ᐅ Floor Plan Optimization for a Single-Family Home with a Secondary Suite
Created on: 19 Jan 2026 10:26
D
DieHnnH
Hello everyone,
We are a couple (both 34 years old) looking to build our home in a rural area of Baden-Württemberg. Important preliminary information: no children planned, but a dog. A separate apartment (granny flat) is mandatory with at least 23sqm (250 sq ft).
We would appreciate your input to help us avoid making major mistakes.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 494sqm (5314 sq ft)
Slope: none
Site coverage ratio: 0.32
Edge building allowance: garage permitted
Number of parking spaces: 3
Number of stories: 2 full stories required
Roof style: gable roof with a pitch of 25–38°
Orientation: see plan
Additional requirement: separate apartment
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style: country house / modern Swedish style
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full floors
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults (34), 1 planned dog, 1 person in separate apartment
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor: 120sqm (1292 sq ft) for us plus at least 23sqm (250 sq ft) for the separate apartment
Office: home office, 1 person working fully from home
Guest stays per year: total about 5–15 nights
Open or closed layout: open
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen with kitchen island or U-shape preferred
Number of dining seats: 4–6
Fireplace: desired for coziness, small in size, probably not really necessary
Garage, carport: carport plus 2 additional parking spaces
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: small greenhouse plus kitchen garden
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why certain things should or shouldn’t be: the most important space to us is the kitchen and living room combined as an open area. We want it to be cozy, which is very important. The building plot faces east on the edge of the village, with no further development planned in that direction. We really like this view, but we would also like the terrace to face south.
In general, we want to make the best possible use of the remaining garden and are looking for ideas on how to place the house on the plot to maximize garden usability. We understand the garden won’t be very large.
We both have home-centered hobbies that require space: my husband plays drums, I play piano—space needed upstairs. I enjoy baking, he enjoys cooking—space needed in the kitchen. I like to read—books require space too. We both enjoy gardening.
House Design
Designed by: architect (BU)
What do you like especially and why?
- Layout of the open space and size of the kitchen
- Location of the separate apartment
- Additional space gained upstairs. We originally considered a single-story extension for the separate apartment, but the architect said it’s more expensive than enlarging the whole house. This way, we can keep the technical room small downstairs and move the utility room completely upstairs. We would swap room usage upstairs: bedroom → utility room in the northeast, office → bedroom (this also allows a nice built-in wardrobe niche).
What do you dislike and why?
- The separate apartment has no room for a closet
- Unsure if the size of the open space is sufficient
- The bathroom is very large—like a ballroom. We considered extending the hallway to create a small extra storage room. However, this would reduce western light in the bathroom.
- We don’t like the windows and terrace doors at all yet
- Carport location: needs to be rotated and, in our opinion, moved to the boundary
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: €600,000 including secondary construction costs
Tasks we will do ourselves: roofing, purchase and installation of photovoltaic system & battery, wall and ceiling boarding, filling, painting, flooring, bathrooms
Preferred heating system: air-water heat pump with underfloor heating
If you have to give up some details / expansions
- Can give up: fireplace, so much space upstairs
- Cannot give up: separate apartment, large kitchen
Why has the design turned out this way?
Because this reflects our wishes, the separate apartment, and respects the development plan. We tried ourselves to design a squarer house to create space on the south side, but that didn’t work with the separate apartment.
We’re happy for you to roast the floor plan and welcome any improvement suggestions—thanks in advance.
Circled in green and oriented to north.
Sunny regards
We are a couple (both 34 years old) looking to build our home in a rural area of Baden-Württemberg. Important preliminary information: no children planned, but a dog. A separate apartment (granny flat) is mandatory with at least 23sqm (250 sq ft).
We would appreciate your input to help us avoid making major mistakes.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 494sqm (5314 sq ft)
Slope: none
Site coverage ratio: 0.32
Edge building allowance: garage permitted
Number of parking spaces: 3
Number of stories: 2 full stories required
Roof style: gable roof with a pitch of 25–38°
Orientation: see plan
Additional requirement: separate apartment
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style: country house / modern Swedish style
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full floors
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults (34), 1 planned dog, 1 person in separate apartment
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor: 120sqm (1292 sq ft) for us plus at least 23sqm (250 sq ft) for the separate apartment
Office: home office, 1 person working fully from home
Guest stays per year: total about 5–15 nights
Open or closed layout: open
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen with kitchen island or U-shape preferred
Number of dining seats: 4–6
Fireplace: desired for coziness, small in size, probably not really necessary
Garage, carport: carport plus 2 additional parking spaces
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: small greenhouse plus kitchen garden
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why certain things should or shouldn’t be: the most important space to us is the kitchen and living room combined as an open area. We want it to be cozy, which is very important. The building plot faces east on the edge of the village, with no further development planned in that direction. We really like this view, but we would also like the terrace to face south.
