ᐅ Suggestions for Improving a Single-Family House Floor Plan – Any Ideas?

Hello everyone,

After a long search for a suitable plot, we have finally found one. We are buying a turnkey house from the developer, who provided us with three floor plan options. Two of them were immediately dismissed by us, and the third one comes closest to our ideas, but we are still not fully convinced.

We like the layout of the upper floor and would like to keep it as it is.

However, the ground floor is causing us some headaches. Specifically, the area around the living room/dining room/kitchen. The current plan features a U-shaped kitchen, but we would prefer a solution with a kitchen island. For that, we would need more space. In our opinion, there is too much space in the living room to accommodate this. The distance from wall to wall is 4.50 meters (15 feet), which, in our view, makes the distance between the sofa and the TV too large. (Note: Our current living room measures 3.40 x 4.50 meters (11 x 15 feet), meaning the distance between sofa and TV is 3.40 meters (11 feet), which we consider optimal.)

We have therefore considered swapping the living room and kitchen. This would allow the kitchen with an island to fit, but the living room would then be too small because the width there is only 2.80 meters (9 feet), due to the wardrobe recess. We do not see another place for the wardrobe, as the hallway does not offer much space.

We are hoping for suggestions or ideas for improvement.

Here is our list of questions:

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: approx. 430 sqm (4,630 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.35
Floor area ratio: -
Building envelope, building line and boundary: -
Edge development: -
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2 full floors
Roof type: gable roof
Style: -
Orientation: S - SW
Maximum height/limits: -
Further specifications: -

Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: gable roof
Basement, floors: 2 full floors
Number and age of occupants: currently 2 (both mid-30s), in future 2 children
Space requirements on ground floor: living room, dining room, kitchen, guest WC, utility room, small office
Space requirements on upper floor: bedroom, walk-in closet, 2 children’s rooms, bathroom
Office usage: family use and home office
Guests per year staying overnight: approx. 3 nights
Open or closed layout: open
Traditional or modern design: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes
Number of dining seats: for 6 people (expandable to 8)
Fireplace: no
Music/speaker wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons for or against certain options: -

House design
Planner: developer’s designer
What do you particularly like? And why?: upper floor layout considered optimal by us
What do you dislike? And why?: ground floor layout (living/dining/kitchen/wardrobe; see problem description above)
Preferred heating system: heat pump

If you had to give up some details or expansions
-could give up: -
-could not give up: walk-in closet; open living/dining/kitchen area; house access from street side

Why is the design as it is now?: design by the planner based on our room needs and overall size

What do you consider its main strengths or weaknesses?: see problem description above

What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?:
Does it make sense to swap living room and kitchen (see problem description above)? If yes, where else could the wardrobe be placed without making the hallway too narrow? Is the office size still adequate?

We would appreciate any suggestions or ideas for improvement from you.

I think the floor area is too small for so many rooms on the ground floor. That’s why you’re having difficulties with the kitchen and the living room.

One idea would be to give up the office (which might not be used much anyway) and turn that space into a cloakroom. This would allow the cloakroom area to be set back again. If it stays as it is, I definitely don’t see space for a kitchen island. But of course, that’s not always necessary.

We have a similar layout. Our house is 50cm (20 inches) wider but 25cm (10 inches) shorter, and because of the space, I would never have thought to squeeze in an office there (and you still have a utility room).

Entrance area is too narrow, consider swapping the guest room and moving the bathroom back.

Upstairs, I would skip the walk-in closet because once furnished, it doesn’t really add any benefit.

Better to make the children’s rooms larger.

Otherwise, the layout is quite good for 130m² (1400 sq ft).

To give you a few more ideas, here is our first draft.
Now imagine the fireplace removed. Move the hallway door as far down as possible and enlarge the pantry, also known as the utility room, and the guest toilet. The drawing is based on a floor area of 11 m x 8.25 m (36 ft x 27 ft).

1.10 meters (3.6 feet) is the hallway width on the ground floor... that is far too narrow. In our terraced house, we had about 1.30 meters (4.3 feet), which was still too tight for comfortable entry and exit.
When you open the coat closet door, there’s no room to move. A stroller makes the hallway impassable.

34 square meters (366 square feet) for the living, dining, and kitchen area is too small for an island.

What is the ground floor shower for? With a house this size, guests usually stay in a hotel. The staircase should be closed off so that a storage closet can be placed underneath. Instead of a dedicated office, there’s a laptop on the sofa and no walk-in closet. Possibly, there could still be a storage room upstairs, which is necessary.

I would skip the island.
Painting the home office won’t work; it’s so small that it would feel cramped.
Paint the shower area on the ground floor.

Upstairs, I would paint the walk-in closet. In return, make the bedroom a bit larger so that a wardrobe fits.