ᐅ Single-family Home – "Almost" Final Floor Plan – Suggestions for Improvement?

Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: 597 m² (6,425 sq ft)
Slope: Slightly sloping towards the street to the west
Building type: Detached single-family house with double garage
Site coverage ratio: 0.25
Edge development: No
Parking spaces: Double garage / carport in front of the garage
Number of floors: 1.5
Building setback: 3 m (10 ft) on all sides, except garage
Orientation: South
Maximum wall height: 4.4 m (14.4 ft)

Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Solid single-family house, gable roof with 30° pitch
Basement, floors: 1 full floor, 0.5 upper floor, no basement
Number of occupants, age: 3 adults (34, 25), 1 child (10), 1 more planned
Room requirements by level:
Ground floor: Open kitchen-living area, living room, office, utility room, guest bathroom
Upper floor: Master bedroom, 2 children’s bedrooms, bathroom, WC, walk-in closet, storage room
Office: For private and business use, with sofa bed for guests
Guest stays: approximately 30 times per year
Conservative or modern build: Modern open kitchen with island in the living kitchen
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: yes
Audio/video wall: yes, 9.2 system
Balcony: no
Terrace: yes, in front of living kitchen and living room along the entire east side (wind protection provided by the forward-positioned garage)
Garage: large double garage with 54 m² (6 m x 9 m) (581 sq ft / 20 ft x 30 ft)
Utility garden: east side
Rainwater collection tank: no
Additional wishes/particulars, including reasons why some features are not included:

House Design
Who designed it: Ourselves together with an architect
What do you particularly like? Why? The open living-kitchen area as well as the master bathroom with walk-in closet
What do you not like? Why? Unfortunately, we had to reduce the knee wall height, so the sloped ceilings on the second floor now start at 1.40 m (4.6 ft) instead of 1.60 m (5.2 ft). The development plan does not allow for anything else. This change was due to height adjustments in the building area.
Personal budget limit for the house, including fittings: 600,000 EUR
Preferred heating system: Ground source heat pump with heat storage / no radiators, only underfloor heating

If you had to give up, which details/expansions
-you can give up: Office
-you cannot give up: Large open kitchen

The design itself is practically set, unfortunately, we had to reduce the knee wall height a little, and now the sloped ceilings in the second floor start at 1.40 m (4.6 ft). We don’t find this very appealing, but the development plan does not permit two full floors.

We would simply appreciate some feedback. All ideas and suggestions are very welcome. Of course, we believe we have thought everything through thoroughly, but any information can help us.

There are no longer any trees on the plot.

Thank you very much in advance for the feedback.

Adendorf. My second home Best regards.

I think the kitchen countertop looks a bit small.
The 6m (20 feet) measurement for the carport and the free space around the two cars is misleading. The 6m (20 feet) is the external dimension, not the internal one. You can try it out yourself. Personally, I would expand it a bit, if possible.

I find the design overall very successful.
It will probably be a bit tight on the toilet upstairs for older and larger people – guests are expected to use the bathroom downstairs anyway.
The path to the washing machine will be quite long. That’s not a problem. A hatch from the upstairs bathroom could improve daily convenience.
I would align the smaller window in the dining area with the dining table, rather than focusing on the symmetry of the exterior. Think from the inside out, not the other way around. If the outside appearance is that important, the children's room window could be moved as well, so both windows line up vertically.
I usually find a shower in the guest toilet unnecessary – here it makes sense, since guests will probably be staying overnight in the study.
I would keep the small open space above, as it does not significantly improve the sense of space downstairs but does fully expose you to noise from above.
As @danixf pointed out, the garage is a bit narrow – with the two illustrated BMW 3 Series Touring E30 models it works. With modern cars, it’s somewhat tight. In practice, probably only one car will be parked in the garage once the child/children have their own vehicles to park and maneuver elsewhere.

Great design.
Still, a few (to me) serious flaws:
- I would never plan doors to be only 76cm (30 inches) wide in a new build. Especially not for the utility room, where you want to get through with laundry baskets, crates of drinks, etc.! I would rather make it about 1m (39 inches).
- In any case, I would make sure there is enough space behind doors for a cupboard or storage. See kitchen, utility room, and study.
- In the kitchen, I would plan the counter along the garage wall to extend the full width.
- Two doors in the bathroom don’t seem ideal to me, but that’s probably a matter of taste. I would rather check if the shower bathroom upstairs is sufficient and remove the shower downstairs.
- The open space above doesn’t add much, as hampshire already pointed out.
- The shower upstairs would feel too dark and cramped for me.

Doodled a few notes with Paint...

For more than 200m2 (2153 sq ft) of living space and a fairly generous room layout, I would consider adding a second shower bathroom on the upper floor. This could be conveniently located between Child 2’s room and the bathroom – the “master bathroom” near the dressing table might then be a bit smaller. Alternatively, the upper storage room could be used for this purpose and placed in the previously described location. The storage room would also be a good spot for the washing machine, wouldn’t it? That way, you wouldn’t have to carry laundry down to the ground floor and back up again (the laundry chute unfortunately does not work upwards).

Furthermore, I would enter the master suite through the walk-in closet and then access the bedroom and bathroom as planned. This would increase privacy a bit more.

I just noticed that @Tamstar was quicker with the idea and even has a sketch for it .

Hello, first of all, thank you for the great responses. Here are a couple of replies from my side.

Just to mention, in case it’s not immediately clear from the floor plan: the ceiling on the upper floor remains open up to the roof, including exposed beams. We think this creates a fantastic sense of space. However, this also means there is no attic, so the utility room and storage room on the upper floor have to be that size (because there’s no basement). Of course, there will also be some storage space in the garage, but you know how that usually goes.

