Hello,
My wife and I visited a model home park for prefabricated houses yesterday, and we noticed that each house offered various features and floor plans whose practical benefits I don’t quite understand. That’s why I’m starting this thread, hoping you can explain the advantages of these choices or point out what I might be missing and why it still makes sense to design a house that way:
1. Almost every house had floor-to-ceiling windows installed. What’s the purpose of these? I imagine they would be terrible both in summer and winter. Wouldn’t it get extremely hot in summer? And in winter, don’t you constantly have to lower the blinds so that anyone passing by can’t look directly into the living room or inside the house? Also, isn’t the effort to clean those windows huge? Am I missing something? Do they have advantages that I don’t see?
2. There wasn’t a single house where the kitchen and dining area were separated from the living space; at best, the kitchen was separated from the dining area. I understand that having everything open makes the space appear larger and is better for hosting many people, but isn’t it very impractical? If I’m frying or cooking something in the kitchen, doesn’t the whole living room end up smelling like food? It would also bother me that as soon as my wife or I have guests over, the other person couldn’t sit in the living room and watch TV quietly, for example. This might sound a bit picky, but for me, it’s important that everyone can invite their friends without the other person always being within earshot or needing to get out of the way somehow. Why are open-plan ground floors so common? What are the real advantages?
3. The balconies on the upper floor are always accessible from one of the children’s bedrooms and the parents’ bedroom. Doesn’t that significantly affect privacy? I can’t imagine it’s great if my child can constantly knock on our bedroom door via the balcony, for example. Also, if you have two children, wouldn’t the one without a balcony be at a disadvantage?
I don’t want to bias you with my opinions here—I’m completely open to your views because I’d like to be convinced of the benefits. So I would like to know your reasons for including such features in your plans. Alternatively, has anyone built in a more “traditional” way and can speak to the practicality of these layout choices?
Best regards
My wife and I visited a model home park for prefabricated houses yesterday, and we noticed that each house offered various features and floor plans whose practical benefits I don’t quite understand. That’s why I’m starting this thread, hoping you can explain the advantages of these choices or point out what I might be missing and why it still makes sense to design a house that way:
1. Almost every house had floor-to-ceiling windows installed. What’s the purpose of these? I imagine they would be terrible both in summer and winter. Wouldn’t it get extremely hot in summer? And in winter, don’t you constantly have to lower the blinds so that anyone passing by can’t look directly into the living room or inside the house? Also, isn’t the effort to clean those windows huge? Am I missing something? Do they have advantages that I don’t see?
2. There wasn’t a single house where the kitchen and dining area were separated from the living space; at best, the kitchen was separated from the dining area. I understand that having everything open makes the space appear larger and is better for hosting many people, but isn’t it very impractical? If I’m frying or cooking something in the kitchen, doesn’t the whole living room end up smelling like food? It would also bother me that as soon as my wife or I have guests over, the other person couldn’t sit in the living room and watch TV quietly, for example. This might sound a bit picky, but for me, it’s important that everyone can invite their friends without the other person always being within earshot or needing to get out of the way somehow. Why are open-plan ground floors so common? What are the real advantages?
3. The balconies on the upper floor are always accessible from one of the children’s bedrooms and the parents’ bedroom. Doesn’t that significantly affect privacy? I can’t imagine it’s great if my child can constantly knock on our bedroom door via the balcony, for example. Also, if you have two children, wouldn’t the one without a balcony be at a disadvantage?
I don’t want to bias you with my opinions here—I’m completely open to your views because I’d like to be convinced of the benefits. So I would like to know your reasons for including such features in your plans. Alternatively, has anyone built in a more “traditional” way and can speak to the practicality of these layout choices?
