ᐅ Floor plan design for a single-family house including basement and double garage
Created on: 16 Mar 2026 19:52
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Minerva121
Hello everyone,
I’m new here and would like to briefly introduce myself and especially the construction project in Franconia / Bavaria: We originally planned to start in 2022, but due to unexpected changes in my family situation, I put the project on hold. The plot was / is already owned by us (with an older building still standing – it still needs to be demolished), but the timing wasn’t right.
Now we are entering the second phase, and all signals are “green.”
The current floor plan was created back then; since then, we’ve had some minor change requests and questions, which I have added below. But first, some basic data about the floor plans (including basement).
Zoning plan / restrictions
Plot size: 676m² (rectangular, approx. 26m wide and 26m long (86ft by 86ft))
Slope: none, completely flat
Site occupancy ratio (floor area ratio): 0.4
Plot ratio (floor space index): 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary: A front garden area of 5.00m (16ft) depth is defined that must remain free of construction; the building envelope starts from this 5-meter line and extends over the rear parts of the plot. The building envelope covers most of the plot’s width, but setback distances to the side plot boundaries (usually open construction, 3m / 10ft) must be maintained.
Edge construction: As far as I can see, permitted for trash storage shed, garage, and bike shelter
Number of parking spaces: space for 2 cars planned
Number of floors allowed: 2 full storeys allowed
Roof type: Gable roof with a pitch between 20° and 35°
Design style: no specific requirements
Orientation: no specific requirements
Maximum heights / limits: Knee wall max 0.5m (1.6ft) measured from the top edge of the structural ceiling of the attic floor to where the exterior wall meets the roof covering; eaves height max 7.5m (25ft)
Additional requirements: roof extensions are allowed
Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: Gable roof house with relatively shallow roof slope, planned as a prefab house.
Basement, floors: basement planned; plus ground floor (GF) and upper floor (UF)
Number and age of occupants: 4 people (two adults around 45 years old, children aged 7 and 13)
Room requirements on GF, UF: GF --> living-dining area, guest toilet including small shower – ideally barrier-free, office (frequently used), small pantry (directly connected to kitchen), UF --> bathroom, 2 children's rooms, 1 bedroom with small walk-in closet, possibly small storage room, possibly small second workspace for occasional remote working by both adults (can usually be avoided).
Guest overnight stays per year: very few --> no guest room needed or could be solved with sofa bed in the office.
Open or closed architecture: GF rather open, UF rather closed
Conservative or modern construction: likely more conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen with kitchen island, accessible from both sides.
Number of dining seats: dining table for 6 people
Fireplace: no (or optional)
Music / stereo system: flat-screen TV mounted on the wall in the living area
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage for two cars, with trash shed and bike shelter desired at the edge of the plot (but less urgent)
Utility garden, greenhouse: not planned
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also explanations why certain things should or should not be: The desire is for a classic single-family home for a family of four with a permanent home office. Designed pragmatically, not fancy or architecturally elaborate. The house should be built as a “climate-friendly new construction.”
About the house design
Who is the designer?
Initial design by an independent architect based on our sketch
What do you particularly like? Why?
What don’t you like? Why?
Price estimate from architect / planner: no estimate yet
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 750,000€ (house incl. basement, ancillary costs, kitchen, garage, driveway/terrace; demolition of the existing building is calculated separately)
Preferred heating system: heat pump
If you have to compromise, on which details / expansions?
Why is the design as it is?
We thought about room use in this family setup including home office needs, but we are not professionals. It is not something extravagant, just pragmatic.
Final comments
We appreciate honest assessments, tips, and constructive criticism – if we’ve missed important information, we’ll happily provide it. We plan to have the construction supervised by a prefab house expert, since we are complete novices regarding building inspections.
A heartfelt thanks in advance for your time and valuable feedback on our floor plan.
Minerva121
I’m new here and would like to briefly introduce myself and especially the construction project in Franconia / Bavaria: We originally planned to start in 2022, but due to unexpected changes in my family situation, I put the project on hold. The plot was / is already owned by us (with an older building still standing – it still needs to be demolished), but the timing wasn’t right.
Now we are entering the second phase, and all signals are “green.”
The current floor plan was created back then; since then, we’ve had some minor change requests and questions, which I have added below. But first, some basic data about the floor plans (including basement).