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danixf schrieb:

Adendorf. My second home Best regards.

The kitchen work surface looks a bit small, I think.
The 6m (20 feet) for the carport and your free space for the two cars is misleading. 6m is the outer dimension, not the inner one. You can try it out for yourself. Personally, I would expand it a bit if possible.

Best regards back to you.

Here are some photos for the detailed kitchen planning. The architect only roughly sketched it into the floor plan. As for dimensions, the kitchen island is 2.40 x 1.60m (8 feet x 5 feet 3 inches). In addition, the cupboard next to the fridge was made wider to create more surface area.
Yes, the garage can’t be any wider due to the building boundary restrictions. I would have liked more space, too.
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hampshire schrieb:

I find the design very well done overall.
It will probably be a bit tight on the toilet upstairs for older or bigger people – guests are meant to use the bathroom downstairs anyway.
The route to the washing machine will be quite a walk, but that’s not a big deal. A laundry chute from the upstairs bathroom would add everyday convenience.
I would orient the smaller window in the dining area towards the dining table rather than for symmetrical external appearance. Think from inside out, not the other way round. If the exterior appearance is important, you can shift the kid’s room window accordingly so that they align vertically.
Normally, I find a shower in the guest toilet unnecessary – but it fits here since guests will likely sleep in the study.
I would keep the small open space above as it doesn’t contribute much to the downstairs sense of space and mainly has the downside of sound transmission upwards.
As @danixf mentioned, the garage is a bit narrow – it works with the two drawn-in BMW 3 Series Touring E30s. With modern cars, it gets tight. In practice, probably only one car will be parked in the garage once the child/children have their own vehicles and especially for maneuvering.

Thanks very much.
Yes, a laundry chute from the bathroom down to the utility room is planned, but since the bathroom is still undergoing some changes, we want to wait until that is 100% finalized. That’s why it’s directly above the utility room.
Great idea about the window near the dining table—I think we will adopt that. As you said, the upstairs window can then be shifted accordingly. Correct, as the office will also serve as a guest room, the shower is planned downstairs. Also, if you come in dirty with a child or dog (we have two), you can just use the shower downstairs.
Regarding the garage, as I said above, it can’t be made wider. And since there’s a carport in front, usually only one car and my motorcycle will be inside anyway (like our current garage).
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Tamstar schrieb:

Great design.
Still, a few (for me) major mistakes:
- I would never plan doors at 76cm (30 inches) width in a new build. Especially not for the utility room, where you want to get through with laundry baskets, beverage crates etc.! I’d rather have about 1m (3 feet 3 inches).
- I would definitely ensure there is space behind doors for cupboards. See kitchen, utility room, and study.
- In the kitchen, I would plan the cabinet run on the garage side across the entire width.
- Two doors in the bathroom don’t seem ideal, but that’s a matter of taste. I’d rather see the shower bathroom upstairs and lose the shower downstairs.
- The open space above doesn’t add much, as hampshire mentioned.
- The shower upstairs would be too dark and tight for me.

Doodled in Paint...
[ATTACH alt="House 2.jpg"]39061[/ATTACH][ATTACH alt="House 6.jpg"]39062[/ATTACH]

Thanks to you as well. The door advice is now on my list for the architect; there’s enough space to easily make that change. It’s doable for the office and almost everywhere upstairs, too. As for the kitchen, you can see from the current plan... it got a bit wider. Still enough space for the door to open fully, and there’s a little space on the right where the dog bowls will go.
Since guests will mostly sleep in the office, the shower bathroom will stay downstairs. Another bathroom upstairs would be unnecessary. Kids can share the parents’ bathroom, and when they don’t want to anymore, the shower downstairs will still be available.
Yes, the open space above was initially bigger but has since changed due to other modifications; we’re not 100% certain about it anymore. However, with the open ceiling on the upper floor extending to the roof, it should still look really nice. How much louder it will be in the end is hard to estimate.
The shower upstairs will get enough light thanks to the floor-to-ceiling window in front and the open ceiling. The shower walls will be about 2.50m (8 feet 2 inches) high, or possibly a little lower, so light can also enter from above.
Since there were more recent changes, the bathroom size changed from 1.50 x 1.60m (5 feet x 5 feet 3 inches) to 1.35 x 1.60m (4 feet 5 inches x 5 feet 3 inches), as shown in the floor plan. I still think 1.35 x 1.60m is quite large. Compared to our current shower at 75 x 75cm (30 x 30 inches), it’s actually HUGE.
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RomeoZwo schrieb:

With more than 200m2 (2,150 sq ft) of living space and a rather generous room layout, I would consider a second shower bathroom upstairs. This could be positioned well between Child 2 and the bathroom – the “parent bathroom” near the dressing table could then be slightly smaller. Or possibly use the upstairs storage room and relocate it to the position previously mentioned. The storage room would also suit the washing machine, right? That way, you wouldn’t have to carry laundry down to the ground floor and up again (unfortunately the laundry chute only works downwards).
Also, I would enter the master area via the dressing room and from there into the bedroom and bathroom as planned. That would increase privacy.

Just saw @Tamstar already had a similar idea and even made a sketch.

Hello,
We will definitely consider access from the dressing room; that sounds interesting. However, a large mirror is supposed to go on that wall inside the dressing room, but we will think about it.
Regarding the second bathroom upstairs, as I already mentioned, we will keep just the one bathroom. However, I will still present the idea to the authorities.