ᐅ Single-family house floor plan, approximately 200 sqm without a basement – assessment
Created on: 14 Dec 2014 10:37
S
Slammer0909
Hello everyone,
I have been following this forum for some time now, looking at other threads as well as their floor plans and feedback.
My wife and I are already in contact with a construction company, and the floor plan is roughly finalized. I also contributed to the design of the ground floor.
However, I am not satisfied with the layout of the upper floor because you have to walk through the dressing area to reach the bedroom.
I have been planning and moving walls around for about a year now, and I am starting to get somewhat "blind" to the design.
I would really appreciate any constructive feedback, both positive and negative, on the floor plan.
The rooms are quite large, but we prefer it that way (child’s room about 20sqm (215 sq ft), etc.).
Originally, we wanted a full basement, but due to the groundwater level, this is no longer possible.
That is why the rooms are arranged around the garage, with a large utility room including a cloakroom on the ground floor, and a laundry room on the upper floor.
The site plan including the property boundary is provided just to help visualize the dimensions of the plot.
Attached are the floor plans.
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
Mathias
I have been following this forum for some time now, looking at other threads as well as their floor plans and feedback.
My wife and I are already in contact with a construction company, and the floor plan is roughly finalized. I also contributed to the design of the ground floor.
However, I am not satisfied with the layout of the upper floor because you have to walk through the dressing area to reach the bedroom.
I have been planning and moving walls around for about a year now, and I am starting to get somewhat "blind" to the design.
I would really appreciate any constructive feedback, both positive and negative, on the floor plan.
The rooms are quite large, but we prefer it that way (child’s room about 20sqm (215 sq ft), etc.).
Originally, we wanted a full basement, but due to the groundwater level, this is no longer possible.
That is why the rooms are arranged around the garage, with a large utility room including a cloakroom on the ground floor, and a laundry room on the upper floor.
The site plan including the property boundary is provided just to help visualize the dimensions of the plot.
Attached are the floor plans.
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
Mathias
Compare the routes from the garage to the house:
and then
Also compare the possibilities that each hallway offers ... with approximately the same size.
In your developer’s floor plan, the staircase also looks quite steep and narrow again.
The idea behind all your planning was to be able to separate the upper and lower floors effectively.
and then
Also compare the possibilities that each hallway offers ... with approximately the same size.
In your developer’s floor plan, the staircase also looks quite steep and narrow again.
The idea behind all your planning was to be able to separate the upper and lower floors effectively.
S
Slammer090927 Jan 2015 13:08@kbt09: The passage through the cloakroom is exactly what we want.
This won’t be a standard utility room, but rather a "changing room" that you enter from the garage and then go through to the house. This is intentional on our part, even though others might use such a room differently.
We explicitly want the connection to go through this room.
The narrow corridor in your first floor example from the hallway to the guest room is only about 1m (3 feet) wide anyway. However, this narrow passage in my last design is much longer—that “corridor” leads to the guest toilet and the utility/cloakroom.
In my last design, the guest toilet is not right by the entrance; that was a deliberate idea—to have a shorter route from the living room to the bathroom.
In direct comparison of the hallways, I also see at least as many options for placing cabinets or mirrors.
It really comes down to personal perspective. Looking at my more intricate design in 3D in the software, I don’t think it’s bad at all.
It’s not a straightforward, standard design focused solely on maximum efficiency; it’s something different, which also has style. You open the door and the first wall angles off with a cabinet and mirror next to it, then your view opens into a 3m (10 feet) wide corridor. So in my opinion, it doesn’t feel cramped.
@ypn: Compared to my hallway, the Milan house is about 90% similar, with the difference that mine is both longer and wider.
I’m afraid that my designs might appear misleading or zoomed in. I don’t work with exterior dimensions like 9x11m (30x36 feet) but rather 12x12m (40x40 feet). All doors on my ground floor are planned to be 1m (3 feet) wide, so the door leaves also open up wider. This might make it seem zoomed in. If one envisions the house in smaller dimensions, it might also feel tighter. That could create the impression that everything is small.
But I believe in reality it’s not like that—I’ve toured model homes that are smaller yet seem less spacious compared to mine, where many things are bigger...
In the kitchen, the island can be narrower; it doesn’t have to be 2m (6.5 feet) wide. Less width would also work and can be adjusted with the kitchen planner later.
