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Frischluft018 May 2014 20:57Hello everyone, we are new here and currently working on finding the right floor plan for our single-family house. We would appreciate any support and ideas.
The south side is at the bottom, and the main entrance should be on the side, as this seems to work best for our plot.
What I don’t like about this example is the hallway (no space for a coat rack), as well as the bathroom (too small), and the office is too large.
Our original design couldn’t be realized as planned, and this one was suggested as an alternative.
The south side is at the bottom, and the main entrance should be on the side, as this seems to work best for our plot.
What I don’t like about this example is the hallway (no space for a coat rack), as well as the bathroom (too small), and the office is too large.
Our original design couldn’t be realized as planned, and this one was suggested as an alternative.
W
wadenkneifer9 May 2014 08:29Hello and welcome!
You’ve already mentioned three important points yourself. The only “special feature” compared to a standard 120 sqm (1,292 sq ft) floor plan, in my opinion, is your wish for an entrance on the gable side. There should be more options for that. Is it possible, considering the plot, to change the ridge orientation—that is, rotate the house by 90 degrees and align the gable north/south?
Here are a few other observations:
- Utility room: If building without a basement, 4 sqm (43 sq ft) might barely be enough for all the technical equipment. There won’t be any space left for a washing machine, dryer, and a cabinet!
- “Space-saving staircase”: For me, this would be a deal-breaker in a new single-family home. It’s no fun to use such a staircase every day over the long term.
- Idea for the upper floor: Swap the bedroom and the office, and add the dressing area to the bathroom. This would give you a larger bathroom and bedroom but a smaller office. Or is the office perhaps intended to be used as a second bedroom at some point? If so, then this swap might not be a good idea.
- In the living room, you have a large unused space next to the kitchen. What do you plan to do there?
Best regards
Michael
You’ve already mentioned three important points yourself. The only “special feature” compared to a standard 120 sqm (1,292 sq ft) floor plan, in my opinion, is your wish for an entrance on the gable side. There should be more options for that. Is it possible, considering the plot, to change the ridge orientation—that is, rotate the house by 90 degrees and align the gable north/south?
Here are a few other observations:
- Utility room: If building without a basement, 4 sqm (43 sq ft) might barely be enough for all the technical equipment. There won’t be any space left for a washing machine, dryer, and a cabinet!
- “Space-saving staircase”: For me, this would be a deal-breaker in a new single-family home. It’s no fun to use such a staircase every day over the long term.
- Idea for the upper floor: Swap the bedroom and the office, and add the dressing area to the bathroom. This would give you a larger bathroom and bedroom but a smaller office. Or is the office perhaps intended to be used as a second bedroom at some point? If so, then this swap might not be a good idea.
- In the living room, you have a large unused space next to the kitchen. What do you plan to do there?
Best regards
Michael
Hello,
I also think the floor plan is not very good. As Wadenkneifer already mentioned, the utility room is too small if you are building without a basement. We have 12.5 sqm (135 sq ft) and can barely fit everything in there (washing machine, dryer, shoe cabinet, freezer, and other items that we used to keep in the basement).
Take a look at your pantry — the architect has already “furnished” it for you. With that size, you will realistically only be able to fit a shelf against the back wall. The rest of the space is basically wasted. I would suggest removing the pantry and instead adding two more storage cabinets in the kitchen. You can’t really store potatoes in the middle of a modern house anyway because it’s too warm.
We also have the entrance staircase, and I would never do it again: Having the stairs right by the entrance means all the street dirt comes straight into the house, and you constantly walk through it. If possible, the staircase should be located inside the house, after the coat area where you take off your shoes.
That way, you would also save a lot of space currently wasted on hallways.
The living-dining room looks quite narrow to me. It probably isn’t even 3 meters (10 feet) wide, is it?
From our builder, I learned that the bay window you planned would have cost about 16,000 (currency not specified) extra. For that price, you could have made our house 60 cm (2 feet) wider. Since the bay window doesn’t really add usable space on either the ground or upper floor, it would be more cost-effective to skip it and instead enlarge the house overall. Perhaps you could add a dormer in the upper rooms as an alternative, which would also increase ceiling height in the south-facing rooms.
Best regards
Julia
I also think the floor plan is not very good. As Wadenkneifer already mentioned, the utility room is too small if you are building without a basement. We have 12.5 sqm (135 sq ft) and can barely fit everything in there (washing machine, dryer, shoe cabinet, freezer, and other items that we used to keep in the basement).
Take a look at your pantry — the architect has already “furnished” it for you. With that size, you will realistically only be able to fit a shelf against the back wall. The rest of the space is basically wasted. I would suggest removing the pantry and instead adding two more storage cabinets in the kitchen. You can’t really store potatoes in the middle of a modern house anyway because it’s too warm.
We also have the entrance staircase, and I would never do it again: Having the stairs right by the entrance means all the street dirt comes straight into the house, and you constantly walk through it. If possible, the staircase should be located inside the house, after the coat area where you take off your shoes.
That way, you would also save a lot of space currently wasted on hallways.
The living-dining room looks quite narrow to me. It probably isn’t even 3 meters (10 feet) wide, is it?