Zoning plan / restrictions
Plot size: 676m² (rectangular, approx. 26m wide and 26m long (86ft by 86ft))
Slope: none, completely flat
Site occupancy ratio (floor area ratio): 0.4
Plot ratio (floor space index): 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary: A front garden area of 5.00m (16ft) depth is defined that must remain free of construction; the building envelope starts from this 5-meter line and extends over the rear parts of the plot. The building envelope covers most of the plot’s width, but setback distances to the side plot boundaries (usually open construction, 3m / 10ft) must be maintained.
Edge construction: As far as I can see, permitted for trash storage shed, garage, and bike shelter
Number of parking spaces: space for 2 cars planned
Number of floors allowed: 2 full storeys allowed
Roof type: Gable roof with a pitch between 20° and 35°
Design style: no specific requirements
Orientation: no specific requirements
Maximum heights / limits: Knee wall max 0.5m (1.6ft) measured from the top edge of the structural ceiling of the attic floor to where the exterior wall meets the roof covering; eaves height max 7.5m (25ft)
Additional requirements: roof extensions are allowed
Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: Gable roof house with relatively shallow roof slope, planned as a prefab house.
Basement, floors: basement planned; plus ground floor (GF) and upper floor (UF)
Number and age of occupants: 4 people (two adults around 45 years old, children aged 7 and 13)
Room requirements on GF, UF: GF --> living-dining area, guest toilet including small shower – ideally barrier-free, office (frequently used), small pantry (directly connected to kitchen), UF --> bathroom, 2 children's rooms, 1 bedroom with small walk-in closet, possibly small storage room, possibly small second workspace for occasional remote working by both adults (can usually be avoided).
Guest overnight stays per year: very few --> no guest room needed or could be solved with sofa bed in the office.
Open or closed architecture: GF rather open, UF rather closed
Conservative or modern construction: likely more conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen with kitchen island, accessible from both sides.
Number of dining seats: dining table for 6 people
Fireplace: no (or optional)
Music / stereo system: flat-screen TV mounted on the wall in the living area
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage for two cars, with trash shed and bike shelter desired at the edge of the plot (but less urgent)
Utility garden, greenhouse: not planned
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also explanations why certain things should or should not be: The desire is for a classic single-family home for a family of four with a permanent home office. Designed pragmatically, not fancy or architecturally elaborate. The house should be built as a “climate-friendly new construction.”
About the house design
Who is the designer?
Initial design by an independent architect based on our sketch
What do you particularly like? Why?
- Most of our basic concept and wishes have been implemented and, in our opinion, successfully
- Well-balanced room layout on the upper floor
What don’t you like? Why?
- For cost reasons, we might reduce to approximately 150m² (1615 sq ft) because the room sizes overall seem quite generous
- We would no longer want a granny flat; the basement should be purely utility space, not living space
- Are windows really necessary in the basement?
- The guest toilet on the ground floor should be barrier-free
- The glass façades in the living area on the ground floor are too large for us: this increases costs and limits usable space for placing the sofa – which would have to be right in front of the glass façade, not ideal from our point of view
- The section shows we originally wanted an open sloped ceiling; since this was described by many prefab house providers in early talks as a “major cost driver,” we would waive it (which would mean the roof windows would also be omitted)
Price estimate from architect / planner: no estimate yet
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 750,000€ (house incl. basement, ancillary costs, kitchen, garage, driveway/terrace; demolition of the existing building is calculated separately)
Preferred heating system: heat pump
If you have to compromise, on which details / expansions?
- Can do without: granny flat, open sloped ceiling, large glass fronts on the ground floor, overall floor area can be smaller
- Cannot do without: basement, kitchen island
Why is the design as it is?
We thought about room use in this family setup including home office needs, but we are not professionals. It is not something extravagant, just pragmatic.
Final comments
We appreciate honest assessments, tips, and constructive criticism – if we’ve missed important information, we’ll happily provide it. We plan to have the construction supervised by a prefab house expert, since we are complete novices regarding building inspections.
A heartfelt thanks in advance for your time and valuable feedback on our floor plan.
Minerva121
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motorradsilke20 Mar 2026 20:35nordanney schrieb:
Always missing the money here… It depends on where you set your priorities. You can definitely save costs on the kitchen, landscaping, and garage.
