ᐅ Optimizing the Floor Plan with Numerous Detailed Considerations
Created on: 12 Jan 2026 21:12
N
NMarieKH
Hello everyone,
We are currently planning the construction of our house in Lower Austria, and I would really appreciate your feedback on our floor plan. I’m 22, my partner is 26 – he is financing the house. Because of that, it’s particularly important to me that the floor plan fits perfectly and that we don’t build in any costly “mistakes.” I’m in the process of optimizing it, but the longer you look at it, the more you get blind to it.
I welcome any comments, criticism, and suggestions for improvements – whether it’s about circulation paths, storage, lighting, furnishing possibilities, or just “this feels impractical” – these are exactly the things I’m trying to fix right now.
In addition, I have a few specific questions where I’m particularly unsure (list follows):
If anyone could answer or comment on even 1 or 2 of these points, I would be extremely grateful. Many thanks in advance!
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 625 m2 (30% of this may be built on)
Site coverage ratio: 1
Floor area ratio: 2
Number of parking spaces: 2
Roof type: hipped roof
Style: modern, cozy
Orientation: terrace faces north
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: modern but not too cubic, hipped roof
Levels: basement, ground floor, first floor
Number of people, age: currently W22 and M26
Space requirements ground floor, upper floor: office on ground floor possibly as a future bedroom
Office use: family use or home office? home office
Open or closed architecture: rather open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes
Number of dining seats: 2, at least 6-8 guests
Fireplace: maybe for the future
Music/sound system wall: sound system at TV wall
Balcony, roof terrace: small balcony at bedroom
Garage, carport: 37 m2 (400 ft2) garage, which will be built later as an extension
Currently, we do not have children but plan to have them in the future
House Design
Who designed it: do-it-yourself
What do we like? The size of the floor plan, the distribution of living and utility areas over different floors
What don’t we like? Sizes of certain rooms, door swings, orientation of living room windows to the northeast, furnishing options in the large living room on the ground floor, integration of the pantry in the room, 2 rooms in the basement which are through-rooms to other rooms
Preferred heating system: underfloor heating
We are currently planning the construction of our house in Lower Austria, and I would really appreciate your feedback on our floor plan. I’m 22, my partner is 26 – he is financing the house. Because of that, it’s particularly important to me that the floor plan fits perfectly and that we don’t build in any costly “mistakes.” I’m in the process of optimizing it, but the longer you look at it, the more you get blind to it.
I welcome any comments, criticism, and suggestions for improvements – whether it’s about circulation paths, storage, lighting, furnishing possibilities, or just “this feels impractical” – these are exactly the things I’m trying to fix right now.
In addition, I have a few specific questions where I’m particularly unsure (list follows):
- Door swings – my partner would prefer all doors to open outward, which I don’t like at all… For which rooms would you solve this problem differently? If the doors open inward in different rooms (e.g., office, both children’s rooms), how far from the wall would you position them?
- I’m also not completely satisfied with the kitchen layout. Due to a lack of storage space on the ground floor, we’d likely keep the pantry but we’re currently unsure how. Ideally, if money were no object, I’d want a concealed pantry and as much cupboard space as possible, but that is expensive. If you have any suggestions about the kitchen layout, please share them (the furniture is only placed provisionally, but the location of the stove, sink, and dishwasher should work similarly) – would you put the window above the sink at a sill height of 1.15m (45 inches) (with a 95cm (37 inch) countertop height) or have it flush directly with the countertop?
- How would you place the door in the cloakroom? Currently, we have 60cm (24 inches) space on one side and 38cm (15 inches) on the other. I’m considering whether it would be smarter to leave at least 66cm (26 inches) at the top side for deeper cabinets and some clearance from the door (and possibly only a narrow shoe cabinet or a bench at the bottom side) – or to move both doors down to the bottom of the room and keep the rest as a more open passage (perhaps for a stroller or similar).
- The office might later be converted into a bedroom (see picture). However, both the 3m (10 ft) wide office and the 2.75m (9 ft) wide children’s bedroom 1 above currently have a window measuring 1.98m (6 ft 6 inch) wide and 1.32m (52 inches) high – would it be better to make these windows a bit narrower, since a bed might be placed underneath, and also raise the sill height of about 87.5cm (34 inches)? For more natural light, the window could maybe just be made a bit longer vertically, right?
- Upstairs, there is the option to expand children’s bedroom 1, which has a less practical layout, with a 25cm (10 inch) deep niche (making it approximately 14.6 m2 (157 ft2) instead of 12.6 m2 (136 ft2), which I think is easier to furnish). The bed could then be placed in the niche, with the headboard away from the window and the view of the door, and the width would be the same as the office below (windows could be aligned vertically).
- How would you position the windows in children’s bedroom 2? Would you prefer one wide window or two narrower ones on the left and right?
- Do you have any ideas on how the rooms in the basement could be arranged differently?
If anyone could answer or comment on even 1 or 2 of these points, I would be extremely grateful. Many thanks in advance!
