ᐅ Our Floor Plan Design for an Affordable Home

It’s been about a year now, and back then I received very mixed reactions to our planning (to put it mildly 😉). Here’s an update:

We ultimately decided on the last floor plan we discussed, with the half-landing staircase leading off the living room. However, we made some adjustments to the upper floor after our initial building permit / planning permission was rejected. The reason given was that on rear plots, two full stories are not allowed. That was tricky since closets, the shower, and everything else was planned along the eaves sides 🤨. After some research, we found a court ruling from Munich interpreting §34 in a way that the surrounding buildings must not be differentiated between front and rear developments. We referred to this ruling, and the building authority finally approved it 😀. By that point, we had rearranged the upper floor anyway and stuck with the new layout because we simply liked it better. Attached is the final floor plan.

Just before Christmas, the slab foundation was poured, the masons started in March, and now the shell is up with a finished roof and windows installed. Progress is going well; the construction site hasn’t stopped for a single day. We are sticking to our budget so far; our continuously updated spreadsheet currently estimates a final cost of about 205,000 € (around $220,000), so we indeed still have some margin. This estimate includes the pile foundation and the slab but does not include the kitchen. We still have funds set aside for the kitchen, carport, and terrace.

For cost reasons, we have given up on a few things. For example, we abandoned the higher ceiling height on the ground floor, keeping it at 2.60 m (8.5 ft), the same as on the upper floor. The facade will now be plastered, as we decided to skip the wood or brick veneer, though I do regret that a bit. But since I see the inside of the house much more often, I want to avoid compromises there—especially regarding flooring, fixtures, and doors—rather than on the exterior design. Instead, we slightly increased the floor area from 11.5 x 7.5 m (38 x 25 ft) to 11.5 x 8 m (38 x 26 ft), which means the living area is now calculated at 142 m² (1,528 sq ft). Some windows were enlarged or added as well.

For self-help work, we mostly handled the site development and complete earthworks, drywall installation, and plumbing (my boyfriend and father-in-law are currently working on that), as well as window and door installation. We decided not to tackle the roof ourselves after a roofer friend of my father-in-law gave us a very good offer and kindly told us that we would just get in the way during roofing. Thanks especially to my father-in-law, we are getting materials and services at very favorable prices. My sister is building at the same time with a large construction company, and I’m often amazed at the cost of every small deviation from the standard there.

Looks nice.
The staircase seems somewhat questionable to me and appears to be the result of a “planning dead end”: always wanting an open staircase to the living area, which consequently led to it being enclosed.
Instead, a better approach would have been to position it from the hallway area, rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise.
That way, the parents’ area could have been planned differently as well – the widening certainly has a very positive effect!
I also find the low window in the kitchen a bit unusual – what is the purpose of it?

Thank you, @ypg 🙂!

Yes, the staircase is definitely quite unique and doesn’t appeal to everyone. I never wanted it to be very open anyway; for example, I’m not a big fan of staircases without risers either. The walls had to provide storage space. However, I do like that it’s connected to the living room. We also tried other layouts, including the one you mentioned with the staircase rotated 90°, but none of those appealed to us as much. An architect from another forum also suggested an L-shaped staircase starting from the hallway, which wouldn’t have changed the floor plan much. But – maybe it’s just a strange quirk of mine – do you know that feeling when you’ve already showered and are in your comfy clothes late at night, slowly walking from the sofa to bed? And then having to walk again through the hallway with dirty shoes and jackets on? Even though houses today are well insulated and hallways are warm and sometimes open... probably it’s just a very specific feeling 😉.

The kitchen window has the same sill height as the seating window and the one in the study. Another full patio door seemed unnecessary, but we wanted more light and a better view of the garden from the kitchen. It can also be used as a pass-through 😉. That’s why we added this window quite late and changed the kitchen layout from a U-shape to an L-shape with a small island.

I’ll post more pictures when there are further updates.

I also had a staircase right in the middle of the living room. After a few years, I remodeled. It is definitely much more comfortable when the staircase is located in the hallway.

I wish I had a forum like this back then.

la.schnute schrieb:

Do you know that feeling when you’ve already washed up late in the evening and are shuffled in your comfy clothes from the sofa toward your bed? And then you walk through the hallway again with dirty shoes and jackets?

After work, I often shuffle barefoot and clean from upstairs to downstairs 🙂 Our staircase starts in the dining area, and the cloakroom is partly underneath it, closer to the entrance. I would build something similar again.

Having a staircase right at the front door has almost only disadvantages and is usually not favored here in the forum. However, it is acceptable if the house is being built on a small footprint and with cost savings in mind.

I think this is a really nice floor plan for the budget you set. Of course, there’s always something that could be done better.
We already have a list of things we would do differently when building a second house. But we’re not perfect, so why should our house be?
I’m happy for you. I’m sure you’ll enjoy your new home a lot.