If I removed the 15–20sqm (160–215 sq ft) utility/cloakroom from the 12x12m footprint, I’d have much more freedom. But I don’t want to hang coats and shoes directly in the garage. As said, we would like this space as an intermediate room that connects the garage to the house. The guest cloakroom is really just for guests.
We have many requirements, plus the north side is nearly fully occupied by the garage. I actually consider my newer designs an improvement...
This won’t be a standard utility room, but rather a "changing room" that you enter from the garage and then go through to the house. This is intentional on our part, even though others might use such a room differently.
We explicitly want the connection to go through this room.
The narrow corridor in your first floor example from the hallway to the guest room is only about 1m (3 feet) wide anyway. However, this narrow passage in my last design is much longer—that “corridor” leads to the guest toilet and the utility/cloakroom.
In my last design, the guest toilet is not right by the entrance; that was a deliberate idea—to have a shorter route from the living room to the bathroom.
In direct comparison of the hallways, I also see at least as many options for placing cabinets or mirrors.
It really comes down to personal perspective. Looking at my more intricate design in 3D in the software, I don’t think it’s bad at all.
It’s not a straightforward, standard design focused solely on maximum efficiency; it’s something different, which also has style. You open the door and the first wall angles off with a cabinet and mirror next to it, then your view opens into a 3m (10 feet) wide corridor. So in my opinion, it doesn’t feel cramped.
@ypn: Compared to my hallway, the Milan house is about 90% similar, with the difference that mine is both longer and wider.
I’m afraid that my designs might appear misleading or zoomed in. I don’t work with exterior dimensions like 9x11m (30x36 feet) but rather 12x12m (40x40 feet). All doors on my ground floor are planned to be 1m (3 feet) wide, so the door leaves also open up wider. This might make it seem zoomed in. If one envisions the house in smaller dimensions, it might also feel tighter. That could create the impression that everything is small.
But I believe in reality it’s not like that—I’ve toured model homes that are smaller yet seem less spacious compared to mine, where many things are bigger...
In the kitchen, the island can be narrower; it doesn’t have to be 2m (6.5 feet) wide. Less width would also work and can be adjusted with the kitchen planner later.
If I removed the 15–20sqm (160–215 sq ft) utility/cloakroom from the 12x12m footprint, I’d have much more freedom. But I don’t want to hang coats and shoes directly in the garage. As said, we would like this space as an intermediate room that connects the garage to the house. The guest cloakroom is really just for guests.
We have many requirements, plus the north side is nearly fully occupied by the garage. I actually consider my newer designs an improvement...
If you still want to cook on the peninsula, the section on the left side of the wall can shrink to a maximum of 180 cm (71 inches) to remain reasonably functional. In general, coming from the hallway, you first have to walk about 4 m (13 feet) into the kitchen to reach the actual kitchen area. In the non-developer options, you also no longer have the bump-out for the old kitchen buffet.
By the way, where did your large sofa go?
In my version, the hallway leading to the guest room is about 135 cm (53 inches) wide. Also, in my version, there is an 18 sqm (194 sq ft) technical/storage room within the main house structure.
I also think the idea of accessing the "private wardrobe" through the utility/technical room is too unrealistic. Every time you leave the house, you have to go through there and then through the garage to get outside. What happens when you or your future children come home with friends?
I find angled walls stylish only when they have a special purpose, not just because they are angled. For example, in a large house, I find a spacious staircase more elegant rather than a staircase that you could also have in a small terraced house. Sometimes there’s no alternative.
I want to remind you that one of your wishes was to possibly divide the house sensibly into ground floor and upper floor sections. I don’t see that possibility in any version, neither the developer’s nor your modified options.
By the way, where did your large sofa go?
In my version, the hallway leading to the guest room is about 135 cm (53 inches) wide. Also, in my version, there is an 18 sqm (194 sq ft) technical/storage room within the main house structure.
I also think the idea of accessing the "private wardrobe" through the utility/technical room is too unrealistic. Every time you leave the house, you have to go through there and then through the garage to get outside. What happens when you or your future children come home with friends?
I find angled walls stylish only when they have a special purpose, not just because they are angled. For example, in a large house, I find a spacious staircase more elegant rather than a staircase that you could also have in a small terraced house. Sometimes there’s no alternative.
I want to remind you that one of your wishes was to possibly divide the house sensibly into ground floor and upper floor sections. I don’t see that possibility in any version, neither the developer’s nor your modified options.
