ᐅ Which floor plan is better? (Single-family home, 170 sqm) – Feedback appreciated

Hello everyone,

We are currently planning our house and have developed two different floor plans together with the planner from a construction company. The main difference between the two layouts is the position of the staircase.

We would be very happy to hear which design you prefer and why. We would also appreciate any comments or suggestions for improvements that could help us optimize the floor plans a bit more.

Floor Plan 1: Staircase directly next to the door

Advantages:

• Good shape for the utility room
• More space in the rooms on the upper floor
• Space for a storage room on the upper floor

Disadvantages:

• Door directly next to the front door looks rather plain

Floor Plan 2: Staircase further toward the center of the house

Advantages:

• More unique and “special” entrance area with a gallery and a small open space above on the upper floor
• Coat closet in the hallway

Disadvantages:

• More circulation space on the upper floor
• Longer, narrow utility room
• No storage room
• Dressing room has less flexible furnishing options
• Rooms on the upper floor become slightly narrower

We are still uncertain about the following points:

• Would you keep the door between the hallway and kitchen? Groceries can be carried directly into the kitchen this way, but without the door, you would gain quite a bit of additional space for furniture.
• In the current floor plans, the opening between the hallway and dining room is open. How do you assess this opening in terms of noise? Should we consider installing a wall or door here instead?
• Would you add part of the guest room/office area to the living room as shown in Design 2 on the ground floor, or would this extra corner interfere too much with furnishing?
• Coat closet in Floor Plan 2: We are considering removing the front wall and only placing a wardrobe in the nook to have a somewhat larger hallway. On the other hand, it is also practical to keep the coat closet slightly out of sight.

Notes:

• One version includes a balcony, the other doesn’t. We’re still undecided on this, but it does not affect the staircase layout.
• The kitchen furnishings are not correctly drawn in yet. We plan to add a counter with stools.

We would really appreciate your opinions!

Many thanks and best regards,

Anna & Thomas

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 495 sqm (5327 sq ft)
Number of floors: 1 full floor + attic (attic may be used as a full floor)
Roof style: Gable roof
Orientation: West
Maximum height limit: 8.30 m (27 ft)

Owners’ Requirements
Basement, floors: no basement, single-story (knee wall height 1.20 m (4 ft 0 in))
Number of occupants, ages: currently 3 persons (38, 33, and 1 year), planning for 4 persons
Open or closed architecture: semi-open
Open kitchen, kitchen island: kitchen and dining area connected by a wide sliding door (around the corner to the living room) — preference not to have direct view of the kitchen from the couch

The staircase layout in the first design offers acoustic benefits. You can talk with guests downstairs without disturbing the children sleeping upstairs.
How often do you have guests? If you calculate it, it might be more worthwhile not to build a guest room and instead treat your guests to a hotel stay...

hampshire schrieb:

The stair location in the first design has acoustic advantages. You can have conversations with guests downstairs without disturbing the children sleeping upstairs.
How often do you have guests? When you calculate it, it might be more practical not to build a guest room and instead accommodate guests in a hotel...

However, the guest room is also used as a hobby room/office. You need somewhere to store craft supplies and files.
In my opinion, the open plan area doesn’t need extra floor space.

@AnnaMue
How will the house be oriented on the plot?

Where is north?

I don’t like any of the floor plans.

I don’t like the staircase in the first floor plan – it reminds me of post-war suburban housing.

Floor plan 2 – the staircase position, the gallery, the open space.

Different staircase and location.

AnnaMue schrieb:

We would also be very grateful for any comments and suggestions on how we can further improve the floor plans.

I don’t expect much gratitude here, as my suggestion for improvement is quite radical—it is to start over with a new design. “Improve” implies that the current state is already “satisfactory with potential to be good.” I see quite the opposite: dividing the space into fragmented rooms like cutting a pig into chops is too pretentious to call a “floor plan.” The designer seems to lack a sense of space, so unfortunately, they can offer little help to their clients. What made this construction company appear suitable to you?

The closet door banging against the wall, the attic hallway lit from below through an open void, the L-shaped utility room, the bathtub completely located below full standing height, and so on—this is far from being ready for any kind of optimization.

Try the simple trick of removing the bay window—and you will see, almost as if by magic, that the living room entrance suddenly works without any angled walls.

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Hello everyone,

thank you first of all for the feedback!

hampshire schrieb:

The stair placement in the first design has acoustic advantages. You can talk with guests downstairs without the children upstairs being disturbed.
How often do you have guests? If you work it out, it might be better not to build a guest room and instead offer your guests a hotel stay...

-> My husband’s family and old friends live in Bavaria. We would like to give them the option to stay with us. Additionally, the room should be used as a home office.

@ypg: The side with the bay window faces west. We are considering placing the house in the northeast corner of the plot, about 3m (10 feet) from the property boundaries on each side, to maximize the space towards the south and west.

haydee schrieb:

Where is north?

I don’t like any of the floor plans.

I don’t like the staircase in the first plan – it reminds me of post-war housing developments.

Plan 2 – the staircase placement, the gallery, the open space above.

Different staircase and location.

@haydee: Do you have a suggestion? We’ve discussed the floor plan with planners and architects from different companies but haven’t had a good idea yet.

11ant schrieb:

the attic hallway lit from below through the open space

-> Do you see the problem here that there is no natural light in the stairwell?

11ant schrieb:

Try the cheap trick of leaving out the bay window – and you will see, almost like magic, that the living room entrance works without needing an angle 🙂

We really like the look of a bay window. We didn’t want a straight living room entrance because we didn’t want the entrance right next to the TV.
What would you fundamentally change? If we keep the location of the kitchen, dining, and living rooms, there isn’t much room for adjustments in the other spaces.

Many thanks and best regards
Anna