Best regards
Walk-in Closet:
We planned for one. That’s why the bedroom is smaller. It simply suits our preferences and daily routine. I like small, cozy bedrooms because they give me a sense of comfort. Our current bedroom is about 22 m² (237 sq ft), and I just don’t find it as cozy as a smaller bedroom. When we were in the floor plan phase, walking around model homes, I was always impressed by the small, cozy bedrooms with separate walk-in closets. So for us, it was clear: that’s what we wanted. My husband works in shifts, and we rarely get up together; often we don’t even go to bed at the same time because when he has a late shift, he comes home after I’m already asleep. Currently, depending on the shift, either he or I place his clothes in the bathroom at night so as not to wake the other person in the morning. I find that annoying. A walk-in closet was therefore a logical consequence for us. Although in our house the walk-in closet is essentially part of the bedroom—meaning you have to pass through the closet to get to the bedroom and the two spaces are not separated by a door—I did not want a fully separate walk-in closet with access from the hallway. I find it awkward to have to enter the “public” hallway; while this doesn’t matter now, if we have teenage children whose friends stay over, I wouldn’t want to walk into the hallway in just my underwear early in the morning and potentially be surprised by one of my child’s friends coming over to get clothes. So I wanted the walk-in closet to be attached to the bedroom but not completely separate. This is a good compromise and middle ground for us. We don’t live in the house yet, but I hope life will be a bit easier when we don’t always have to lay out clothes the night before, even though, due to the lack of a complete separation of the walk-in closet from the bedroom, some light may occasionally fall into the bedroom.
Children’s Bathroom:
We don’t have one. It wasn’t an option for us due to “lack of space” and no budget for it. Actually, a children’s bathroom would have been nice, but it was pretty low on my priority list when building the house, so I didn’t really think about it much. Let’s put it this way: if I had enough money, the house would definitely have been bigger (and more elaborate). Then there probably would have been room for a children’s bathroom, and I would have made it happen. But since we didn’t win the lottery, this simply wasn’t on the table. I can imagine a “children’s bathroom” can be quite practical. Think of two teenage daughters and only one bathroom for the whole family. As a teenager, I had my own bathroom at my parents’ house—actually a whole floor just for me. I can’t offer that luxury to my child. A children’s bathroom is certainly nice but, in my opinion, not a must-have. If I had extra money, I would rather spend it on other things first. Instead, we planned a shower in the guest toilet. This serves as an emergency bathroom if we ever are blessed with two teenage daughters or something similar and the bathrooms get really tight. The guest toilet is on the ground floor, while the bedrooms are upstairs, so it’s not very comfortable. But we definitely wanted that emergency shower. In my opinion, it can never hurt to have a second shower in the house.
We planned for one. That’s why the bedroom is smaller. It simply suits our preferences and daily routine. I like small, cozy bedrooms because they give me a sense of comfort. Our current bedroom is about 22 m² (237 sq ft), and I just don’t find it as cozy as a smaller bedroom. When we were in the floor plan phase, walking around model homes, I was always impressed by the small, cozy bedrooms with separate walk-in closets. So for us, it was clear: that’s what we wanted. My husband works in shifts, and we rarely get up together; often we don’t even go to bed at the same time because when he has a late shift, he comes home after I’m already asleep. Currently, depending on the shift, either he or I place his clothes in the bathroom at night so as not to wake the other person in the morning. I find that annoying. A walk-in closet was therefore a logical consequence for us. Although in our house the walk-in closet is essentially part of the bedroom—meaning you have to pass through the closet to get to the bedroom and the two spaces are not separated by a door—I did not want a fully separate walk-in closet with access from the hallway. I find it awkward to have to enter the “public” hallway; while this doesn’t matter now, if we have teenage children whose friends stay over, I wouldn’t want to walk into the hallway in just my underwear early in the morning and potentially be surprised by one of my child’s friends coming over to get clothes. So I wanted the walk-in closet to be attached to the bedroom but not completely separate. This is a good compromise and middle ground for us. We don’t live in the house yet, but I hope life will be a bit easier when we don’t always have to lay out clothes the night before, even though, due to the lack of a complete separation of the walk-in closet from the bedroom, some light may occasionally fall into the bedroom.
Children’s Bathroom:
We don’t have one. It wasn’t an option for us due to “lack of space” and no budget for it. Actually, a children’s bathroom would have been nice, but it was pretty low on my priority list when building the house, so I didn’t really think about it much. Let’s put it this way: if I had enough money, the house would definitely have been bigger (and more elaborate). Then there probably would have been room for a children’s bathroom, and I would have made it happen. But since we didn’t win the lottery, this simply wasn’t on the table. I can imagine a “children’s bathroom” can be quite practical. Think of two teenage daughters and only one bathroom for the whole family. As a teenager, I had my own bathroom at my parents’ house—actually a whole floor just for me. I can’t offer that luxury to my child. A children’s bathroom is certainly nice but, in my opinion, not a must-have. If I had extra money, I would rather spend it on other things first. Instead, we planned a shower in the guest toilet. This serves as an emergency bathroom if we ever are blessed with two teenage daughters or something similar and the bathrooms get really tight. The guest toilet is on the ground floor, while the bedrooms are upstairs, so it’s not very comfortable. But we definitely wanted that emergency shower. In my opinion, it can never hurt to have a second shower in the house.