W
willWohnen27 Jan 2015 17:16Hello,
it’s great that we can help each other and share experiences in forums. But keep in mind that you get to choose from the advice given and that it’s not your responsibility to convince or satisfy everyone. You know your needs best.
(By the way, when I was planning my kitchen, some of the criticism came from the fact that the advisors simply completely misjudged the dimensions.)
I would let everything settle and allow your subconscious to work on it. With the right input, this will eventually give you the decisive gut feeling about what to change and what to keep.
Best regards
it’s great that we can help each other and share experiences in forums. But keep in mind that you get to choose from the advice given and that it’s not your responsibility to convince or satisfy everyone. You know your needs best.
(By the way, when I was planning my kitchen, some of the criticism came from the fact that the advisors simply completely misjudged the dimensions.)
I would let everything settle and allow your subconscious to work on it. With the right input, this will eventually give you the decisive gut feeling about what to change and what to keep.
Best regards
S
Slammer090927 Jan 2015 18:17Yes, you’re right, willWohnen.
Opinions differ, but I don’t think the furniture layout shown should be overestimated. In my designs, I’ve also reduced the house dimensions back to 12x12m (39x39 feet).
I replaced the large sofa with two 3-seat sofas as an example. But I’m planning on about 3.5m (11.5 feet) from the wall, whether it becomes a sofa arrangement or individual seats will be decided later. I want to keep everything flexible in terms of design. That’s why there is no window on the east side of the living room, so the TV can be placed there and the sofa can have its back to the dining area.
I have revisited your design as well. Thanks for applying nearly the same dimensions and trying to show effects with small changes. I don’t want to sound ungrateful. But it just doesn’t quite click for me. Some of the arguments against “my” designs also partly apply to yours.
Making the guest room wider is certainly good from a guest room perspective (not a priority for me), but that makes the living room narrower. That would be smaller than what I have now. I live in a 140m² (1507 sq ft) semi-detached house, and the living room is 4.6m x 5.1m (15x17 feet), which I find too narrow. The space between the sofa/table and the media wall is still there, but as soon as I want to sit all around the table, the chairs hit the media wall behind me. So 4.48m (14.7 feet) is too short.
The angled wall for the kitchen display cabinet is currently removed from my plans (not yet with the builder), as I was advised, also by the other architect and you, not to include so many corners and edges.
I don’t think there will be enough space to place shelves lengthwise in the utility room with a width of 2.64m (8.7 feet) in your design, as the walkways would become too narrow.
When entering through the main door, you don’t really have a spacious hallway; first, there is a kink (not even an angle) to the left, then a bend back to the right, and finally another left turn into a “corridor” leading to the guest room. The front door would even hit any coats hanging on hooks when opened...
I roughly marked my ideas for partitions.
By slightly shifting the walls, I can also widen narrow corridors a bit without significant losses in other rooms. I did this for the area around the entrance, guest WC, and kitchen. There, I now have a width of 1.4m (4.6 feet), if the wall moves slightly toward the utility room. If I remove the kink entirely, I get a corridor width of 1.8m (6 feet). That works too, but what do I need 1.8m for? Our current hallway in the semi-detached house is only 1.75m (5.7 feet) wide in total.
Here are the changes:
We plan a distance of 1.3m (4.3 feet) between kitchen cabinets and the island. It’s very common to have less. If I reduce that to 1.2m (3.9 feet), I can slightly reduce the pantry size downward and shift the wall a bit. Then I’d have a good 1.4m (4.6 feet) walkway width. But it’s a question of use. Do I need the extra 10-20cm (4-8 inches) just to walk through, or would I rather use that space between island and kitchen counters? I would choose the latter. Maybe we’d even like a kitchen without an island, then the room would be easily large enough.
In any case, I would rather give more space to the respective rooms instead of wider corridors. The main hallway under the stairs would then be 2.8m (9.2 feet) wide. That’s not too narrow, right? What do you think?
I would appreciate constructive criticism like kbt09 basically did with their design, such as: “If you move this wall here and there, it would improve things for this or that reason,” or something similar.
Not “everything is bad,” because that won’t get me anywhere, although I know even “everything is bad” is just individual opinions.
In summary, I think the designs combine our non-trivial wishes and ideas quite well. Many things can be done differently but come with other pros and cons. Furthermore, I find the new generation with the staircase in the center more clearly structured. But that is again “standard.” You come through the front door, the staircase runs along the wall, and behind it are entrances to all rooms, etc.