M
Minerva1217 Apr 2026 20:04Good evening everyone,
We have revised the design and are now at about 155 sqm (approximately 1670 sq ft), still including a basement. Some areas are not yet completely satisfactory: the storage room on the upper floor is too large, the children’s room a bit small (target size around 15 sqm (160 sq ft)), and the passage between the bed and the walk-in closet is also not ideal. The home office on the ground floor has only one window to allow for more usable wall space.
Before we move on to the next revision, we would appreciate your assessments and opinions. Besides the points mentioned above, do you notice anything else we might have overlooked?
Thank you in advance
Minerva121
We have revised the design and are now at about 155 sqm (approximately 1670 sq ft), still including a basement. Some areas are not yet completely satisfactory: the storage room on the upper floor is too large, the children’s room a bit small (target size around 15 sqm (160 sq ft)), and the passage between the bed and the walk-in closet is also not ideal. The home office on the ground floor has only one window to allow for more usable wall space.
Before we move on to the next revision, we would appreciate your assessments and opinions. Besides the points mentioned above, do you notice anything else we might have overlooked?
Thank you in advance
Minerva121
Minerva121 schrieb:
Passage between bed and dressing room is still not optimal That can’t be improved either because the distance between the bed on the left and the wall is only about 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16 inches), which is really too narrow. And why is there a window with a sill height of 93 cm (37 inches) right behind the bed’s headboard?
The children's rooms could benefit a bit if the second home office on the upper floor (initially, a small work corner was supposed to be enough) were made slightly narrower. Also, doors and windows should be placed so that cabinets can optionally be arranged along both office walls.
Living area – sofa/TV: I think the distance is too large. Why place a floor-to-ceiling window behind the sofa leading to the terrace?
And a floor-to-ceiling window in the ground floor office, what is its purpose?
Kitchen, maximum width about 370 to 380 cm (12 to 12.5 feet)? Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell from the plans. Depending on the family and cooking habits, this would not be my preferred layout. And pantry—yes, a small storage room for the vacuum cleaner, mop, etc., but a pantry when there is a large basement?
I see a lot here that is absolutely unacceptable. I think the planner has withdrawn from this, so things in the design are being accepted that cannot be changed with this attempt to improve or downsize.
Starting at the top left and moving clockwise,
- Bedroom doorways were mentioned, all very tight, with furniture scraping against walls that have no baseboards (bedside tables, passageways)
- Window above the bed?
- Walk-in closet trapped
- Narrow toilet niche, so a helping hand during illness has no space. No big deal, the kids will just have to manage without.
- Shower can only have a door
- Hallway is long and dark
- Office location combined with size is not inviting
- Shower bathroom just barely within the size limit.
- Stairs don’t work because the upper floor exit is oriented opposite to the rest. For the upper floor, you currently have to step in front of the TV to go upstairs. For the basement, you have to step in front of the TV to get down there. Who stopped thinking here? This definitely does not happen with an architect.
I’ll read the post again... Yes, you’ve made a major mistake here.
- Fundamentally, the stair landing, whether going up or down, is poorly positioned and obstructive.
- Kitchen: Am I correct in understanding that the necessary 60/65 cm (24/26 inches) for the kitchen workspace was reduced to fit the desired large island?
- Windows: What was adjusted on the least important north side was neglected on the other facades. The floor-to-ceiling window in the bathroom is quite original, but it faces away from the room.
- Basement: Such careless layout of rooms… I mean, the basement is just the basement and shouldn’t be overestimated. But making the dark underground rooms even more awkward is really remarkable. One room is narrow, okay... but then there are three! That long. Who wants to go deep into those rooms?
The entire design in #38 is a very good example of a misguided attempt at improvement due to clinging to something that has already suffered and turned out poorly in the original plan. The two opposite examples could easily be pinned as a warning in the forum.
Starting at the top left and moving clockwise,
- Bedroom doorways were mentioned, all very tight, with furniture scraping against walls that have no baseboards (bedside tables, passageways)
- Window above the bed?
- Walk-in closet trapped
- Narrow toilet niche, so a helping hand during illness has no space. No big deal, the kids will just have to manage without.
