ᐅ Dream Home Floor Plan – 173 m² with 3 Children’s Bedrooms

MachsSelbst schrieb:

I can’t remember ever entering a living room through the kitchen.

I have,
this is typical in old farmhouses,
entrance into the hallway, then into the kitchen with a large table and stove,
and very important guests were taken to the formal living room.
The door from the hallway to the living room was only used when the pastor visited.
Those who want to live like that today certainly can.

MachsSelbst schrieb:

You simply don’t enter your living area through the kitchen...

Well, I call that a pretty fixed mindset.

Actually, many modern floor plans are designed that way. And why should everyone first pass through the relaxation/chill/TV area to get to the kitchen? That’s much more inconvenient.
In the local floor plan, only the double door will be an issue, I believe, and I still recommend a slightly narrower entry with a sliding door running in the hallway. That way, no door leaf will obstruct either the passage to the dining/living area or access to the kitchen cabinets. Plus, the sliding door can be left open or closed as desired and doesn’t get in the way when airing out the space, and so on.

kbt09 schrieb:

(...)
And many modern floor plans are designed like that. And why should everyone first walk through the lounge/chill/TV area to get to the kitchen? That’s much more annoying.
(...)

I haven’t seen that in any house yet, so you can’t blame me for it.
Either the kitchen has a separate entrance in addition to the open dining area, or you access it through the dining area.
Having to walk past the TV every time would definitely be as much of a design flaw as currently walking directly towards the stove.

And if the door is placed right at the end of the hallway, you almost need a traffic light by the stairs to prevent people from constantly crashing into each other. Because from the living room, you can’t see if someone is rushing down the stairs...

But as I said, that’s not my problem.
I just don’t understand why people basically expose themselves online and then complain when others rate what they see.

If you’re convinced about your floor plan, then build it like that and that’s fine.

@Nida35a That’s true, and people often didn’t mind showing the neighbor the floral patterned underwear of the housewife hanging out to dry—here even from the balcony. In this respect, the whole situation might actually make more sense than often assumed; you probably just need to change your perspective.

@Maulwurfbau Trends like bay windows, kitchens, sliding doors, children’s bathrooms, and much more certainly don’t originate here in the forum; those ideas were already firmly set in the minds of the cleverly planning homeowners. Here, the focus is more on encouraging people not to chase every foolish idea but to seriously consider their own practical benefit. Generally, the goal is to provide the homeowner (in this case apparently a junior homeowner) with advice that often comes from firsthand experience; choosing not to constructively use this value but instead remaining complacent is not forbidden, but it does suggest a rather immature homeowner. Immaturity, lack of knowledge, or inexperience isn’t a problem itself, but arrogance can accelerate those issues more than one might expect.
Dismissing such advice outright because one believes they have found the holy grail, in my opinion, no longer reasonably qualifies as just arrogance.
Calling critics (to whom one normally proudly shows their project here rather than boasting about it) unreasonable and even viewing them as party poopers feels like childish behavior to me, since any reasonably well-organized homeowner would seriously reconsider repeatedly mentioned criticisms in order to avoid later regret or costly oversights in this significant life project known as building a home.
Here, the homeowner sits described like a peacock with popcorn in front of a plan, which by definition is merely an idea for a project, and lectures about insights and events completely new to him. Ultimately, he laments this crowd that unnecessarily tried to save him from failure, while it has already been decided that he will cross the finish line as the winner.

You don’t need much building experience to know that at some point the realization often comes that the “Champions League trophy” proudly displayed in hand and to the crowd was really just a bottle of Lambrusco. Experience shows that even after 20 years, it will still be firmly claimed that, for very special and perhaps even stylistic reasons, a wooden beam was intentionally built right through the middle of the window wall; this is not an isolated case (kitchens, balconies, etc.).
I suspect the author’s arrogance is why he apparently hasn’t even noticed that the popcorn he casually mentioned at first has long since made its way to many other living rooms in beautifully designed and completed spaces, where people already hope to finally get the next bag when the author comes up with yet another amusing excuse for an obvious detail planning flaw.

Dear MachsSelbst,

where have I ever complained about legitimate criticism of the design? On the contrary, I actually always try to respond respectfully and explain our considerations. It doesn’t bother me at all that many here come to different conclusions.

What does bother me, however, is that even general statements like "Aesthetics, sense of space, and space utilization are subjective" are sometimes opposed here. There is a certain mindset behind that. As I already wrote: I see it very differently and actually wanted to say a bit more about it. Unfortunately, Arauki11’s post came in between, to which I want to respond properly. So, let’s leave it at that for now.

