ᐅ Opinions, Suggestions, and Improvement Ideas for the Planning Process
Created on: 11 Sep 2014 23:33
F
flexistone
Hello everyone,
We have a plot of land measuring 1,560 sqm (16,800 sq ft) and are planning to build our new home on it.
We have already had initial discussions with the architect of our choice and are focusing on a design that is attached.
Since we have never built a house before, we are still quite inexperienced and would greatly appreciate some suggestions, constructive criticism, etc., on our design that could help us with further planning.
I hope everything is clear from the floor plan.
On the ground floor (which, due to the slight slope, is about two-thirds underground at the “back” side – the upper edge), there are guest rooms, a WC, a cloakroom, kitchen, pantry, dining room, living room, and fitness room.
On the first floor, there are three children’s bedrooms, a master bedroom, a walk-in closet, a master bathroom, and a children’s bathroom.
On the second floor, there is an office.
The basement has not yet been planned in detail, as we are not exactly sure which rooms we will need there.
Thank you very much in advance for your feedback!
We have a plot of land measuring 1,560 sqm (16,800 sq ft) and are planning to build our new home on it.
We have already had initial discussions with the architect of our choice and are focusing on a design that is attached.
Since we have never built a house before, we are still quite inexperienced and would greatly appreciate some suggestions, constructive criticism, etc., on our design that could help us with further planning.
I hope everything is clear from the floor plan.
On the ground floor (which, due to the slight slope, is about two-thirds underground at the “back” side – the upper edge), there are guest rooms, a WC, a cloakroom, kitchen, pantry, dining room, living room, and fitness room.
On the first floor, there are three children’s bedrooms, a master bedroom, a walk-in closet, a master bathroom, and a children’s bathroom.
On the second floor, there is an office.
The basement has not yet been planned in detail, as we are not exactly sure which rooms we will need there.
Thank you very much in advance for your feedback!
F
flexistone12 Sep 2014 13:28milkie schrieb:
How is your budget looking? Adding 1 meter (3 feet) to the house length would probably cost at least 50,000 euros. Large window areas are nice but expensive. Are we still in the six-figure range, or have we reached seven figures? If money is no object, fine. Personally, despite the huge area, I find everything a bit cramped. I like some ideas, but with this space, much more is possible.
milkie Of course, money does matter to some extent—but we’re still well below our maximum limit. I haven’t given the architect a strict cap yet, otherwise we might end up considerably over the limit later on.
Okay—then please suggest how you would get more out of the space, or do you mean a completely different floor plan?
F
flexistone12 Sep 2014 13:31Wastl schrieb:
Why have two roof terraces? No one will really use them. If anything, the terrace should be for the children, not connected to the bedroom. People usually only stay in the bedroom to sleep. I would completely skip the roof terrace in the attic. The kitchen island might be enough for cooking, but where will you put plates, pots, Tupperware, cookbooks, and so on? There's very little space. I think 14sqm (150 sq ft) is sufficiently large for a children’s room. However, placing the rooms side by side looks odd on the plan. In reality, it might work well.We really enjoy spending time on our roof terrace. The terrace outside the bedroom is not meant to be large—just enough space for a seat to have a coffee in the morning or a late-night drink. We love this on our current roof terrace. And upstairs, in my reading, music, and workroom, I definitely want something similar.
Regarding the kitchen island, we calculated the available storage—it actually offers more than what we have now. Additionally, we still have the pantry behind the kitchen for Tupperware, cookbooks, and so on. The actual cool storage room will be in the basement.
Hello,
Here is one more opinion from me – a lot has already been said, and I don’t want to dwell on minor details, so I’ll keep it brief (or at least try to).
At first glance, I thought: Wow, a beautiful showpiece, inviting, spacious... if you can afford it, go for it. But then I noticed there is no direct access from the hallway to the living areas: you always have to pass through a cloakroom/mudroom. That rear window facing the garden doesn’t really add to the sense of openness.
As generous as the windows are towards the garden, the house feels closed off when it comes to entry and exit.
This seems intentional from the outside, since the entrance side also faces the garden, but INSIDE the house, the main living area (and the way out) should be reachable within a short distance. I would therefore suggest reconsidering the cloakroom/storage and kitchen areas. How exactly is up to the architect—there are definitely options 🙂
Now, regarding the kitchen:
It will definitely be a stylish kitchen, and I like that: tall cabinets combined with an island.