- Shower can only have a door
- Hallway is long and dark
- Office location combined with size is not inviting
- Shower bathroom just barely within the size limit.
- Stairs don’t work because the upper floor exit is oriented opposite to the rest. For the upper floor, you currently have to step in front of the TV to go upstairs. For the basement, you have to step in front of the TV to get down there. Who stopped thinking here? This definitely does not happen with an architect.
I’ll read the post again... Yes, you’ve made a major mistake here.
- Fundamentally, the stair landing, whether going up or down, is poorly positioned and obstructive.
- Kitchen: Am I correct in understanding that the necessary 60/65 cm (24/26 inches) for the kitchen workspace was reduced to fit the desired large island?
- Windows: What was adjusted on the least important north side was neglected on the other facades. The floor-to-ceiling window in the bathroom is quite original, but it faces away from the room.
- Basement: Such careless layout of rooms… I mean, the basement is just the basement and shouldn’t be overestimated. But making the dark underground rooms even more awkward is really remarkable. One room is narrow, okay... but then there are three! That long. Who wants to go deep into those rooms?
The entire design in #38 is a very good example of a misguided attempt at improvement due to clinging to something that has already suffered and turned out poorly in the original plan. The two opposite examples could easily be pinned as a warning in the forum.
Minerva121 schrieb:
We have now revised the plans, ending up with about 155sqm (including the basement). Some areas are still not fully satisfactory: the storage room on the upper floor is too large, the children’s room is a bit small (the target size is around 15sqm), and the passage between the bed and the dressing room is not optimal yet. The ground floor study has only one window to allow for more usable space. Before we move on to the next revision round, we would appreciate your assessments and opinions. Aside from the points already mentioned, is there anything else you notice that we might have overlooked?At least from my most frequently mentioned mantras, pretty much everything. You must have worked on the "revision" quite unsystematically, probably starting with the basement. Child 1 will be jealous of Child 2, who has a much better shaped room for almost the same nominal size—and with fantasy measurements to spare, a dream for botchers. There are days when, just for that reason alone, you should lie back down so that the next attempt doesn’t start off on the wrong foot again. Some people could write guides on how to mess up house designs (if only they could explain more systematically how they do it); in any case, I envy them. It’s supposed to be so easy: I keep explaining it verbally, and Yvonne, Kerstin, and Katja demonstrate it.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Several points have already been raised explaining why the design should not be implemented as is, and I fully agree with them. What stood out to me immediately in a negative way was the bathroom. The room is actually quite spacious for a bathroom, yet the layout of the individual fixtures is really poor. That toilet niche is definitely not suitable for a household with children... everything else also feels awkwardly cramped. The staircase is positioned very inconveniently, and so on.
Since the basement has been questioned several times here and above-ground alternatives have been suggested, I would like to share my experience. In the house I built with my ex-husband in 2018, we added an extension of about 16m² (170 ft²) next to the kitchen, which also had an external access. On top, it could be used as a balcony. The room was, as far as I recall, built with the same masonry as the house but with its own wall separating it from the house, creating essentially a double wall. As originally planned, my ex-husband later added a garage to this room, with additional workshop/storage/hobby space behind it and above it (accessible via the balcony and by stairs from the garage). I personally found that room next to the kitchen really practical back then, and from what I have heard (including through my daughter), my ex and his new wife are also very satisfied with the extension.
If your property’s width and building regulations / planning permission allow something like this, it might be considerably cheaper than a basement. The room cost us only a fraction of what a basement would have required.
Since the basement has been questioned several times here and above-ground alternatives have been suggested, I would like to share my experience. In the house I built with my ex-husband in 2018, we added an extension of about 16m² (170 ft²) next to the kitchen, which also had an external access. On top, it could be used as a balcony. The room was, as far as I recall, built with the same masonry as the house but with its own wall separating it from the house, creating essentially a double wall. As originally planned, my ex-husband later added a garage to this room, with additional workshop/storage/hobby space behind it and above it (accessible via the balcony and by stairs from the garage). I personally found that room next to the kitchen really practical back then, and from what I have heard (including through my daughter), my ex and his new wife are also very satisfied with the extension.
If your property’s width and building regulations / planning permission allow something like this, it might be considerably cheaper than a basement. The room cost us only a fraction of what a basement would have required.
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