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
There have always been trends that last for a long time. In the 1980s, for example, glass blocks in stairwells or enclosed gutters in roof construction were popular. Today, anthracite shades are common in many areas.
What is currently popular in southern Germany? Well, obviously anthracite windows. The exterior walls are usually a very light white. Most of the time, there is no plinth at the base of the walls.
When clients come for consultations, I often got the impression that they were first shown whatever is currently trendy. Whether tiles, doors, or kitchens, the first item shown was often described as “This is a very nice door that most clients are choosing right now.”
For us, the following factors were crucial: durability, low maintenance, timelessness, and, of course, it had to be visually appealing.
So we chose floor-to-ceiling windows but in RAL 9007, which is a lighter gray tone. Finding tiles that are not gray is currently quite challenging but still possible. I like the pull-out pantry cabinet, but it has the disadvantages mentioned earlier. I found storage cabinets practical only from 50cm (20 inches) in depth, so we went with a 40cm (16 inches) pull-out pantry cabinet.
The kitchen was a real conflict for us and was resolved as a compromise. Although the kitchen is a separate “room,” the 150cm (59 inches) wide opening makes it quite open. A sliding door allows separation—not to block odors but for privacy and visual separation.
Many people seem to confuse building a house with buying clothes. Timelessness is important to me when it comes to windows, bathrooms, and so on—unless you have the financial means to renovate everything after 5 to 10 years. Perhaps that is why many choose white kitchens.
What is currently popular in southern Germany? Well, obviously anthracite windows. The exterior walls are usually a very light white. Most of the time, there is no plinth at the base of the walls.
When clients come for consultations, I often got the impression that they were first shown whatever is currently trendy. Whether tiles, doors, or kitchens, the first item shown was often described as “This is a very nice door that most clients are choosing right now.”
For us, the following factors were crucial: durability, low maintenance, timelessness, and, of course, it had to be visually appealing.
So we chose floor-to-ceiling windows but in RAL 9007, which is a lighter gray tone. Finding tiles that are not gray is currently quite challenging but still possible. I like the pull-out pantry cabinet, but it has the disadvantages mentioned earlier. I found storage cabinets practical only from 50cm (20 inches) in depth, so we went with a 40cm (16 inches) pull-out pantry cabinet.
The kitchen was a real conflict for us and was resolved as a compromise. Although the kitchen is a separate “room,” the 150cm (59 inches) wide opening makes it quite open. A sliding door allows separation—not to block odors but for privacy and visual separation.
Many people seem to confuse building a house with buying clothes. Timelessness is important to me when it comes to windows, bathrooms, and so on—unless you have the financial means to renovate everything after 5 to 10 years. Perhaps that is why many choose white kitchens.
In Schleswig-Holstein, alongside the traditional red brick, which is hard to move away from, there is a noticeable trend toward Swedish-style wooden houses in various colors—yellow, blue, dark red—always featuring white eaves and windows of that style. Companies like Eksjö, Flordborg, and EBK dominate entire streets here. Another trend is the bungalow: single-story, flat, and wide. We have plenty of space, after all. Stone walls are popular, as is the almost complete avoidance of fences. Almost every house has a stove. The wooden terraces are made of Douglas fir. Karsten
RobsonMKK schrieb:
Maybe one should consider what a hype is and what a trend is.
....What’s going on with you, Robin?
The term is completely misused here, but whatever???
The thread is entertaining and lighthearted—a nice off-topic break.
And all that without any arguments, envy, or a raised arm of a moderator trying to correct the wording here [emoji2]
Personally, I tend to prefer a closed kitchen, although I have never actually had the experience of living with an open one. The kitchen has seating for four people. I often find the dining table somewhat uncomfortable anyway.
And when I cook duck and rabbit for the family at Christmas, I’m also glad to avoid the hassle and quietly enjoy my wine in the kitchen. We don’t do big cooking sessions with friends either.
I’m not really a fan of the currently popular urban villa style. I’d rather have something in a finca style, although sadly that feels out of place here. What I find worst is when it’s fully faced with bricks. It looks like a huge stone cube. But many people love it, and since I’m not the one paying for it, I don’t mind.
Otherwise, for a one-and-a-half or two-story house, I would make sure it can be adapted for aging in place on the ground floor. I want to enjoy my home for as long as possible.
I personally think a lit facade is totally awesome!
Floor-to-ceiling windows are great too, as long as nobody can peer in. Just knowing that this is possible is enough to make me feel uncomfortable.
And when I cook duck and rabbit for the family at Christmas, I’m also glad to avoid the hassle and quietly enjoy my wine in the kitchen. We don’t do big cooking sessions with friends either.
I’m not really a fan of the currently popular urban villa style. I’d rather have something in a finca style, although sadly that feels out of place here. What I find worst is when it’s fully faced with bricks. It looks like a huge stone cube. But many people love it, and since I’m not the one paying for it, I don’t mind.
Otherwise, for a one-and-a-half or two-story house, I would make sure it can be adapted for aging in place on the ground floor. I want to enjoy my home for as long as possible.
I personally think a lit facade is totally awesome!
Floor-to-ceiling windows are great too, as long as nobody can peer in. Just knowing that this is possible is enough to make me feel uncomfortable.
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