I personally don’t care about typical flow patterns; if you plan a stylish kitchen, you will want to keep it tidy anyway. Our home is open-plan, but not very large, so you naturally walk past the island at some point. Oh well, the guest might even peek into my cooking pot, but that’s what an open-concept kitchen with social interaction is all about, right?
What forum members are trying to tell you...
... is that you lack easily accessible staging and storage space. Which cook leaves the pot to run off to fetch supplies or look up spice quantities in books? Nobody—because they keep books and supplies handy within reach. The kettle should safely fit into a corner or niche, the food processor (or whichever machine) doesn’t want to take up valuable countertop space. The herb pot, the bowl with leftovers... everything that would clutter the work surface should be stored conveniently within reach but off the main prep area.
What about the half-finished glass of juice from a child—would that be three glasses in your case? Open bottles?
I’m curious: do you already have children, or are you planning? Because anyone with kids knows how messy kitchens can get, which makes a hidden staging area all the more useful... well, I’m repeating myself 😉
Sink in the middle: where do the cleaning cloths, scrubbing sponges, and dish soap go? At some point, they stick on the faucet or get pushed behind it—very stylish 🙂
Having 3 meters (10 ft) of length can also be inconvenient for one or two people in terms of workflow if you constantly have to walk around corners.
Regarding the children’s bedrooms and your idea not to line up the rooms like a string of pearls, you said:
Would that really be a problem? Every child is different and has their own preferences. Who knows which room each child will prefer? Or do they all insist on southwest?
You can set up the rooms differently and highlight their individual advantages to avoid envy.
When the kids have left, you’ll be living alone in 270 sqm (2,900 sq ft). Yep! There will be even more unused space beyond your 75 sqm (800 sq ft). We’re only talking about an additional 15 sqm (160 sq ft) per each larger room, which, according to your reasoning, would also be left unused.
Still, 14/15 sqm (150/160 sq ft) can be enough.
The house won’t even be full with five people—two of you can get in each other’s way easily. That’s something to keep in mind, even if you can afford spaciousness. Square meters can also become a burden; for me, the distances would feel too long and there would be too many floors.
How do you live now? If you have a garden, you probably want to enjoy the green space. Rooftop terraces are stylish and prestigious but tend to be neglected (technical issues not even mentioned).
I would put the piano in the fitness room, move the fitness area upstairs (with a sauna, the rooftop terrace would even make more sense), and incorporate the workspace near the guest area—unless it’s a constant guest, of course.
I’d love to see pictures of the house’s elevations and the plot!
Best regards,
Yvonne
Here is one more opinion from me – a lot has already been said, and I don’t want to dwell on minor details, so I’ll keep it brief (or at least try to).
At first glance, I thought: Wow, a beautiful showpiece, inviting, spacious... if you can afford it, go for it. But then I noticed there is no direct access from the hallway to the living areas: you always have to pass through a cloakroom/mudroom. That rear window facing the garden doesn’t really add to the sense of openness.
As generous as the windows are towards the garden, the house feels closed off when it comes to entry and exit.
This seems intentional from the outside, since the entrance side also faces the garden, but INSIDE the house, the main living area (and the way out) should be reachable within a short distance. I would therefore suggest reconsidering the cloakroom/storage and kitchen areas. How exactly is up to the architect—there are definitely options 🙂
Now, regarding the kitchen:
flexistone schrieb:
... The kitchen island is 3 x 1.2 m (10 x 4 ft) – actually quite large. But I’m not happy with the width of the cabinet row – we definitely want 3 m (10 ft) there to fit five standard cabinet widths. There’s about 1.2 m (4 ft) of space on either side of the island – but I agree with you, it’s probably not usual to walk through the kitchen to get to the dining area.
... The kitchen island with 3 x 1.2 m (10 x 4 ft) will be quite decent. I checked one out at the kitchen showroom and attended a cooking class there with 10 people working around it. The workspace will be sufficient.
It will definitely be a stylish kitchen, and I like that: tall cabinets combined with an island.
I personally don’t care about typical flow patterns; if you plan a stylish kitchen, you will want to keep it tidy anyway. Our home is open-plan, but not very large, so you naturally walk past the island at some point. Oh well, the guest might even peek into my cooking pot, but that’s what an open-concept kitchen with social interaction is all about, right?
What forum members are trying to tell you...
flexistone schrieb:
We calculated the storage space in the kitchen island—it would actually be more than what we have now. We also have the pantry behind the kitchen for Tupperware, cookbooks, and so on. The main cool storage room will be in the basement.
