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
Curly schrieb:
We have a very simple white double-leaf door with clear glass panels. I think it looks very nice, and when the door is closed, it keeps the hallway nicely bright.
Best regards,
Sabine It has to suit the house. It only makes no sense when one trend is simply piled on top of another and squeezed into 120 m² (1,292 sq ft).
Bookstar schrieb:
How do you usually separate the living room and dining area? Just a simple sliding door?Not at all. Hallway, kitchen, dining, living room, and a mezzanine upstairs – all open as one space.
Bookstar schrieb:
I also had a fully open layout once, but it wasn’t for me...Bookstar schrieb:
When I want to watch TV in peace,Love is when the man doesn’t seek quiet in front of the TV while she still has to be busy in the kitchen.
ypg schrieb:
Not at all. Hallway, kitchen, dining area, living room and a mezzanine above – all open plan It can always be worse; that would be my nightmare.
Bookstar schrieb:
It can always get worse, that would be my nightmare. Yes, and on top of that, there are floor-to-ceiling patio doors on three sides so we can exit everywhere. The rooms open into the garden, and the garden feels very close to us.
11ant schrieb:
The differences aren’t actually that big. "Mostly," here and elsewhere, it’s seen that the three "elements"—living, dining, and cooking—are split as "two together, and the third separate"—in various combinations of which two are joined—and a smaller group separates all three, or has the big open concept.
Guests take part with the family wherever people currently are: usually invited and in the living-dining area in the evening, more spontaneously and during the day in the kitchen. If there’s no game night, the table is left after the meal towards the lounge area. I only know the "parlor" as a figure of speech from my grandparents.It doesn’t happen often, but here I have to fully agree with @11ant. You nailed it perfectly, and if someone like us has the "big open concept," then everything just happens wherever it happens, not in specific designated zones.
Bookstar schrieb:
When I want to watch TV in peace, I’m glad to have the dining room and kitchen separated by a door. The wife can work in the kitchenFor me, that attitude would be a reason for divorce: “Sweetheart, hurry to the little kitchen to work and please close the door so I don’t have to watch you work but can relax in front of the TV in peace.” And meanwhile, please supervise the children with their homework! Under no circumstances should the dear husband be bothered; he wants to enjoy his well-deserved peace in the separate living room.
*CRAAAASSSHHH!!!*
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