ᐅ Our Floor Plan Design for an Affordable Home

ypg schrieb:

I'm out of tips, yes.
To me, maturity means something different. It also implies being willing to listen to experienced people. For example, architecture magazines are very nice to look at, but they don’t necessarily reflect real life.

Don’t worry, I do listen to experienced professionals. Especially to experts, architects, and structural engineers who have detailed knowledge but allow for very different design approaches and tastes. I’ll keep repeating this: openness is mostly a matter of personal taste!!! Newly built apartments in Berlin generally have open-plan kitchens, which is mostly what people my age prefer. Maybe it really is an age thing. Another architect couple we know built a very similar layout for themselves two years ago, with a half-spiral staircase. Kitchen, dining, living, and working areas run along the whole length of the house. They have three children, two of whom still share a room. They would definitely do it the same way again. So they are experienced both privately and professionally as architects, and they share a similar taste to ours. I like to rely on their experience, especially regarding the detailed design of the floor plan.

And of course, there is "haute couture" architecture that is hardly livable. But our floor plan definitely doesn’t go that far. Often in those cases, the bathtub is freestanding in the middle of the room or something like that, which even to me is too open.

Ms. Schnute, come on, tell us! Do you have bow legs?

la.schnute schrieb:

I’m not getting tired of repeating myself

Neither am I... but honestly, I’m getting a bit bored here, always reading comparisons of apples and oranges.

la.schnute schrieb:

The issue of openness is mainly a matter of personal taste!!! Newly built apartments in Berlin basically all have an open-plan kitchen-living area; so it’s mostly what people my age want.

If you had been paying attention, you wouldn’t have to explain to me what openness means. Our house has fewer interior walls than your plan; our open space is 55sqm (without office and hallway). But I’m honest and don’t need to sugarcoat how great it is. Yes, it’s great, but it does have downsides, even for just two people. I’ve already written all that.
But you only respond to the advocates, one of whom is a saver but only promotes closed layouts for himself, while the other supporter has your measurements but is already complaining about lack of space. And those who are honest with themselves and with you, you doubt.
You only respond to concerns and honest words with “we’re different,” keeping your mindset, even now judging by age (yes, @Nordlys has everything closed) and actually calling it maturity.

I’m really out now — feel free to retreat with your architecture magazines... I have to admit I find it a bit amusing how starry-eyed desire completely overrides any reason.

la.schnute schrieb:

Another architect couple we know built a very similar layout for themselves two years ago, with a half-spiral staircase. Kitchen, dining, living, working stretch along the entire length of the house. They have three kids, two of whom still share a room. They would do it exactly the same way again.

I bet they built bigger.

Yvonne, why keep rehashing the same issue? You two disagree. End of story.
She clearly states what her fixed requirements are and where she is flexible. I’m not discussing her fixed requirements at all. They are hers. It’s their money. I’m only talking about the variables. And I remind her about the savings discipline because their budget for the house is tight. If someone doesn’t want an eave, they simply don’t want it and accept a dirty facade as a consequence. That’s how it is. Karsten

Nordlys schrieb:
She clearly states what her requirements are and where she is flexible.

... and completely ignores the history of the music... simply does not address the issue or the reminder.

Nordlys schrieb:

Ms. Schnute, come on, spill it! Do you have bow legs?

ypg schrieb:

Me neither... but I’m slowly getting bored here, always reading comparisons of apples and oranges.

Yeah, I’m getting tired of it too. @Nordlys, thanks, I don’t think there’s anything more to add. So, on to other topics:

I’ve attached the planned speakers here (after discussing with my partner). In our old apartment, we had the sofa against the wall and the speakers directly to the left and right, so basically only about 2.20 m (7 ft 3 in) apart. My partner didn’t like that very much because one side was always super loud. He says, “the more diffuse, the better,” which is why he prefers the speakers placed further behind the sofa. I’ve marked them on the floor plan as the small blue-green boxes. They will be mounted relatively high on the wall on small shelves or placed on the shelves that are about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) tall, which are planned there. They can be angled downward, so height is not an issue.

I don’t really mind; I’d personally prefer a clean soundbar, but since I’m also taking some space for a sewing corner with two machines, that’s only fair.

And, I just had an idea how to make the space under the stairs accessible despite the coat storage. I don’t want to break up the wall unit there with a gap and door, since that would look strange. But we will simply leave a gap in the wall next to the stairs and design the door as a cabinet door aligned flush with the rest of the coat closets. That means building or modifying the coat closets ourselves, but we already have some experience with that... I’m excited! (In the floor plan, it’s a bit wrong since the door is still shown in the wall, but that’s just to remind us and the planner that there needs to be a door opening in the wall).