eye. For everyday use, we use the kitchen table. For that purpose, the kitchen itself needs to be large enough as a separate room.
Next to it is the utility area, with a sink, washing machine, freezer chest or cabinet, and a pantry cabinet. I built ours on Sunday from a 202 x 80 x 40cm (79 x 31 x 16 inch) Billy office shelving unit with two Ottebol doors as a great cabinet for under 100.
Karsten
We also put one of those Pax wardrobes from Ikea in our pantry. Cheap and practical, right? Well, not at all! That junk can’t hold up. Just three packs of pasta and a jar of pickles, and the shelves bend so much it’s scary.
I’ve now ordered a new Tego metal shelving unit for €420. Okay, it might not look very nice, but it can easily hold even the beverage crates without any issues.
I’ve now ordered a new Tego metal shelving unit for €420. Okay, it might not look very nice, but it can easily hold even the beverage crates without any issues.
Nordlys schrieb:
... where behind glass Holmgaard and Rosenthal please the viewer’s eye.
Karsten And anyway, if at all, then naturally Meissen.
@Bieber0815, now I understand. I must have expressed it incorrectly, because for us a "Wohnküche" is exactly what Karsten describes. That means a large kitchen connected to a pantry/laundry room with its own entrance. This is where daily life happens: eating, chatting, having coffee with friends, and so on.
There is also a dining table in the living room, but it is really only used on holidays or special occasions.
I hope this makes more sense—that I’m happy to have this "Wohnküche" as a closed-off space in the new house, rather than being open to the living room.
There is also a dining table in the living room, but it is really only used on holidays or special occasions.
I hope this makes more sense—that I’m happy to have this "Wohnküche" as a closed-off space in the new house, rather than being open to the living room.
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