Hello everyone,
Our time has almost come, and we have the first drafts ready.
I would appreciate your opinions, ideas, and constructive criticism.
About the plot: The building site is 750 sqm (8,073 sq ft). We are still considering whether it makes sense to buy the adjacent farmland of another 750 sqm (8,073 sq ft) to turn it into additional garden space. This would also prevent a cornfield from blocking our view throughout the summer. Our neighbors are only on the right side. On the left, rear, and front sides, there are only meadows and fields. The master bedroom faces east.
About the house: It will have two full stories and no basement. Roof type: hipped roof. We hope to have enough storage space with the garage and the attic.
- In the drafts, the direction of the staircase is not drawn correctly; you go upstairs from the living room.
- Additionally, about 1.20 m (4 feet) beyond the kitchen extension, there is a roughly 1.20 m (4 feet) wide free-standing wall intended to separate the dining area from the living area.
We also have a few improvement requests and are curious to see if they align with your opinions.
And now: fire away 😉
Best regards
Our time has almost come, and we have the first drafts ready.
I would appreciate your opinions, ideas, and constructive criticism.
About the plot: The building site is 750 sqm (8,073 sq ft). We are still considering whether it makes sense to buy the adjacent farmland of another 750 sqm (8,073 sq ft) to turn it into additional garden space. This would also prevent a cornfield from blocking our view throughout the summer. Our neighbors are only on the right side. On the left, rear, and front sides, there are only meadows and fields. The master bedroom faces east.
About the house: It will have two full stories and no basement. Roof type: hipped roof. We hope to have enough storage space with the garage and the attic.
- In the drafts, the direction of the staircase is not drawn correctly; you go upstairs from the living room.
- Additionally, about 1.20 m (4 feet) beyond the kitchen extension, there is a roughly 1.20 m (4 feet) wide free-standing wall intended to separate the dining area from the living area.
We also have a few improvement requests and are curious to see if they align with your opinions.
And now: fire away 😉
Best regards
The floor plan reminds me of our own.
Regarding the cloakroom: I think it’s perfect. With children, it can never be large enough. However, I would only install hooks for jackets, etc., on one side to avoid congestion when several people are in there at the same time.
About the guest WC with shower:
In our current mid-terrace house, no one uses the shower, so we don’t need one. But if someone thinks they do, that’s fine. Especially since this one finally has a comfortable size that allows movement. I would consider placing the toilet on the utility room side.
About the utility room:
I also think space might be tight. We have 12sqm (129 sq ft) and no door to the garage, but as suggested above, the garage roof is extended as a covered entrance.
About the living area:
Personally, I don’t like the TV standing in the middle of the room. I would place it against the office wall.
About the kitchen:
The island feels somewhat out of the way. You should seriously work on the kitchen layout and think about how the workflow will function.
About the children’s rooms:
The kids’ rooms are sufficiently sized. For the bedroom and dressing room, we have 20sqm (215 sq ft) together. In our case, the dressing room is located between the parents’ and children’s rooms.
About the bathroom:
I don’t like the division with the wall. With 13sqm (140 sq ft), you can arrange everything openly so that the bathroom’s size can be fully used and appreciated.
We also have a 750sqm (8,072 sq ft) plot at the new house. That’s generous enough. I find 1500sqm (16,146 sq ft) a bit large! Where is the cornfield? Is it really that close to your house that it could block your view? In which direction is the field? Is that land designated for building?
A site plan would be helpful.
milkie
Regarding the cloakroom: I think it’s perfect. With children, it can never be large enough. However, I would only install hooks for jackets, etc., on one side to avoid congestion when several people are in there at the same time.
About the guest WC with shower:
In our current mid-terrace house, no one uses the shower, so we don’t need one. But if someone thinks they do, that’s fine. Especially since this one finally has a comfortable size that allows movement. I would consider placing the toilet on the utility room side.
About the utility room:
I also think space might be tight. We have 12sqm (129 sq ft) and no door to the garage, but as suggested above, the garage roof is extended as a covered entrance.
