ᐅ Floor Plan Optimization for Urban Villa + Considerations for Land Elevation

saralina87 schrieb:

So, please don’t take this the wrong way, but if you’re already stressing yourself out this much (and wow, your inability to make decisions is really next-level), you should seriously consider getting professional help – otherwise, you might lose it eventually! And like I said, please don’t misunderstand me. I believe that 90% of people could benefit from therapy, but unfortunately only a small percentage realize it. You, however, at least recognize that your behavior in this regard is "not quite normal."

I generally manage well with everyday life. I research a lot online before making purchase decisions, read reviews, compare prices. It takes a few hours, and the results usually work out.

I don’t regret my husband, children, or job.

I just find it difficult to make final decisions when it comes to the house. Once it’s built, of course, I won’t be tearing down any walls. So I try to avoid as many “mistakes” as possible in advance.

Choosing colors and furniture comes surprisingly quickly to me. Strangely enough, that’s not a big problem.

But I do plan a lot. For example, my wedding or road trips in the USA. I had almost everything arranged from Germany, including all motel bookings. I’m a security-oriented person and don’t like to decide spontaneously where I’ll stay overnight.

I think I’m a somewhat special type and don’t need therapy just because of the house planning. We have finished our planning and can only make minor adjustments now. I just need to mentally come to terms with it.

For me, building a house is a huge project. After all, it involves about 600,000 euros (around $650,000) for only 165 square meters (1,776 square feet) with a carport but no basement. That definitely adds pressure. I find that amount staggering. And since I want to do everything right, I’m tense about it.

I also don’t feel well advised and regret not consulting an independent architect earlier. A few months ago, I thought it was too expensive. Today, I would gladly pay them for a good design and advice.

Shiny86 schrieb:

...

I think I'm more of a special case and don’t need therapy because of the house planning. We've finished the plans and can only make minor changes now. I just need to mentally come to terms with it.

...

I also don’t feel well advised and don’t regret going to an independent architect beforehand.

"Because" of the house build, probably not, no. As I said, it wasn’t meant as an attack.
This would drive me crazy, both as a partner and as someone affected myself.
I’m also a bit of a planning and organizing freak, but asking complete (!) strangers about every tiny decision is just not quite normal (and you already acknowledged that yourself).
If it doesn’t stress you out, just ignore my post, it really wasn’t meant as an attack.
All the best to you!

I would be very cautious about judging what is normal and what is not. The fact is: after building a house, there will be things that you could have done differently in hindsight – so what? Just build another house.

saralina87 schrieb:

I am also a planning and organization fanatic myself, but here you are asking strangers (!) about every little tiny decision

Of course, I Google beforehand as well. But there are still many things I don’t know. And in real life, I can’t ask anyone for advice. As I mentioned, our friends haven’t built yet, for example.
And your post was fine. All good.

Shiny86 schrieb:

I also don’t feel well advised and regret not going to an independent architect beforehand. A few months ago, I thought it was too expensive. Today, I would gladly pay for a good design and advice.

It might not have made a difference anyway. I have asked myself that many times. When you have your own ideas, you tend to stick to them. If your husband doesn’t want to be vulnerable, the independent architect won’t design for you either. In the end, the result probably wouldn’t have been any different.

Shiny86 schrieb:

May I ask what those things would be for you?

In many places, the window sizes could still have been optimized. But it’s only a matter of a few centimeters—for example, on the upper floor, all the windows are 1.51 meters (5 feet) wide, but in some spots, 1.76 meters (5 feet 9 inches) width would probably have been possible. At the time, we didn’t think about it because I didn’t realize how important it was; today, I would try to maximize the window size wherever possible.

I would also raise the ceiling height on the ground floor a bit.

Perhaps I should have added a bay window and, on the upper floor, a seating area in the hallway with a nice view.

The living area could handle larger windows, but I was very limited because I wanted to fill the space with furniture and thus blocked many window positioning options. It could all be a bit more “airy,” with more floor-to-ceiling windows, for example. I can live with it, but it doesn’t look very modern in that area. I could have been bolder there.

Shiny86 schrieb:

I also don’t think anything is seriously misplanned. For example, it’s not like there’s a room without a window or anything like that. And I don’t have any oddly shaped rooms or whatever it’s called. Everything is nice and straightforward. My inner perfectionist is happy about that.

Of course, you can always live in a room. And you never really know how it would be to live with the alternative.