From our builder, I learned that the bay window you planned would have cost about 16,000 (currency not specified) extra. For that price, you could have made our house 60 cm (2 feet) wider. Since the bay window doesn’t really add usable space on either the ground or upper floor, it would be more cost-effective to skip it and instead enlarge the house overall. Perhaps you could add a dormer in the upper rooms as an alternative, which would also increase ceiling height in the south-facing rooms.
Best regards
Julia
Hello,
how about swapping the staircase and the utility room and/or guest bathroom on the ground floor? You would have to walk a bit further to the stairs downstairs, but you could also swap the bathroom and stairs upstairs, saving hallway space and making the bathroom larger. So, basically shift the staircase further to the “right.”
I would also consider removing the pantry to make the kitchen bigger. Alternatively, position the pantry across the back so the entire kitchen moves forward. (However, that might cause a lighting issue in the kitchen, right?)
Upstairs, you might want to swap the bedroom and office. I once saw a nice floor plan where the walk-in closet was located in the bay window. I thought that was a clever solution.
Good luck
how about swapping the staircase and the utility room and/or guest bathroom on the ground floor? You would have to walk a bit further to the stairs downstairs, but you could also swap the bathroom and stairs upstairs, saving hallway space and making the bathroom larger. So, basically shift the staircase further to the “right.”
I would also consider removing the pantry to make the kitchen bigger. Alternatively, position the pantry across the back so the entire kitchen moves forward. (However, that might cause a lighting issue in the kitchen, right?)
Upstairs, you might want to swap the bedroom and office. I once saw a nice floor plan where the walk-in closet was located in the bay window. I thought that was a clever solution.
Good luck
I also spontaneously considered Wildthing’s idea with the staircase. Removing the pantry and placing the staircase opposite the dining room, with the utility room and guest toilet at the front. You could also think about making the staircase open to the living/dining area, which in my opinion creates a more spacious feel.
Upstairs, the bathroom would be located where the staircase is now, which would make it larger.
Make sure to include a replacement utility room upstairs. 4-5sqm (43-54 sq ft) is very small on the ground floor, just enough for technical equipment and a shelf for potatoes.
It might be possible to create a room between the staircase and bathroom, but the walk-in closet would probably have to be removed (depending on the location of the staircase).
The cloakroom issue remains; perhaps the front part of the utility room could be reduced a bit to make space for a built-in closet?
Upstairs, the bathroom would be located where the staircase is now, which would make it larger.
Make sure to include a replacement utility room upstairs. 4-5sqm (43-54 sq ft) is very small on the ground floor, just enough for technical equipment and a shelf for potatoes.
It might be possible to create a room between the staircase and bathroom, but the walk-in closet would probably have to be removed (depending on the location of the staircase).
The cloakroom issue remains; perhaps the front part of the utility room could be reduced a bit to make space for a built-in closet?
F
Frischluft019 May 2014 18:58So, thank you very much for the suggestions, I have now implemented and presented them professionally (sarcasm off).
Ground floor:
- My wife actually wanted a closed kitchen, but she also wanted a "cooking island," so I think we can’t avoid having an open kitchen.
- I really like the staircase now, and the open design is great, but doesn’t it reduce the space in the bay window area too much?
- Created space for a chest of drawers.
Top floor:
- The walk-in closet has to stay, the bedroom should only have a bed and a chest of drawers, so it can be relatively small.
- I think the bathroom should be about 10m2 (108 sq ft)?
- We have a 2-year-old daughter and are not planning for a second child.
- I reduced the study room (maybe around 9m2 (97 sq ft)?), which should be used as a kind of hobby/storage room and later possibly expanded for our daughter until she moves out.
@Wadenkmeifer, our plot is 16.90m (55 ft 6 in) wide and lies in a kind of S-curve. We could rotate the house, but then we would lose the large south-facing side. I’m not sure if that would look nice overall, especially considering the bay window.
Later, we plan to add a garage on the property, preferably attached directly to the house (without an internal door).
@Jaydee: Regarding the bay window, I have to ask immediately—thanks. The bay window is more of an aesthetic feature for us. But if I build a dormer and make the house 60cm (2 ft) wider, won’t that make it more expensive, especially because of the dormer?
Thanks again for now.
Ground floor:
- My wife actually wanted a closed kitchen, but she also wanted a "cooking island," so I think we can’t avoid having an open kitchen.
- I really like the staircase now, and the open design is great, but doesn’t it reduce the space in the bay window area too much?
- Created space for a chest of drawers.
Top floor:
- The walk-in closet has to stay, the bedroom should only have a bed and a chest of drawers, so it can be relatively small.
- I think the bathroom should be about 10m2 (108 sq ft)?
- We have a 2-year-old daughter and are not planning for a second child.
- I reduced the study room (maybe around 9m2 (97 sq ft)?), which should be used as a kind of hobby/storage room and later possibly expanded for our daughter until she moves out.
@Wadenkmeifer, our plot is 16.90m (55 ft 6 in) wide and lies in a kind of S-curve. We could rotate the house, but then we would lose the large south-facing side. I’m not sure if that would look nice overall, especially considering the bay window.
Later, we plan to add a garage on the property, preferably attached directly to the house (without an internal door).
@Jaydee: Regarding the bay window, I have to ask immediately—thanks. The bay window is more of an aesthetic feature for us. But if I build a dormer and make the house 60cm (2 ft) wider, won’t that make it more expensive, especially because of the dormer?
Thanks again for now.
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