In my other design, I explicitly wanted to avoid that. You come in, and it looks different from anything you’ve ever seen. I’ve also included some 3D views. They all look a bit “odd” because the viewpoint is not the human eye’s wide angle, but there you can see what I mean.
Don’t pay attention to color schemes etc. here; this is just a rough visualization.
On the other hand, I must say I prefer the bathroom layout in the latest generation, especially as it allows for a bathtub.
All in all, I’m undecided.
Best regards
PS: Big compliments to the forum software. I think it’s really very good!
Opinions differ, but I don’t think the furniture layout shown should be overestimated. In my designs, I’ve also reduced the house dimensions back to 12x12m (39x39 feet).
I replaced the large sofa with two 3-seat sofas as an example. But I’m planning on about 3.5m (11.5 feet) from the wall, whether it becomes a sofa arrangement or individual seats will be decided later. I want to keep everything flexible in terms of design. That’s why there is no window on the east side of the living room, so the TV can be placed there and the sofa can have its back to the dining area.
I have revisited your design as well. Thanks for applying nearly the same dimensions and trying to show effects with small changes. I don’t want to sound ungrateful. But it just doesn’t quite click for me. Some of the arguments against “my” designs also partly apply to yours.
Making the guest room wider is certainly good from a guest room perspective (not a priority for me), but that makes the living room narrower. That would be smaller than what I have now. I live in a 140m² (1507 sq ft) semi-detached house, and the living room is 4.6m x 5.1m (15x17 feet), which I find too narrow. The space between the sofa/table and the media wall is still there, but as soon as I want to sit all around the table, the chairs hit the media wall behind me. So 4.48m (14.7 feet) is too short.
The angled wall for the kitchen display cabinet is currently removed from my plans (not yet with the builder), as I was advised, also by the other architect and you, not to include so many corners and edges.
I don’t think there will be enough space to place shelves lengthwise in the utility room with a width of 2.64m (8.7 feet) in your design, as the walkways would become too narrow.
When entering through the main door, you don’t really have a spacious hallway; first, there is a kink (not even an angle) to the left, then a bend back to the right, and finally another left turn into a “corridor” leading to the guest room. The front door would even hit any coats hanging on hooks when opened...
I roughly marked my ideas for partitions.
By slightly shifting the walls, I can also widen narrow corridors a bit without significant losses in other rooms. I did this for the area around the entrance, guest WC, and kitchen. There, I now have a width of 1.4m (4.6 feet), if the wall moves slightly toward the utility room. If I remove the kink entirely, I get a corridor width of 1.8m (6 feet). That works too, but what do I need 1.8m for? Our current hallway in the semi-detached house is only 1.75m (5.7 feet) wide in total.
Here are the changes:
We plan a distance of 1.3m (4.3 feet) between kitchen cabinets and the island. It’s very common to have less. If I reduce that to 1.2m (3.9 feet), I can slightly reduce the pantry size downward and shift the wall a bit. Then I’d have a good 1.4m (4.6 feet) walkway width. But it’s a question of use. Do I need the extra 10-20cm (4-8 inches) just to walk through, or would I rather use that space between island and kitchen counters? I would choose the latter. Maybe we’d even like a kitchen without an island, then the room would be easily large enough.
In any case, I would rather give more space to the respective rooms instead of wider corridors. The main hallway under the stairs would then be 2.8m (9.2 feet) wide. That’s not too narrow, right? What do you think?
I would appreciate constructive criticism like kbt09 basically did with their design, such as: “If you move this wall here and there, it would improve things for this or that reason,” or something similar.
Not “everything is bad,” because that won’t get me anywhere, although I know even “everything is bad” is just individual opinions.
In summary, I think the designs combine our non-trivial wishes and ideas quite well. Many things can be done differently but come with other pros and cons. Furthermore, I find the new generation with the staircase in the center more clearly structured. But that is again “standard.” You come through the front door, the staircase runs along the wall, and behind it are entrances to all rooms, etc.
In my other design, I explicitly wanted to avoid that. You come in, and it looks different from anything you’ve ever seen. I’ve also included some 3D views. They all look a bit “odd” because the viewpoint is not the human eye’s wide angle, but there you can see what I mean.
Don’t pay attention to color schemes etc. here; this is just a rough visualization.
On the other hand, I must say I prefer the bathroom layout in the latest generation, especially as it allows for a bathtub.
All in all, I’m undecided.
Best regards
PS: Big compliments to the forum software. I think it’s really very good!
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