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
Great that everyone has different preferences, right...
I find tall rooms attractive in magazines and such, but personally, I don’t really feel comfortable in them over the long term—they don’t feel cozy enough for me.
You just have to weigh what’s important to you.
For example, we have already rejected building areas because brickwork was not allowed there.
I find tall rooms attractive in magazines and such, but personally, I don’t really feel comfortable in them over the long term—they don’t feel cozy enough for me.
You just have to weigh what’s important to you.
For example, we have already rejected building areas because brickwork was not allowed there.
J
j.bautsch23 Oct 2017 11:13In our old apartment, the ceiling height was 2.45 meters (8 feet), and now in the new place, it’s 2.50 meters (8 feet 2 inches). I didn’t really notice it before, but now I definitely prefer the extra 5 cm (2 inches). We’ll see—maybe in the house it will be one row of bricks higher (since there will also be underfloor heating).
I really don’t like pointed stair treads, so for me only a straight staircase or one with a landing is an option.
Because of the cats, we always need a closed kitchen since we can’t even cook peacefully when the cats are around (actually, it’s just one particular tomcat who was really difficult to train).
My husband mostly does the cooking, but somehow he always manages to turn the kitchen into a disaster zone. He doesn’t tidy up before, during, or after cooking—unless I give him a stern look. Even then, in my opinion, he often doesn’t clean thoroughly enough.
So it usually falls on me to clean up, which is why I’m glad about having a closed kitchen. It also means I can leave dishes that didn’t fit in the dishwasher until it’s finished.
For everyday life, it doesn’t bother me to sit in the “cooked-in” kitchen—I actually appreciate having the dining area there. But when guests come, I don’t want to eat in the kitchen.
I grew up in a kitchen with a dining table and never really liked it.
On the other hand, I also like having a separate living room. However, a separate kitchen and living room would mean the dining table is separate too, which I don’t really like—it feels old-fashioned, and I get the impression you need more space when dining and living areas are separate, because the circulation paths aren’t shared.
We’ve lived with combined living and dining areas for years, and I find it practical that we can extend the dining table into the living area when we have big gatherings or add more tables (we have a large family).
I really don’t like pointed stair treads, so for me only a straight staircase or one with a landing is an option.
Because of the cats, we always need a closed kitchen since we can’t even cook peacefully when the cats are around (actually, it’s just one particular tomcat who was really difficult to train).
My husband mostly does the cooking, but somehow he always manages to turn the kitchen into a disaster zone. He doesn’t tidy up before, during, or after cooking—unless I give him a stern look. Even then, in my opinion, he often doesn’t clean thoroughly enough.
So it usually falls on me to clean up, which is why I’m glad about having a closed kitchen. It also means I can leave dishes that didn’t fit in the dishwasher until it’s finished.
For everyday life, it doesn’t bother me to sit in the “cooked-in” kitchen—I actually appreciate having the dining area there. But when guests come, I don’t want to eat in the kitchen.
I grew up in a kitchen with a dining table and never really liked it.
On the other hand, I also like having a separate living room. However, a separate kitchen and living room would mean the dining table is separate too, which I don’t really like—it feels old-fashioned, and I get the impression you need more space when dining and living areas are separate, because the circulation paths aren’t shared.
We’ve lived with combined living and dining areas for years, and I find it practical that we can extend the dining table into the living area when we have big gatherings or add more tables (we have a large family).
Curly schrieb:
In small rooms, a ceiling height of 2.45m (8 feet) is also not noticeable, On the contrary: I know many "half rooms" in old Berlin apartments that actually look even smaller with a ceiling height of 2.30m (7 feet 7 inches). In discussions about knee wall height, I often get the impression that additional height is added blindly without consideration for proportions.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Nice… although the rear windows would be enough for me, and the whole space could be half as deep. Just enough for one person (=ME) to comfortably lounge with a book. I’d find a window behind me too cold/hot.
And then a second one for my daughter, so we don’t have to fight over the space.
And then a second one for my daughter, so we don’t have to fight over the space.
Similar topics