... is that you lack easily accessible staging and storage space. Which cook leaves the pot to run off to fetch supplies or look up spice quantities in books? Nobody—because they keep books and supplies handy within reach. The kettle should safely fit into a corner or niche, the food processor (or whichever machine) doesn’t want to take up valuable countertop space. The herb pot, the bowl with leftovers... everything that would clutter the work surface should be stored conveniently within reach but off the main prep area.
What about the half-finished glass of juice from a child—would that be three glasses in your case? Open bottles?
I’m curious: do you already have children, or are you planning? Because anyone with kids knows how messy kitchens can get, which makes a hidden staging area all the more useful... well, I’m repeating myself 😉
Sink in the middle: where do the cleaning cloths, scrubbing sponges, and dish soap go? At some point, they stick on the faucet or get pushed behind it—very stylish 🙂
Having 3 meters (10 ft) of length can also be inconvenient for one or two people in terms of workflow if you constantly have to walk around corners.
Regarding the children’s bedrooms and your idea not to line up the rooms like a string of pearls, you said:
flexistone schrieb:
But then one kid’s room would face northwest and the other southwest?!
Would that really be a problem? Every child is different and has their own preferences. Who knows which room each child will prefer? Or do they all insist on southwest?
You can set up the rooms differently and highlight their individual advantages to avoid envy.
flexistone schrieb:
... in 20 years, when the kids have moved out, I would have 75 sqm (800 sq ft) of unused space?!
The development plan permits it—but as I said, I don’t want my study and reading room to be in the basement...
When the kids have left, you’ll be living alone in 270 sqm (2,900 sq ft). Yep! There will be even more unused space beyond your 75 sqm (800 sq ft). We’re only talking about an additional 15 sqm (160 sq ft) per each larger room, which, according to your reasoning, would also be left unused.
Still, 14/15 sqm (150/160 sq ft) can be enough.
The house won’t even be full with five people—two of you can get in each other’s way easily. That’s something to keep in mind, even if you can afford spaciousness. Square meters can also become a burden; for me, the distances would feel too long and there would be too many floors.
flexistone schrieb:
We really like spending time on our rooftop terrace. The terrace in front of the bedroom won’t be big—just enough for a seating area for a morning coffee or a late-night drink. We enjoy that on our current rooftop terrace a lot.
And upstairs, in my reading, music, and working room, I definitely want something similar.
How do you live now? If you have a garden, you probably want to enjoy the green space. Rooftop terraces are stylish and prestigious but tend to be neglected (technical issues not even mentioned).
I would put the piano in the fitness room, move the fitness area upstairs (with a sauna, the rooftop terrace would even make more sense), and incorporate the workspace near the guest area—unless it’s a constant guest, of course.
I’d love to see pictures of the house’s elevations and the plot!
Best regards,
Yvonne
I can only agree with Yvonne regarding the kitchen. We will also have a free-standing island that is 3 meters long (10 feet) and, parallel to it, a tall cabinet row with an oven, dishwasher, and refrigerator. However, we will have the cooktop and sink on the same side, with about 1 meter (3 feet) of main work surface in between.
But we will also have an additional row for storage space—for drinks and glasses, for the coffee machine, cookbooks, herb pots... whatever you need. There is probably nothing worse (for me) than having to clear my work surface first.
milkie
But we will also have an additional row for storage space—for drinks and glasses, for the coffee machine, cookbooks, herb pots... whatever you need. There is probably nothing worse (for me) than having to clear my work surface first.
milkie
I really like the floor plan – it’s nice to see a change from the usual straightforward standard layouts typical of new housing developments.
I especially like the glass feature directly opposite the front door – you enter but still maintain a connection to the outside.
A roof terrace on a large plot is also great – having a "bird’s eye" view of the surroundings is always something different.
I especially like the glass feature directly opposite the front door – you enter but still maintain a connection to the outside.
A roof terrace on a large plot is also great – having a "bird’s eye" view of the surroundings is always something different.
F
flexistone14 Sep 2014 18:37ypg schrieb:
I would place the grand piano in the fitness room, the gym upstairs (with a sauna, which could even justify a rooftop terrace), and combine the workspace with the guest room unless it’s a long-term guest 😉
Regards, YvonneI’m not so keen on the idea of having the grand piano in the fitness room – then you’d basically hear the music only in the background!
The guest room is already used by my wife as a sort of home office.
And I prefer not to work in the basement.
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