ᐅ Do you have any ideas for designing our floor plan?

Here I am again:
You don’t have a difficult plot, so you can probably build whatever you want.
But you don’t like many things, and that is your problem.
Each of us here has to make compromises, whether financial or due to the building permit / planning permission.

For example, I don’t like Velux windows either, but I will have one because otherwise no light would reach the dressing room. I like strip windows, but I don’t have the space for them. I like an open view, but I don’t have it in a new housing development.
DerDa, Norderney, projekthausbau, and all the others here also make their compromises — the only thing that matters is that the floor plan works for the flow of daily life.

brokenlink schrieb:

I’m not sure if a living room facing north/west might be a bit too dark. The solar gain in winter isn’t exactly small. Here in Germany, we probably have only 1-2 months of real summer, and the rest of the year?

Have you considered looking at other rooms outside your home? Visit houses, ring the doorbell of your future neighbors, who likely have the same issue (but please imagine removing a dark wood-paneled ceiling, which absorbs a lot of light). On overcast afternoons, go to model homes and observe the rooms facing north or east.

By the way: we all live in rainy Germany, not on the equator either 😉

ypg schrieb:
Honestly, I don’t understand the hype about having to place the living area facing south.
What does your daily routine look like? Do you spend the whole day lounging in the living room?
In a small family (and in many other cases 😉), the living area is mostly used in the evening or on rainy weekends.
During the day, people work, cook in the kitchen, craft or eat at the dining table, or do homework.
The living room can be a bit smaller since it’s mostly used for watching TV, and sunlight can be bothersome there!

Nowadays, everyone wants a large living room/dining area and an open kitchen. I also want a big living and dining area because that’s where life happens. But I don’t want an open kitchen.
In the living room, you also read books or play games—you don’t just watch TV there.

When you have guests, it’s nice to have a big room where everyone can sit together instead of being spread across several rooms.

You could place the bedrooms facing south and the living room facing north or west.

There probably isn’t a perfect floor plan, and compromises have to be made. The main thing is that everyday life functions well.

ypg schrieb:
Have you considered looking at other spaces besides your own home? Visit houses, ring the doorbell at future neighbors who have the same issue (but please imagine a dark wood-paneled ceiling removed, as that absorbs a lot of light). On overcast afternoons, visit model homes and observe rooms facing north or east.

By the way: we all live in rainy Germany, not at the equator 😉

Try telling that to the architects, and you get something like: It’s taught in the first semester that main living areas should face south.

Our bedroom faces precisely north and is always dark in the afternoon.

brokenlink schrieb:
Nowadays, everyone has a large living room / dining area and an open kitchen. I also want a big living room and dining area because that’s where life really happens. But I don’t want an open kitchen.
In the living room, you also read a book or play games, etc. – it’s not just about watching TV.

That’s not quite correct! Nowadays, living rooms are becoming smaller in favor of larger dining and kitchen areas. Some even skip the living room entirely and just have a big sofa in front of the TV.

Your bedroom probably has only 1 square meter of window space, while standard plans provide almost 8 square meters (2 double doors) of window area in the dining and living spaces.
If they suggest placing the windows facing west, you might find it too dark; with south-facing windows, you then have the issue of your north-facing terrace.
An open floor plan also means the living area indirectly benefits from the light in the dining space.

Basically, you need to prioritize what suits your plot: either pure south-facing living areas (which can cause problems with a north terrace) or a north terrace, in which case you should plan panoramic windows to the west and the north garden.
In another forum, there was recently a discussion about a house on a hillside facing north: in that case, everything was oriented northwards to take advantage of the beautiful view. That’s another option.
Once you’ve set your priorities, you will also find a standard design (possibly mirrored or rotated) to fit your needs.

Hi,
how about an L-shaped bungalow? I just took the first one I found on Google and made only minor modifications so you can see what I mean. With the angle, you get sunlight from the south in the living room while still having the terrace at the back. Wasn't that the main issue? (The red lines are meant to show patio doors.)