Dear Arauki,

reading your post inevitably reminded me of our two neighbor dogs. You go for a walk without a care, and suddenly they come barking around the corner and mark the tough Max. Sure, nothing happens. Nothing ever happens. You just keep going and let them bark. Those two little darlings have learned: if people just keep walking, I have won. I am right.

Normally, a reasonable thread starter would just move on. Nevertheless, I will reply with a short satirical comment, because I find your post too good to leave unacknowledged. Admittedly, it’s a clever move to throw dirt at me as the thread creator and disguise it as a reply to another post. But no, we’re not talking about dirt here, but rather words of wisdom that you, dear Arauki, proclaim to the readers. And not only that: We soar to higher realms, sketch the future of the home builder, paint verbal pictures, and contribute absolutely nothing meaningful content-wise. Of course, not entirely.

From the detailed design mistakes, you conclude that I am a vain show-off, a junior builder, resistant to advice, and incapable of seeing the plank in front of my own eye. Good grief. I post in the forum and get a psychological profile made. By the best, I assume. On the meta-level, the air gets thin. How lucky I am to be lectured about life — and by a recognized expert in several fields? And not only for free but on a Sunday night at 10 p.m. I almost feel a bit bad and want to leave some virtual tip here.

Arauki11 schrieb:

@Nida35a That’s true, and sometimes people even like to show the neighbors the housewife’s floral underwear hung up to dry on the line – in this case, even from the balcony. In that sense, this whole situation here might actually make more sense than often assumed; you just have to change your perspective.

@Maulwurfbau Trends like bay windows, kitchens, sliding doors, kids’ bathrooms, and much more don’t really originate here in this forum; those ideas were already in the minds of couples who enjoy planning their build in a clever way. Here, the focus is more on encouraging people not to blindly follow every fad but to seriously consider the practical benefits for themselves. Generally, this forum tries to offer builders (here apparently a junior builder) advice that is often based on personal experience; ignoring this valuable insight out of complacency isn’t prohibited, but it does suggest immaturity. Immaturity, lack of knowledge, or inexperience are not problems in themselves, but arrogance can turn them into problems faster than you might expect.

Dismissing such advice outright just because you believe you have found the holy grail is, in my opinion, hard to label as anything other than arrogance. Calling critics (to whom you normally like to proudly show your project here and don’t boast about it) biased or even “party poopers” feels childish to me. Any reasonably organized builder would seriously reconsider repeatedly named points of criticism to avoid costly or annoying oversights in such an important life project as building a house.

Here, however, the builder, self-described like a peacock with popcorn in front of a plan – which by definition is only an idea of a project – lectures on insights and events completely new to him. In the end, he laments this crowd that tried to save him from ruin unnecessarily, even though it was already decided that he, as the winner, will cross the finish line.

You don’t need much building experience to guess that sooner or later the realization will come that the Champions League trophy proudly held and shown to the crowd is actually just a bottle of Lambrusco. In my experience, even after 20 years it will be stubbornly claimed that a wooden beam was deliberately installed right through the middle of a window front for very special, possibly stylistic reasons; this is not uncommon (in kitchens, balconies, etc.).

The arrogance of the original poster may be why he apparently hasn’t noticed that the popcorn he initially mentioned so casually has long since migrated to many other living rooms in beautifully designed and completed homes, where people are already hoping to get the next bag when the original poster shares yet another funny excuse for an obvious detail planning failure.

I’ll tentatively accept that. It’s definitely a valid point. No one wants to make decisions now that will be annoying for their whole life in the house. It might be okay if it’s just annoying, but if it restricts the use of the house or even makes some areas unusable, that’s more serious. Anyway, tone matters.

With our build – with Hanghaus’s help, I believe – it wasn’t the architect’s first draft that was used. At least, he didn’t complain arrogantly but actually made proposals that made sense to us. That’s how I remember it. Maybe others remember differently and feel unfairly treated; if so, sorry, but that’s how I perceived things.

Even the “optimized” version isn’t perfect. And that’s despite us following the many repeated recommendations: not relying on the home builder’s sales representative to do the planning, hiring an architect, only letting them draft the design, having several builders submit bids based on the design, and then choosing one builder to carry out the construction. Still, it all somehow turned out to be only half-baked and had to be adjusted or tweaked in many places.

My experience so far with our build is that the fewer demands, personal designs, and special requests you have, the less stress you will encounter – because then any standard floor plan from some prefab house company XYZ is simply enough. Well, people don’t think that way – and neither do I, unfortunately :-D. Nobody wants something off the shelf; everyone wants something individual and to express themselves.

Another experience is that either you find THE right architect or it turns into an odyssey… And, in my estimate, THE right architects make up only about 3 to 6% of all architects. So essentially, it’s a matter of luck whether you get the right one.