In general, we want to make the best possible use of the remaining garden and are looking for ideas on how to place the house on the plot to maximize garden usability. We understand the garden won’t be very large.
We both have home-centered hobbies that require space: my husband plays drums, I play piano—space needed upstairs. I enjoy baking, he enjoys cooking—space needed in the kitchen. I like to read—books require space too. We both enjoy gardening.
House Design
Designed by: architect (BU)
What do you like especially and why?
- Layout of the open space and size of the kitchen
- Location of the separate apartment
- Additional space gained upstairs. We originally considered a single-story extension for the separate apartment, but the architect said it’s more expensive than enlarging the whole house. This way, we can keep the technical room small downstairs and move the utility room completely upstairs. We would swap room usage upstairs: bedroom → utility room in the northeast, office → bedroom (this also allows a nice built-in wardrobe niche).
What do you dislike and why?
- The separate apartment has no room for a closet
- Unsure if the size of the open space is sufficient
- The bathroom is very large—like a ballroom. We considered extending the hallway to create a small extra storage room. However, this would reduce western light in the bathroom.
- We don’t like the windows and terrace doors at all yet
- Carport location: needs to be rotated and, in our opinion, moved to the boundary
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: €600,000 including secondary construction costs
Tasks we will do ourselves: roofing, purchase and installation of photovoltaic system & battery, wall and ceiling boarding, filling, painting, flooring, bathrooms
Preferred heating system: air-water heat pump with underfloor heating
If you have to give up some details / expansions
- Can give up: fireplace, so much space upstairs
- Cannot give up: separate apartment, large kitchen
Why has the design turned out this way?
Because this reflects our wishes, the separate apartment, and respects the development plan. We tried ourselves to design a squarer house to create space on the south side, but that didn’t work with the separate apartment.
We’re happy for you to roast the floor plan and welcome any improvement suggestions—thanks in advance.
Circled in green and oriented to north.
Sunny regards
Thank you @11ant and @ypg.
You are right about individuality. That, along with the issue of knee walls and so on, is probably the main lesson we’ve learned after dealing with the granny flat: standard designs can work.
The shower toilet downstairs in a narrow layout is actually nonsense. We won’t insist on having a shower on the ground floor at all costs; instead, we’ll just wrap the dog in a towel and carry him up to the bathtub. That worked well with our dog before.
In my opinion, coziness is not lost just because the dining table is small and the room is long. There are more furnishings than just the large, central pieces. Plants, for example—we have plenty of those. Lighting, paintings, armchairs.
We also like the floor plan with the L shape for several reasons:
- Natural light coming in from the east, south, and southwest
- Unobstructed view from the living room towards the east/northeast
- The sofa can be positioned so that a TV wall or projection screen can be nicely installed
This is also visible in many catalog floor plans; the L shape is a standard option for us now as well.
I’ve learned a lot up to this point, thanks especially to both of you!
The types indicate how many full floors are required, what kind of roof is permitted, and the maximum number of residential units.
You are right about individuality. That, along with the issue of knee walls and so on, is probably the main lesson we’ve learned after dealing with the granny flat: standard designs can work.
The shower toilet downstairs in a narrow layout is actually nonsense. We won’t insist on having a shower on the ground floor at all costs; instead, we’ll just wrap the dog in a towel and carry him up to the bathtub. That worked well with our dog before.
In my opinion, coziness is not lost just because the dining table is small and the room is long. There are more furnishings than just the large, central pieces. Plants, for example—we have plenty of those. Lighting, paintings, armchairs.
We also like the floor plan with the L shape for several reasons:
- Natural light coming in from the east, south, and southwest
- Unobstructed view from the living room towards the east/northeast
- The sofa can be positioned so that a TV wall or projection screen can be nicely installed
This is also visible in many catalog floor plans; the L shape is a standard option for us now as well.
I’ve learned a lot up to this point, thanks especially to both of you!
11ant schrieb:
What do the “Types 1 to 3” actually mean in the development plan excerpt?
The types indicate how many full floors are required, what kind of roof is permitted, and the maximum number of residential units.
DieHnnH schrieb:
The shower toilet downstairs as a hose is actually nonsense. We won’t insist on having a shower on the ground floor at all costs; instead, we’ll just wrap the dog in a towel and carry it up into the bathtub. That worked well for our dog in the past. You don’t build new just to continue with makeshift solutions. I would consider what the purpose of this shower is: to be shared by all household members, also as a second everyday shower, or only for heavy dirt (think garden mud), or just for the dog. If the dog is small enough to handle, maybe a baby bathtub placed on the washing machine at a convenient working height, along with a utility sink for emptying, would be the most practical solution; having a utility sink in the laundry room never hurts.
I know someone with a Golden Retriever who feels like she’s “in the wrong body” and wants to use every puddle to “fix” her beige fur color. If I carried her into the bathroom upstairs, I’d end up with a back like Horst’s, you know what I mean?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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