ᐅ New construction of a single-family house, approximately 220 sqm, second design draft of an urban villa

This has nothing primarily to do with the size of the house. There are people who swear by a closed kitchen, while others love being able to chat with guests around the kitchen island while cooking.
I find a balcony completely unnecessary, whereas others cannot imagine a house without one. The same goes for basements...

The input that the utility room is too small for hanging laundry, the hallway closet is not ideal due to storage risks, the size of the upper floor corridor is unnecessary, and the kitchen island should be rotated 90° was very helpful.

However, the design is by no means disastrous.

Yes, it is. And it has nothing to do with the kitchen being closed off.

The cabinets on the right side of the plan seem to include the oven, a dishwasher, and/or maybe no microwave, possibly also the refrigerator. This turns the kitchen into a small fitness studio again. For me, the refrigerator is right next to the peninsula, so I don’t have to walk around it to get to the oven. Having the fridge there is convenient if you want to grab a drink, but while cooking, I have to run a small marathon for every ingredient.

The island itself is quite small, especially with the cooktop positioned in the middle. This leaves too little counter space on either side to prepare anything. The counter space along the bottom of the plan is divided by the sink—which could be arranged better.

There is plenty of space, but it’s used inefficiently. It can definitely be done much better, even for a closed kitchen with a separate dining area (both of which I admit are generally less than ideal—but if someone wants it that way, that’s fine).

I always find having an office inside the bedroom problematic. Checking work before going to sleep—sleep experts will tell you that’s a very bad idea. If there are sensitive documents that shouldn’t be seen by others, then I would set up a separate office that is NOT a guest room (and if I remember correctly, there aren’t any overnight guests planned anyway), but definitely not within the bedroom. That way, the office can even be locked.

If someone wants a balcony, that’s fine. Although many here confirm that if you have a garden, you hardly ever use a balcony. Such a space is mostly used by teenagers for brooding and isolating themselves from the world. Otherwise, I don’t know anyone who uses it. But here? A tiny square space where you can barely fit a chair and a table? For what purpose? From the dressing room??? Honestly, I’ve never seen a more useless and impractical balcony than this one.

But we’re speculating again. The original poster hasn’t commented further. Maybe it’s not even meant to be an office, but a place for a love swing and a Saint Andrew’s cross—then the connection to the bedroom would actually make sense!

Just because the office is in the bedroom doesn’t mean you have to think about work right before going to sleep. Anyone who uses their company phone privately and receives emails on it would face the same issue.

The small balcony can actually make sense, for example if you are a smoker and want to have a cigarette right after waking up or before going to bed (I’ve heard it’s quite common). Everyone also knows the problem of clothes smelling from food, cigarettes, or similar.

For this reason, I also like to hang my suits outside to air them out, because I don’t send them to the dry cleaner every time. The balcony is the perfect size for that.

Having the balcony accessible through the walk-in closet can be useful if the children sometimes use the balcony as well. That way, they don’t have to constantly go through the bedroom or the bathroom.

In my opinion, the kitchen reflects the original poster’s previous experiences. At that age (40 years), you know what you need and want, and EVERY woman focuses on the kitchen when building a new home.
The island is not undersized. I would position the cooktop on one outer third to ensure enough countertop space.
So this layout should work, even though admittedly it’s not to my personal taste.

Alessandro schrieb:

EVERY woman focuses on the kitchen when building a new house

Definitely not, because many don’t even know all the requirements that need to be considered during construction to ensure a functional kitchen fits later on.
I also find the kitchen in the floor plan quite odd/impractical.

What does one have to do with the other?
You don’t need construction knowledge to imagine your ideal kitchen and know what you want.
My wife has no building experience, but she knows exactly that she wants/needs x base cabinets, x drawers, x wall cabinets, and so on.
Many American kitchens look quite similar.

There are many people who don’t realize that a dream kitchen isn’t always a functional kitchen. Or they don’t consider cabinet widths and aisle clearances beforehand, and then it doesn’t fit as expected.