Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Building on a slope, flat roof
Basement, floors: 1 basement, 1 ground floor, 1 upper floor
Number of people, age: 2-4
Use: Family use, work (office)
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Semi-open?
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: Yes, a masonry fireplace is planned
Balcony, roof terrace: Terrace/garden accessible from the upper floor
Garage, carport: Double garage in the basement
House Design
Who created the design: Architect
Why does the design look the way it does?
The architect designed the house based on a room plan we developed, which was very well implemented with some economically sensible adjustments in the current plan. The basement includes a double garage, a utility room, and the entrance hall. On the ground floor are 2 children’s rooms, a bedroom, a large bathroom, and a storage room. The basement and ground floor are kept simple and meet our needs perfectly. Due to the slope, the living area is located on the upper floor, as well as the terrace and garden, which are accessible from there.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
In our opinion, the upper floor still needs some optimization.
Living Area
The distance from the TV wall to the exterior wall is currently 4.7 meters (15 ft 5 in). In our current apartment, it is 4.5 meters (14 ft 9 in), and we would like a bit more space here.
Bathroom
There is a second bathroom with a large shower on the upper floor. However, the shower is too large for us — the bathroom on the upper floor should be smaller and more functional (which also saves costs).
Dining Table
In the architect’s plan, the dining table is integrated into the living room. This is possible for us but not our preferred choice. We would prefer the kitchen and dining table to be separate yet still openly connected.
I traced the architect’s plan roughly and made some changes to the floor plans. The following adjustments were made:
- I replaced the large shower with a corner shower and reduced the shower area, converting the remaining corner into a built-in closet. This allowed me to move the kitchen slightly forward. I adjusted the storage room accordingly. The space gained was used to move the dining table closer to the kitchen. The small corner next to the dining table and kitchen (marked with a blue line) was intended as a small cloakroom to store items like slippers or vests for quick trips to the terrace (since the main entrance is in the basement).
- I reduced the office width from 3 meters (9 ft 10 in) to 2.9 meters (9 ft 6 in) to increase the living room width to about 4.8 meters (15 ft 9 in). I might reduce the office size further? (The original office layout is no longer visible in the pictures.)
What are your thoughts?
Style, roof type, building type: Building on a slope, flat roof
Basement, floors: 1 basement, 1 ground floor, 1 upper floor
Number of people, age: 2-4
Use: Family use, work (office)
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Semi-open?
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: Yes, a masonry fireplace is planned
Balcony, roof terrace: Terrace/garden accessible from the upper floor
Garage, carport: Double garage in the basement
House Design
Who created the design: Architect
Why does the design look the way it does?
The architect designed the house based on a room plan we developed, which was very well implemented with some economically sensible adjustments in the current plan. The basement includes a double garage, a utility room, and the entrance hall. On the ground floor are 2 children’s rooms, a bedroom, a large bathroom, and a storage room. The basement and ground floor are kept simple and meet our needs perfectly. Due to the slope, the living area is located on the upper floor, as well as the terrace and garden, which are accessible from there.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
In our opinion, the upper floor still needs some optimization.
Living Area
The distance from the TV wall to the exterior wall is currently 4.7 meters (15 ft 5 in). In our current apartment, it is 4.5 meters (14 ft 9 in), and we would like a bit more space here.
Bathroom
There is a second bathroom with a large shower on the upper floor. However, the shower is too large for us — the bathroom on the upper floor should be smaller and more functional (which also saves costs).
Dining Table
In the architect’s plan, the dining table is integrated into the living room. This is possible for us but not our preferred choice. We would prefer the kitchen and dining table to be separate yet still openly connected.
I traced the architect’s plan roughly and made some changes to the floor plans. The following adjustments were made:
- I replaced the large shower with a corner shower and reduced the shower area, converting the remaining corner into a built-in closet. This allowed me to move the kitchen slightly forward. I adjusted the storage room accordingly. The space gained was used to move the dining table closer to the kitchen. The small corner next to the dining table and kitchen (marked with a blue line) was intended as a small cloakroom to store items like slippers or vests for quick trips to the terrace (since the main entrance is in the basement).
- I reduced the office width from 3 meters (9 ft 10 in) to 2.9 meters (9 ft 6 in) to increase the living room width to about 4.8 meters (15 ft 9 in). I might reduce the office size further? (The original office layout is no longer visible in the pictures.)
What are your thoughts?
chrisw81 schrieb:
I would even vote for option 1.
With option 2, the sofa works nicely as a room divider and the living room is well separated from the other areas, but that’s really a matter of personal taste.
I always like being able to see the dining table from the sofa, especially if more people are sitting around — for example, if someone is on the couch and someone else at the table, you can still communicate easily.
In option 1, the kitchen is nicely separated as well. Separating the kitchen from the living room was very important to us. Those exact arguments are making our decision difficult. We’ll have to reflect on it again and answer the question for ourselves about what is more important.
ypg schrieb:
True. But do you sit on the sofa like in cinema seats? nordanney schrieb:
There are nice swivel wall mounts for that. I understand that. But I find it looks nicer and more peaceful to mount the TV straight on the wall and hide the cables invisibly inside the wall using a conduit. In this case under discussion, the back of the TV including the tangled cables would greet me every time I come from the dining room.
I’d like to suggest a third option. It includes plenty of storage space in the built-in closet and a cozy position for the sofa. I would never place the sofa with its back facing the room as a divider, because I simply don’t feel comfortable and sheltered that way. With my layout, you would have a view of the fireplace, the window, and the TV all at once, and the living room has a cozy, perfectly sufficient size.
Würfel* schrieb:
I’d like to suggest a third option. It offers plenty of storage space in the built-in closet and a cozy position for the sofa. I would never place the sofa with the backrest as a room divider because I just don’t feel comfortable and sheltered that way. With my layout, you would have a view of the fireplace, the window, and the TV all at once, and the living room has a cozy, perfectly adequate size.I also think it’s very good. Especially the sofa position – I’m also more of a fan of having a wall at your back. However, I think the passageway would need to be slightly widened to about 1.4m (4.6 ft).
What I find negative is that the sofa’s position is quite fixed here.
Wouldn’t you have concerns that the kitchen and dining area, at 7.86 x 3.59 m (25.8 x 11.8 ft), might feel quite narrow and elongated? After deducting the kitchen cabinets visible at the back, it’s 7.26 x 3.59 m (23.8 x 11.8 ft).
If it were possible... I would consider moving the staircase to the left side of the plan instead of along the wall in @Würfel’s version, placing the storage space to the right of the stairs. This way, you wouldn’t have two hallways running from the top to the bottom of the plan, but just one.
This would make the sofa area more private and the kitchen/dining area more spacious.
This would make the sofa area more private and the kitchen/dining area more spacious.
kbt09 schrieb:
If it were possible... I would consider moving the staircase to the left side of the plan instead of against the wall as @Würfel suggested, placing the storage space to the right of the stairs. This way, you wouldn’t have two hallways running from the top to the bottom of the plan, but just one.
This would make the sofa area more private and also create a more spacious kitchen and dining area.
I don’t like completely separating the living room. I actually find having multiple access points quite nice, since I don’t want to always walk through the kitchen and dining area. Also, the path to the restroom would feel a bit inconvenient. The natural light in the hallway would be affected as well. The connection between the kitchen and living room also lets some of the evening sunlight through.
We can’t easily move the staircase to the left. That would require relocating it on the lower floors as well, which becomes difficult at the latest in the basement level. Maybe we can gain a few centimeters (inches); if we decide on a layout with the larger kitchen and dining area, we will definitely discuss with the architect how much adjustment is still possible.
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