ᐅ Floor plan of a single-family home designed as an urban villa
Created on: 20 Apr 2026 23:13
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xDorix
Hello everyone,
Our project is about to start soon. Before all the masonry work begins, I would appreciate your feedback.
We more or less designed the floor plan ourselves after looking at various houses and layouts. We took the elements we liked from different plans and combined them to create our house design, which we have gradually refined with our structural engineer.
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: approx. 2500m² (0.62 acres)
Slope: No
Floor area ratio: ?
Plot ratio/building coverage ratio: ?
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: ?
Edge development: ?
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: Hipped roof 24°
Style: Modern
Orientation: Living/dining area facing east
Maximum height/limits: ?
Other regulations: unknown
Homeowner requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: Modern city villa with a hipped roof, 24°
Basement, floors: No basement, 2 full floors
Number of occupants, age: Currently 2 adults (two children’s bedrooms planned)
Room requirements on ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: Living/dining/kitchen area, utility room, guest WC, office
Upper floor: Master bathroom, children’s bathroom, master bedroom including walk-in closet, child 1, child 2
Office: Family use or home office? Family use
Number of guests per year: ?
Open or closed architecture: ?
Conservative or modern construction method: Modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen with kitchen island
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: Yes
Music/stereo wall: No
Balcony, roof terrace: Terrace accessible via lift-and-slide door
Garage, carport: Double garage
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes/particulars/daily routine, including reasons why certain things are or are not wanted: We definitely wanted a double-height space centrally located above the living/dining/kitchen area. On the upper floor, this space has a fixed window element overlooking our large plot and future garden. On the ground floor, the dining table is located directly under this double-height space.
House design
Who designed it:
- Own design based on many different floor plans
What do you like most? Why?
- The symmetry of the house’s exterior façade, the living/dining/kitchen area flooded with light through large windows including the double-height space, the open staircase with a large window, the bright and open hallway on the upper floor thanks to the double-height space.
What don’t you like? Why?
- /
Estimated price according to architect/planner: /
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: /
Preferred heating technology: Air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up something, which details/features
- Can you live without: /
- Can’t you live without: Double-height space, staircase, living room including kitchen
We are quite satisfied with the floor plan but would like to know if we might have overlooked something or if anything could be improved.
Regarding the kitchen, the door shown in the drawing will be removed. The kitchen unit will extend along the entire wall, and the indicated window is relatively large, facing south to allow afternoon sunlight.
Unfortunately, we do not have 3D views of the rooms like some others here have been able to share.
Ground floor:
Upper floor:
Our project is about to start soon. Before all the masonry work begins, I would appreciate your feedback.
We more or less designed the floor plan ourselves after looking at various houses and layouts. We took the elements we liked from different plans and combined them to create our house design, which we have gradually refined with our structural engineer.
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: approx. 2500m² (0.62 acres)
Slope: No
Floor area ratio: ?
Plot ratio/building coverage ratio: ?
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: ?
Edge development: ?
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: Hipped roof 24°
Style: Modern
Orientation: Living/dining area facing east
Maximum height/limits: ?
Other regulations: unknown
Homeowner requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: Modern city villa with a hipped roof, 24°
Basement, floors: No basement, 2 full floors
Number of occupants, age: Currently 2 adults (two children’s bedrooms planned)
Room requirements on ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: Living/dining/kitchen area, utility room, guest WC, office
Upper floor: Master bathroom, children’s bathroom, master bedroom including walk-in closet, child 1, child 2
Office: Family use or home office? Family use
Number of guests per year: ?
Open or closed architecture: ?
Conservative or modern construction method: Modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen with kitchen island
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: Yes
Music/stereo wall: No
Balcony, roof terrace: Terrace accessible via lift-and-slide door
Garage, carport: Double garage
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes/particulars/daily routine, including reasons why certain things are or are not wanted: We definitely wanted a double-height space centrally located above the living/dining/kitchen area. On the upper floor, this space has a fixed window element overlooking our large plot and future garden. On the ground floor, the dining table is located directly under this double-height space.
House design
Who designed it:
- Own design based on many different floor plans
What do you like most? Why?
- The symmetry of the house’s exterior façade, the living/dining/kitchen area flooded with light through large windows including the double-height space, the open staircase with a large window, the bright and open hallway on the upper floor thanks to the double-height space.
What don’t you like? Why?
- /
Estimated price according to architect/planner: /
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: /
Preferred heating technology: Air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up something, which details/features
- Can you live without: /
- Can’t you live without: Double-height space, staircase, living room including kitchen
We are quite satisfied with the floor plan but would like to know if we might have overlooked something or if anything could be improved.