I really like having a walk-in closet, but it wouldn’t have been a must-have for us. However, it was part of our floor plan and we liked it, so we kept it as it was. We’ll see if we can still change the door.
I also find it unfortunate when kids have tiny rooms while the parents have a huge walk-in closet plus a master bathroom that can only be accessed from the parents’ bedroom.
That brings me to the second topic: I don’t understand why parents would need a huge, luxurious bathroom just for themselves, while the children get a much smaller one. For us, with two daughters, it was important to have a second shower in the guest toilet downstairs. My husband is already expecting to store his stuff in a small cabinet in the guest bathroom while the women take over the larger bathroom [emoji23]
I also find it unfortunate when kids have tiny rooms while the parents have a huge walk-in closet plus a master bathroom that can only be accessed from the parents’ bedroom.
That brings me to the second topic: I don’t understand why parents would need a huge, luxurious bathroom just for themselves, while the children get a much smaller one. For us, with two daughters, it was important to have a second shower in the guest toilet downstairs. My husband is already expecting to store his stuff in a small cabinet in the guest bathroom while the women take over the larger bathroom [emoji23]
We don’t need a separate kids’ bathroom either. The time period during which it would be useful is too short for me. There is a shower in the guest WC, so if necessary, someone can be sent there (or I’ll escape, depending on the situation).
A dressing room... most of what you see presented as a dressing room isn’t really one. Instead of placing wardrobes along the walls in the rectangular bedroom, a separate area is simply sectioned off for that purpose. That’s what we’re doing too, because we prefer the look. I don’t expect it to offer much additional practical value. It might be different for people who pay more attention to their clothing.
A dressing room... most of what you see presented as a dressing room isn’t really one. Instead of placing wardrobes along the walls in the rectangular bedroom, a separate area is simply sectioned off for that purpose. That’s what we’re doing too, because we prefer the look. I don’t expect it to offer much additional practical value. It might be different for people who pay more attention to their clothing.
Walk-in Closet: We planned it because we wanted about 5 meters (16 feet) of wardrobe space, which would be difficult to accommodate in the bedroom. Also, getting up in the morning doesn’t disturb the other person, and you can take your time getting dressed.
Kids’ Bathroom: Well, when our children were small, I wouldn’t have thought a kids’ bathroom would be at the top of my wish list... but now I really want one. I’m looking forward to using a bathroom that doesn’t look like it’s been “hit by a bomb” and one that I can use without having to tidy up first. I’m already very excited about that!
Best regards,
Sabine
Kids’ Bathroom: Well, when our children were small, I wouldn’t have thought a kids’ bathroom would be at the top of my wish list... but now I really want one. I’m looking forward to using a bathroom that doesn’t look like it’s been “hit by a bomb” and one that I can use without having to tidy up first. I’m already very excited about that!
Best regards,
Sabine
We don’t have a kids’ bathroom—then again, we don’t have any children either. A walk-in closet would probably have been possible space-wise, but it didn’t fit well with the room layout, and we wanted a bedroom that wasn’t significantly smaller than 30m² (323ft²). We don’t really miss it; in fact, we’ve never had one outside of hotels.
What do you think about having a sauna inside the house or in the garden?
What do you think about having a sauna inside the house or in the garden?
77.willo schrieb:
...
What do you think about having a sauna inside the house or in the garden?We’re not really sauna enthusiasts. Maybe once on a vacation or twice a year with a day pass to a wellness center.
In principle, I could imagine it working well if you have a nice bathroom with a patio door, and direct access to an outdoor sauna.
I have been in many houses with built-in saunas, and they mostly ended up being used to store garden cushions.
I also think that an infrared cabin is only interesting at first.
In that sense, it’s probably only for dedicated sauna users who plan regular sauna visits into their weekly routine.
Regards,
Yvonne
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