ᐅ Interior Design for a Period Home, 133 Square Meters

Dear forum members,

In the “Floor Plan” subforum, I have read many very helpful tips regarding interior layout planning. Although I don’t have a floor plan to discuss anymore (the house has been standing since 1885), perhaps I can get some advice in this subforum as well?

Here are the details:
- Old-style apartment (entire floor) on the 3rd floor in a major city in western Germany
- 133 square meters (1431 square feet)
- Kitchen with a fitted kitchen unit (already installed) and a pantry
- Bathroom with a shower and bathtub
- Separate toilet

- Room 1: 24.99 square meters (269 square feet) with a balcony facing east, plus one window facing north and one window facing east
- Room 2: 13.70 square meters (147 square feet) with a window facing east
- Room 3: 24.77 square meters (266 square feet) with a window facing east
These three rooms are typical for an older building with large double doors connecting them all to each other, as well as doors leading to the hallway.

There is also another room measuring 22.56 square meters (243 square feet) with a window facing north.

Additionally, there is a hallway of 21.73 square meters (234 square feet) and a laundry room for the washing machine.

All rooms (except the bathroom and toilet) have renovated parquet flooring.

Two adults and one school-aged child will move into the apartment. Currently, there is almost no furniture.

I am looking for advice, tips, and suggestions regarding the apartment’s furnishing. Where should the dining area be located? Where to place a sofa? Where to sleep and where should the child’s room be? What tips and tricks do you have, including carpets, lighting, and furniture arrangement? How could a table fit well in the kitchen (the fitted kitchen unit is flush against the wall behind the door, the rest of the room is free)? How can the large hallway be designed effectively?

We need a large dining table (width 1.20 meters (4 feet) and length at least 2.50 meters (8 feet 2 inches)); additionally, a workspace and ideally a place for frequent guests to stay overnight.

Thank you in advance and best regards,

Anelya

😉 ... slightly unfavorable orientation of the apartment facing east and north, but it could turn out nicely 😉

The plan shows simple doors between the rooms, not double doors. That should be checked again. Positions of radiators are also missing, and one or two photos to capture the apartment’s atmosphere would be helpful.

I would... you might not like it, but I am using the labels according to the plan

• Children’s room to master bedroom, close the double doors to the room. On the wall with the double doors there is wonderfully ample space for wardrobes, and at the end near the window maybe a small secondary workspace. Also a really large bed.
• Room to sofa/TV room. The sofa is planned on the upper wall next to the “new” bedroom; the double door could possibly be removed to create an open passage to the lower side of the plan. The hallway door could remain.
• Living room to kitchen/dining area... Plumbing should be possible on the wall shared with the bathroom. Important information is missing here: the window sill height and whether there are any radiators. Furnishing with a large table, as you want, would not be easy, but it also depends on the kitchen requirements. I don’t expect those to be very demanding if you are satisfied with a single-row kitchen in your current kitchen space.
• Bedroom to children’s room. This separates it from the family rooms. The door to the bathroom there can be closed, which might create space for a washing machine etc. in the bathroom.
• Kitchen to work/guest room. The pantry can store bedding etc. for guests. Installing a wall bed on the lower wall could be considered.
• Hallway can provide sufficient storage and possibly a reading nook or book corner on the sloped wall.

Dear kbt09,

Thank you very much for the detailed and helpful response! I would like to provide a bit more information regarding the questions raised:

First of all, it is important to mention that the apartment is a rental. Major structural changes, such as relocating the kitchen or plumbing, are not planned and would not be appropriate for the type of property we are using (rental only). In the room labeled as "kitchen" on the plan, there is a solid fitted kitchen that definitely meets our needs and will continue to be used.

Now, regarding the questions and comments:
- I also hope that the space between east and north will turn out nicely 🙂
- I will gladly provide photos and information about the doors and radiator locations once I have access to the apartment again.
- The idea of swapping the children's and parents’ bedrooms is interesting. However, my concern is that the north-facing side might not be ideal for a child, as they spend more time in their room during the day compared to the parents’ bedroom.
- Regarding the "middle room," I had similar thoughts (except we don’t have a TV, but a reading room would be nice).
- I will provide the window heights and radiator details soon.
- The large table is planned for dining and socializing – this is more important than having a lot of storage space in the kitchen or similar.
- The washing machine is accommodated in the laundry room in the basement, which also includes a drying area. Therefore, no laundry facilities or washing machine need to be installed in the apartment.
- The idea of completely redesigning or repurposing the kitchen is interesting — if this were a condominium, I would definitely consider doing it! Unfortunately, since it is a rental, it’s not an option.
- I also considered the idea of the "angled wall" in the hallway — thank you for confirming that!

Best regards,

Anelya

kbt09 schrieb:

😉 ... the apartment’s orientation to east and north may not be ideal, but it could turn out nicely 😉

The plan shows regular doors between rooms rather than double doors. This would need to be confirmed. The positions of radiators are missing, and a few photos would also be useful to get a better feel for the apartment.

I would... you might not like this, but I am using the room labels as shown on the plan

• Children’s room becomes master bedroom; close off the double door to this room. The wall with the double door would then offer great closet space, and at the window end, a small second workspace could be added. Also allows for a very large bed.
• Room becomes sofa/TV room. Sofa placed along the upper wall facing the "new" bedroom; potentially remove the double door for an open connection to the lower part of the plan. The hallway door could remain.
• Living room becomes kitchen/dining area. Water and sewage connections should be possible on the wall adjacent to the bathroom. Missing important info here are the window sill height and whether radiators are present. Setting up with a large table as you want might be challenging but depends on the kitchen requirements, which I understand are not very demanding since you are happy with a single kitchen row in the current kitchen space.
• Bedroom becomes children’s room, separated from family areas. Close the bathroom door here, which might free up space in the bathroom for a washing machine or similar.
• Kitchen becomes office/guest room. The pantry can store bedding for guests. Consider installing a wall bed on the lower wall.
• Hallway can provide sufficient storage and perhaps a reading nook at the angled wall.

Anelya schrieb:

I no longer have a floor plan to discuss (the house has already been standing since 1885),

Then the floor plan serves only as an informational basis and is no longer subject to debate ;-)

kbt09 schrieb:

Positions of the radiators are also missing, and one or two photos to capture the apartment’s atmosphere would be useful.

Depending on the quality of the impact sound insulation, it would also be helpful to know how the rooms in the apartment above are used. The room sizes might encourage variations in how the spaces are allocated.

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Anelya schrieb:

Interesting thought regarding swapping the children's bedroom with the parents' bedroom. My concern would be that the north side might not be ideal for a child – since the room is used much more during the day compared to the parents' bedroom.

However, the east side is not significantly sunnier than the north side for schoolchildren, as the morning hours are spent at school anyway. Basically, I agree that I usually don’t recommend north-facing rooms as children's bedrooms. But in your situation, it probably makes sense, since 2 adults might need a bit more space than 1 child, and you could at least fit in a small workspace for a practical home office setup.

Important info regarding the rental apartment 😉 Still, what timeframe have you set for living in the apartment? I personally also live in a rental and was incredibly lucky to be able to include my preferences when the 1913 building was renovated. That was over 10 years ago now, and by now I have an agreement with my landlord that basically guarantees me lifelong residence—even if he passes away and his 3 children inherit the property. Because this apartment is “mine.”

You can fit a table along the wall at the top of the plan in the current kitchen, but not your “gathering table”... and also, a work/guest room is still planned. The current living room isn’t really suitable for both living area/sofa and the “gathering table” either.