Regarding the kitchen, the door shown in the drawing will be removed. The kitchen unit will extend along the entire wall, and the indicated window is relatively large, facing south to allow afternoon sunlight.
Unfortunately, we do not have 3D views of the rooms like some others here have been able to share.
Ground floor:
Upper floor:
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MachsSelbst21 Apr 2026 12:35Why do you want ideas for the floor plan if construction is about to start soon? No one revises the plans at this stage once the materials have already been ordered for the building site.
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nordanney21 Apr 2026 12:54xDorix schrieb:
But it’s no longer relevant since it’s starting soon. Then the floor plan issues are no longer relevant either if it’s starting soon.
Not planning any major changes. It’s more about small improvements that might still be possible. Overall, we are satisfied. We will soon receive the floor plan in large format with all measurements to give a final confirmation, and then the ground floor will be built. The post quoted here is already helping us, for example!
First of all, thank you very much for the feedback. I hoped for tips like this or highlighting possible issues, and they really help.
We would probably widen the closet area somewhat. There should be two cabinets with a seating area in this space. The current planned opening won’t be sufficient, that’s true. However, that would reduce the size of the utility room, which relates to your next point.
Regarding technical equipment, I can’t give you an exact answer. There will be a photovoltaic system and an air-to-water heat pump. Yes, laundry will be washed and dried there. No freezer or second fridge is planned. Shelves for food storage, on the other hand, are planned.
As for the walk-in closet, we are not yet sure. Daily routine wise, it would be convenient to get dressed by taking clothes directly from the adjacent room. Alternatively, we could remove the wall and door and no longer have a separate walk-in closet. Would that be a better option for you?
The purpose of the kids’ bathroom is that the children really do use it, so during times when everyone wants to use a bathroom, you don’t have to be four people in one bathroom. Therefore, we need to include a shower there. If the wall with the door is extended further into the hallway (up to the children’s bedroom doors), the bathroom could be enlarged. Then possibly move the door position to the left or right. From your point of view, would this help?
Noxmortana schrieb:
Rather little closet space in the entrance area for a family of four.
The utility room is quite large in square meters, but as far as I understand it will be used for four purposes: technical equipment (what exactly?), utility room (including drying rack?!), pantry/storage room (what will go in there? Freezer? second fridge? shelves? …), and as a passage from the garage to the kitchen – I would carefully consider whether the space is sufficient and the layout works.
The walk-in closet is only accessible through the bedroom, so the bedroom becomes a “pass-through room” – I have no personal experience with this/I am not convinced by the “walk-in closet” concept anyway, but this was a criticism that often comes up in this forum regarding walk-in closets, and nobody mentioned it yet here...
The kids’ bathroom, with the current door/window positions, as far as I can see, doesn’t have space for a shower. You should plan the bathroom fixtures more precisely here. Maybe also reconsider what the purpose of the kids’ bathroom is for you: the room isn’t generous in size, do you really want to help the young kids with washing/toilet/teeth brushing there during the first 4-6 years, or would you rather use the large, spacious bathroom? Will this bathroom be comfortable enough for your teenagers, or will they end up using your bathroom for showering and getting ready? If it’s simply another toilet/washbasin to ease peak usage times, then the size and layout are okay enough…
These are my subjective concerns – regarding more objective issues like door swings/stairs/windows/daylight/structural integrity I unfortunately cannot advise you.
First of all, thank you very much for the feedback. I hoped for tips like this or highlighting possible issues, and they really help.
We would probably widen the closet area somewhat. There should be two cabinets with a seating area in this space. The current planned opening won’t be sufficient, that’s true. However, that would reduce the size of the utility room, which relates to your next point.
Regarding technical equipment, I can’t give you an exact answer. There will be a photovoltaic system and an air-to-water heat pump. Yes, laundry will be washed and dried there. No freezer or second fridge is planned. Shelves for food storage, on the other hand, are planned.
As for the walk-in closet, we are not yet sure. Daily routine wise, it would be convenient to get dressed by taking clothes directly from the adjacent room. Alternatively, we could remove the wall and door and no longer have a separate walk-in closet. Would that be a better option for you?
The purpose of the kids’ bathroom is that the children really do use it, so during times when everyone wants to use a bathroom, you don’t have to be four people in one bathroom. Therefore, we need to include a shower there. If the wall with the door is extended further into the hallway (up to the children’s bedroom doors), the bathroom could be enlarged. Then possibly move the door position to the left or right. From your point of view, would this help?
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nordanney21 Apr 2026 13:18xDorix schrieb:
We are still not entirely sure about the walk-in closet. In daily routine, it would be convenient to get up and pick the clothes you want to wear from right next door. Try to walk through the routine.