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 625 m2 (30% of this may be built on)
Site coverage ratio: 1
Floor area ratio: 2
Number of parking spaces: 2
Roof type: hipped roof
Style: modern, cozy
Orientation: terrace faces north
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: modern but not too cubic, hipped roof
Levels: basement, ground floor, first floor
Number of people, age: currently W22 and M26
Space requirements ground floor, upper floor: office on ground floor possibly as a future bedroom
Office use: family use or home office? home office
Open or closed architecture: rather open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes
Number of dining seats: 2, at least 6-8 guests
Fireplace: maybe for the future
Music/sound system wall: sound system at TV wall
Balcony, roof terrace: small balcony at bedroom
Garage, carport: 37 m2 (400 ft2) garage, which will be built later as an extension
Currently, we do not have children but plan to have them in the future
House Design
Who designed it: do-it-yourself
What do we like? The size of the floor plan, the distribution of living and utility areas over different floors
What don’t we like? Sizes of certain rooms, door swings, orientation of living room windows to the northeast, furnishing options in the large living room on the ground floor, integration of the pantry in the room, 2 rooms in the basement which are through-rooms to other rooms
Preferred heating system: underfloor heating
Maybe swap the office with the cloakroom? That way, the cloakroom can also be accessed from the main entrance, creating a better separation for the dirt area.
You could also plan a pantry "in the garage" without taking up space in the kitchen.
I also know that the "hidden door to the pantry" is very popular on Instagram, but it is usually impractical when planning a kitchen. Either it is rather narrow at 60–70cm (24–28 inches) to carry a shopping box through, or it is wider at 80–90cm (31–35 inches) but then looks bulky in the design or requires two small doors that need both hands to open.
It is much more practical to place the door aligned with the corridor between the island and the wall units. Often, you don’t even need a door then:
You could also plan a pantry "in the garage" without taking up space in the kitchen.
I also know that the "hidden door to the pantry" is very popular on Instagram, but it is usually impractical when planning a kitchen. Either it is rather narrow at 60–70cm (24–28 inches) to carry a shopping box through, or it is wider at 80–90cm (31–35 inches) but then looks bulky in the design or requires two small doors that need both hands to open.
It is much more practical to place the door aligned with the corridor between the island and the wall units. Often, you don’t even need a door then:
GeraldG schrieb:
Maybe swap the office with the cloakroom? That way, the cloakroom can also be used from the main entrance, creating a more defined mudroom area.
You could then also plan a pantry "in the garage" without taking up space from the kitchen.
I also know that the "hidden door to the pantry" is very trendy on Instagram, but it’s usually not very practical when planning a kitchen. Either it’s rather narrow at 60–70cm (24–28 inches), making it difficult to carry a shopping box through, or it’s 80–90cm (31–35 inches) wide, which either looks bulky in the design or requires planning two smaller doors that need both hands to open.
It’s much more practical to place the door aligned with the hallway between the island and the wall cabinets. Often, you don’t even need a door then: Yes, I understand the logic behind that, but then unfortunately the office wouldn’t have a window.
Would the pantry still be located in the left corner according to your plan?
NMarieKH schrieb:
Without exact measurements, here is a redraw of the children's rooms (slightly larger than 12m2 (130 square feet)), with a separate walk-in closet.The walk-in closet is less than 200 cm (79 inches) wide... how is that supposed to work? Especially since you are also drawing very thin walls. This shows that you can't just move two walls and expect to have a good solution.The kitchen shown by @GeraldG in post 13 no longer has a separate pantry, but uses a concealed space for tall cabinets that house the built-in appliances and pantry storage. All larger supplies are stored in the basement.
haydee schrieb:
the same comments as in the last thread.https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundrissvergleich-einfamilienhaus-3-entwuerfe-familienplanung-ehrliche-meinung-gesucht.49936/Unfortunately, I see very little progress here (in the discussion engagement by the original poster). Without going back through the details in my mind, I believe many questions remain unanswered. What exactly motivates the homeowner’s preference for doors opening toward the hallway side?
At least now, the focus is solely on Tick’s house, rather than mixing it simultaneously with those of Trick and Track. However, I still don’t perceive any real improvement in the structure. @NMarieKH: please act more attentively as the host of your thread, even at 22 years old.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundrissvergleich-einfamilienhaus-3-entwuerfe-familienplanung-ehrliche-meinung-gesucht.49936/
Unfortunately, I see very little progress here (in the discussion activity by the original poster). Without going back in detail in my mind, I believe a number of questions remain unanswered. What exactly motivates the homeowner’s preference for doors that open towards the hallway?
At least now the discussion focuses solely on Tick’s house, instead of being mixed with those of Trick and Track at the same time. However, I don’t really see any improvement in structure yet. @NMarieKH: please try to act more as a attentive host of your thread, even at 22.The reason given for the doors is to create more space in the living area. Therefore, 40 cm (16 inches) of clearance to the wall is planned behind all doors so that furniture can be placed there. I consider this unnecessary.Similar topics