About the living area:
Personally, I don’t like the TV standing in the middle of the room. I would place it against the office wall.
About the kitchen:
The island feels somewhat out of the way. You should seriously work on the kitchen layout and think about how the workflow will function.
About the children’s rooms:
The kids’ rooms are sufficiently sized. For the bedroom and dressing room, we have 20sqm (215 sq ft) together. In our case, the dressing room is located between the parents’ and children’s rooms.
About the bathroom:
I don’t like the division with the wall. With 13sqm (140 sq ft), you can arrange everything openly so that the bathroom’s size can be fully used and appreciated.
We also have a 750sqm (8,072 sq ft) plot at the new house. That’s generous enough. I find 1500sqm (16,146 sq ft) a bit large! Where is the cornfield? Is it really that close to your house that it could block your view? In which direction is the field? Is that land designated for building?
A site plan would be helpful.
milkie
Wastl schrieb:
Of course, the orientation of the rooms is related to the location on the plot and the cardinal directions.
The discussion about open versus closed staircases comes up every time. As long as the homeowner is aware of the pros and cons, everything is fine 🙂 Yes, you’re right that it does make a difference in terms of lighting and windows. But usually it’s spoken about negatively here when, like us, you place a utility room facing south. So for me, the floor plan has to work first and foremost – and it either does or doesn’t, regardless of location and orientation. ;-)
You’re also right about the staircase. Everyone has to decide that for themselves, like with everything else. The important thing is to be made aware of the advantages and disadvantages and to understand them.
I would have been grateful if I had known about this forum eight years ago. We probably would have made fewer mistakes with our floor plan back then. We wouldn’t have been convinced to change the orientation (southwest), because we wanted to build energy-efficiently. Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out to be practical for us. What good are large windows facing south and west if we usually have the blinds down in winter because the sun blinds us at the dining table and it gets uncomfortably hot inside the moment the sun comes out? But as I said, in the new house we will have a shaded (roof overhang) terrace facing south and one on the east. Our garden has some space to the south and the main garden is on the east side, where we even get the evening sun.
I think the idea from @milkie is actually quite good. You could swap the toilet and the office—the half a square meter (about 5 square feet) you lose in the office probably won’t be noticeable. This way, you could also make the utility room a bit larger, and the toilet would be closer to the living area. I also don’t think having a second shower in the house is a bad idea. We now have one on the ground floor and don’t use it very often, but we do use it. However, our children are still young and rarely shower alone yet—though that will likely change as they grow older.
If the bathroom downstairs were swapped with the office, the routing of water supply and wastewater pipes would be completely different. So far, the bathroom upstairs is located directly above the bathroom downstairs, which would no longer be the case. However, most of the connections, including the drain for the washing machine, should be in the utility room anyway, so this might not be a big issue. I just wanted to point that out.
The office would then be on the north side, in case that might be a problem.
The office would then be on the north side, in case that might be a problem.
Isn't that east?
In our house, the toilet is next to the garage, then the utility room is beside it.
The drainage for the upstairs bathroom should still work fine. If the staircase is enclosed, the space under the stairs could also be added to the office.
However, what I notice now is that you don’t have a pantry or a storage/cleaning closet. That means everything has to fit into the utility room. To me, that would be too small.
milkie
In our house, the toilet is next to the garage, then the utility room is beside it.
The drainage for the upstairs bathroom should still work fine. If the staircase is enclosed, the space under the stairs could also be added to the office.
However, what I notice now is that you don’t have a pantry or a storage/cleaning closet. That means everything has to fit into the utility room. To me, that would be too small.
milkie
The suggestions are getting more and more amusing now: a toilet right next to the living room, an office/guest room behind the wardrobe as a small back room with access under the closed staircase....?! 🙄
The hallway with its wardrobe doesn’t need a closed staircase. In terms of spaciousness, an open staircase would be a real eye-catcher 🙂
The hallway with its wardrobe doesn’t need a closed staircase. In terms of spaciousness, an open staircase would be a real eye-catcher 🙂
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