ᐅ Floor Plan for a 150 m² Urban Villa – Looking Forward to Your Opinions :-)

Created on: 8 Jan 2019 16:32
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Gini_86
Hello homebuilding friends,

I would like to hear your opinions.

We plan to build an urban villa with 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft). It is planned in a small new development area that will be developed by mid-February.

We are building with a developer who is also providing the architect.

The notarized contract has not yet been signed.

Below, I am attaching the current floor plan from the architect and another version with my requested changes (and a few explanations). These changes have not yet been discussed with the architect. Maybe you will say some are not feasible or maybe you will have additional suggestions for modifications.

Since we are approaching the final phase, I’m very interested in your feedback. Perhaps some of you will notice something we haven’t thought of yet. I appreciate every opinion and suggestion from you.

The furniture placement was done freely by the architect and does not reflect our preferences.

Further down in the list of questions, I’ve included two points (hidden door to the pantry/laundry room / optimal placement of the fireplace), just in case they aren’t read until the end.

One more thing: Neither my husband nor I come from the construction industry (probably obvious due to the changes I’m suggesting), and we are not handy :-(). Therefore, we want a turnkey build.

I hope I haven’t forgotten anything, but feel free to ask if I have.

So, here is the list of questions:

Zoning/building restrictions: None

Plot size: 529 sqm (5,693 sq ft)

Slope: No

Adjacent buildings: Possibly a garage

Number of parking spaces: 1–2

Number of floors: 2 full stories

Roof type: Hip roof

Client requirements

Style: open living/dining area, lots of natural light, clean design

Roof type: Hip roof

Building type: Urban villa

Basement: No

Number of floors: 2 full stories

Number of residents: 4

Ages: 36, 32, 4 years, 4 months

Space requirements on ground floor: guest WC with built-in shower, small guest/office room, utility room, storage under the stairs, open kitchen with island, dining area for at least 6 people, living room

Upper floor: 2 equally sized children's rooms, small storage room, master bedroom, storage room

Office: family use

Modern construction style

Open kitchen with island

Number of dining seats: 6

Fireplace: initially not wanted, now yes!

Balcony: No

Garage: planned for later

Garden for cultivation

House design

Who designed the plan: architect from the building company

What do you particularly like? open living/dining area, storage room on upper floor, now 2 equally sized children's rooms

What do you dislike? unsure about my requested changes, the entrance area (wardrobe), bedroom layout, sufficient space?

Preferred heating system: exhaust air heat pump including underfloor heating

Must-have: floor-to-ceiling windows in the kitchen

Why is the design as it is now?

The floor plan was based on our wishes/information.

Which of our wishes have been implemented by the architect?

Floor-to-ceiling windows in the children's rooms, overall window planning, half-turn staircase, large window in the stairwell, closed staircase with storage

Unfortunately not yet implemented: hidden door (tall cabinets) in the kitchen leading to utility/pantry room—perhaps this is up to the kitchen planner? The kitchen planning appointment is Friday.

Since the fireplace was only considered later, I would be interested if you have a better suggestion for its location?

Brief explanation of the requested changes to the floor plan:

Ground floor:

Entrance area: I would prefer not to place the wardrobe as originally planned in front of the glass front door element, but to move the niche further back. I thought about a narrow cabinet and a bench (both IKEA Stuva series). They are quite narrow, but this will make the guest room a bit smaller. Do you see another option for the wardrobe?

Then I somehow found the corridor space wasted and thought we could shift the wall with the planned tall cabinets in the kitchen a bit further into the hallway…

The cabinets should be built into a drywall partition. At the back, there should be only a kitchen counter without tall cabinets, and opposite that, the kitchen island.

Do you maybe have other ideas for a hidden door to the utility room, or is that not very practical?

Of course, the windows would no longer fit with these changes.

Upper floor:

Children's rooms now both equally sized

Storage room consequently a bit larger

Bedroom currently just enough space for what is needed

Bathroom no longer has a T-wall; only the shower is behind the double washbasin now.

Thank you very much for reading this far.

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

Best regards

Gini_86

Lageplan eines Baugrundstücks mit Grünfläche, Treppenhaus und angrenzenden Parzellen


Grundriss eines Hauses mit Wohnen/Essen, Küche, Gastzimmer, Flur, WC, HWR/Vorrat


Grundriss Obergeschoss: Flur, Bad, Abstellraum, Schlafen, Kind 1, Kind 2.


Schnittansicht eines zweistöckigen Hauses (A-A) mit Dach, Treppe, Türen, Bodenaufbau und Maßlinien.


Grundriss eines Hauses: offenes Wohnen/Essen, Küche, Gastzimmer, Flur, HWR, Treppe


Grundriss eines Wohnhauses: Flur, Bad, AR, Kind 1, Kind 2, 2. Rettungsweg.


Modernes Wohnzimmer mit Kamin, rundem Holztisch, Kerzen und Holzstapeln neben dem Sofa.
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hemali2003
9 Jan 2019 23:31
Gini_86 schrieb:
Thanks so much for your opinion.
I'm actually starting to lean towards placing the washing machine and dryer upstairs. ☺️

I also spent a long time thinking, "Oh no, why didn’t we realize this earlier?" But after giving it some thought, I’m glad we didn’t do it.
1. Washing, folding, and ironing usually happen during the day, and that’s when I stay on the ground floor. Having to run upstairs all the time would be quite annoying...
2. If the machine does run in the evening or night, it would bother us. Especially when the washer is spinning, it gets quite loud. It’s no problem during the day or in the evening while watching TV. But at night when sleeping, it would definitely be disruptive.

Yes, you do have to carry the laundry up and down. But I think for us, it’s a better solution than having a laundry room upstairs.
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ypg
10 Jan 2019 00:24
Gini_86 schrieb:
Why is that?

Because the kitchen fitter is already coming.
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Gini_86
10 Jan 2019 06:55
hemali2003 schrieb:
I also thought for a long time, "Oh no, why didn’t we go through with it?" But after thinking it over, I’m actually glad we didn’t.
1. Washing, folding, and ironing usually take place during the day, and that’s when I’m mostly on the ground floor. Having to run upstairs all the time would be quite annoying...
2. If the machine runs in the evening or at night, it would bother us. Especially when the washer is spinning, it gets quite loud. During the day or while watching TV in the evening it’s not an issue, but at night when sleeping, it definitely would be disturbing.

Yes, you do have to carry all the laundry up and down. But I think, for us, this is a better option than having a laundry room on the upper floor.

You are of course right about that.
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Gini_86
10 Jan 2019 06:57
ypg schrieb:
Because the kitchen fitter is already coming.

This is just an initial meeting to see if we can find something suitable (desired cabinet fronts, cooktop, etc.).
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Wickie
10 Jan 2019 08:55
@hemali2003 that's definitely true – it always depends on personal habits!

For us, it’s perfect this way – the laundry room is right next to the walk-in closet, and the machine is so quiet that we only really hear it when it beeps at the end of the cycle (and that can be turned off).
So it can run there at night, and when I get up, I can immediately hang the laundry.
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j.bautsch
10 Jan 2019 12:30
Wickie schrieb:
The machine is so quiet that we actually only hear it when it beeps at the end of the program (and that can be turned off).

It’s the same for us; they aren’t as loud anymore. And running it at night only happens in “emergencies,” like if the child has an accident during the night. Carrying the laundry upstairs would really bother me.
I also don’t iron, so the time spent on laundry is quite manageable.

That way, every child can pick up their baskets from the laundry room themselves when done and also bring the laundry into the room. No risk of falling on the stairs with “cargo” (though I’m a bit cautious about that from personal experience).