Partner 1 gets up. Turns on the light. Goes into the walk-in closet. Turns off the bedroom light so Partner 2 can sleep for another hour. Turns on the light in the walk-in closet and takes out clothes (or gets dressed there if no shower or similar is planned). Partner 2 falls asleep again. Partner 1 turns the bedroom light back on to leave the room. Partner 2 wakes up again.
That’s why it’s better to have the wardrobe / walk-in closet in front of the bedroom. Partner 1 leaves the bedroom, goes to the wardrobe / walk-in closet, and does not return to the bedroom. This was the point of the comment. If you do it like you suggested, the walk-in closet may be nice, but it won’t make your routine any easier. The wall then almost becomes unnecessary.
xDorix schrieb:
The goal with the children's bathroom is that the kids actually use it, so that during times when everyone wants to be in a bathroom, you don't have to be four people in one bathroom. Therefore, we need to include a shower there. If the wall with the door is extended further into the hallway (up to the doors of the children's rooms), it would enlarge the bathroom. Then possibly move the position of the door slightly left or right. Would that help in your opinion?
Let me know Sort of. Then you’ve got a room about 3 x 2.25 meters (10 x 7.4 feet). Nothing can be placed under the window or on the door side—if you want to fit a 100 x 100 cm (39 x 39 inch) shower, the door must be fully against one side of the wall. Then you still need space for a sink and toilet. It’s doable, but will be a quite cramped bathroom, especially when building a new house.
On top of that, having drainage for both bathrooms running through the living area—living room and hallway—means the planning is amateurish.
xDorix then the ground floor will be built Is the foundation slab already finished? If so, a lot has already been set in place and is difficult to change on short notice.
My comments:
Ground floor:
- For a family of four, I find the cloakroom missing here.
- The garage access to the house only works if there is just one car parked in the garage; otherwise, it’s easier to enter the house from the front than to squeeze around the car in a 5.67m (18.6 ft) wide garage.
Upper floor:
- Compared to the hallway/open space, the children's rooms seem quite small. The bedroom, however, is fairly spacious even though no wardrobe is required there.
- Having to pass through the bedroom to reach the walk-in closet doesn’t make much sense to me personally. I would swap the bedroom and bathroom again. But if the foundation slab is already finished, rearranging the plumbing will probably be difficult.
- A positive point: no window in the walk-in closet. This way, clothes can be hung openly without fading.
- Is the upper floor open towards the roof, or is there a small attic? Otherwise, there is definitely a lack of storage space.
Regarding the price: Where are you building? We don't come close to that price per square meter, and we are doing a lot of work ourselves. I find it risky that the "contingency budget" is already almost entirely allocated rather than being a real buffer. Or is there an additional buffer on top of that?
nordanney schrieb:
Try to go through the sequence.
Partner 1 gets up. Turns on the light. Goes to the walk-in closet. Turns off the bedroom light so Partner 2 can sleep for another hour. Turns on the light in the walk-in closet and takes out clothes (or gets dressed there if no shower or similar is planned). Partner 2 falls asleep again. Partner 1 turns the bedroom light back on to leave. Partner 2 wakes up again.
That’s why it’s better to have the wardrobe/walk-in closet before the bedroom. Partner 1 leaves the bedroom, goes into the wardrobe/walk-in closet, and does not come back into the bedroom. That’s what the note meant. If you do it like you did, the walk-in closet is nice, but it doesn’t make life easier in that way. You might as well save the wall. Okay, now I understand the idea. Would this only be solved here with an additional door from walk-in closet --> hallway, or do you see any other options?
familie_s schrieb:
Is the foundation slab already finished? Then a lot is already set and hard to change on short notice. No, it’s not finished yet.
familie_s schrieb:
- For 4 people, the wardrobe is missing here for me as well. As I described, this will be larger. That makes sense.
familie_s schrieb:
- Walking through the walk-in closet via the bedroom doesn’t make much sense to me personally. I would swap the bedroom and bathroom again. But if the foundation slab is already done, it will probably be difficult with the water drains. That’s something we will reconsider. It could definitely still be possible.
familie_s schrieb:
- Is the upper floor open towards the roof or is there a small attic? Otherwise, there is definitely a lack of storage space. The roof space is not converted, but with the 24° roof pitch it is well suited for storage. We have experience with a 22° roof as a comparison and there you can still stand under the ridge.
familie_s schrieb:
Regarding the price: Where are you building? We don’t even come close to that price per square meter and we do a lot ourselves. I find it risky that the “buffer” isn’t really a buffer but already almost allocated. Or is there another buffer on top? In a rural area of Lower Saxony. There is an additional buffer on top.
Thanks for your assessments!
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