ᐅ Airspace above the kitchen area

Hello dear experts,

We have been planning our house for many months now and are starting to feel a bit frustrated. Of course, everything should be perfect. But naturally, we know compromises are necessary.

We are actually quite finished with our floor plan and don’t want to make many more changes. However, I feel that something is missing in the house. From the outside, we really like it, but inside it feels very square and practical, just fine but nothing special.

I would now like to have an open space above our kitchen. Not an open gallery, just a void space. For this, I wanted to share our current floor plan and my ideas with you and hope for some helpful feedback.

Best regards

... then you won’t be able to sleep above the clattering of dishes anymore.
Where is south?

South is probably down according to the small north arrow at the bottom left of the ground floor plan.

I think this change to the upper floor results in about -10 or so... because you should consider the room sizes more carefully.

In your original version, you have rooms; with the gallery, you get small storage spaces. In the original version, there’s still the possibility of combining Child 3 and the office into one room, but with the gallery, you’re locking in small tiny rooms and two narrow bathrooms.

Otherwise, I quite like the floor plan, but I would consider adjusting the sofa position — perhaps putting the L-shaped sofa into the bottom left corner of the living area, and maybe starting the partition (half-height?) separating the dining area along the wall on the left. That way, when sitting on the sofa, you’re not directly in the line of sight from the entrance door. Also, from the sofa, you get a better view towards the window.

I think this is a last-minute idea you probably shouldn’t follow.

I don’t necessarily agree about the clattering of dishes, since it’s not a traditional gallery but rather an enclosed upper floor with only 2–3 windows.

The point about the rooms upstairs is probably true. The bathroom, etc., would definitely be affected. Another idea could be to remove the office entirely and set it up in the third bedroom. If another child arrives (which we don’t currently expect), a desk could then be added to the walk-in closet. The walk-in closet is quite spacious. I’ve attached the idea again.

We have already considered the idea with the couch as well.
We might lower the living area by one step and then separate it from the dining area with a half-height room divider.

Are larger plans available? I can barely make out anything.