Hello everyone,
We have our eye on a plot of land that is quite spacious, completely flat, and without a building permit/planning restriction.
Of course, out of excitement, we already started sketching initial floor plans and designing our house on it – partly to see if what we imagine is even feasible.
The ideas behind the design and our requirements:
Design Guidelines:
Single-story:
- Open living, dining, and kitchen area with a small office corner (possibly separated by glass or similar)
- Spacious kitchen with tall cabinets for a side-by-side fridge freezer, elevated oven, and dishwasher
- Dining area for a regular 6 people, but also occasionally 10-12
- Living room arranged to avoid awkward TV viewing angles, space for a 5.1 sound system, and room for toys/playpen etc.
- Separate parents’ wing with shower bathroom including toilet, bidet, walk-in closet (2 x 3m (6.5 x 10 feet) wardrobe), space for a vanity either in the closet or bathroom
- Half-landing staircase
- Pantry located near the kitchen
- Guest toilet
Children’s area:
- Bathroom with bathtub, shower, and two sinks
- Two children’s bedrooms of as equal size as possible
- A small guest room/office
General:
- Floors should be separable with reasonable effort into independent living units
- Orientation facing the garden
- House should shield the garden from the street noise coming from the north (approx. 500-1000 vehicles per day)
- Avoid building on the beige areas (former buildings) as much as possible
- Basement for heating (gas not available), storage room, and workshop
- Preferably no sloped ceilings on the upper floor
- Partially covered terrace
What are your thoughts?
We have our eye on a plot of land that is quite spacious, completely flat, and without a building permit/planning restriction.
Of course, out of excitement, we already started sketching initial floor plans and designing our house on it – partly to see if what we imagine is even feasible.
The ideas behind the design and our requirements:
Design Guidelines:
Single-story:
- Open living, dining, and kitchen area with a small office corner (possibly separated by glass or similar)
- Spacious kitchen with tall cabinets for a side-by-side fridge freezer, elevated oven, and dishwasher
- Dining area for a regular 6 people, but also occasionally 10-12
- Living room arranged to avoid awkward TV viewing angles, space for a 5.1 sound system, and room for toys/playpen etc.
- Separate parents’ wing with shower bathroom including toilet, bidet, walk-in closet (2 x 3m (6.5 x 10 feet) wardrobe), space for a vanity either in the closet or bathroom
- Half-landing staircase
- Pantry located near the kitchen
- Guest toilet
Children’s area:
- Bathroom with bathtub, shower, and two sinks
- Two children’s bedrooms of as equal size as possible
- A small guest room/office
General:
- Floors should be separable with reasonable effort into independent living units
- Orientation facing the garden
- House should shield the garden from the street noise coming from the north (approx. 500-1000 vehicles per day)
- Avoid building on the beige areas (former buildings) as much as possible
- Basement for heating (gas not available), storage room, and workshop
- Preferably no sloped ceilings on the upper floor
- Partially covered terrace
What are your thoughts?
90cm (35 inches) for a toilet is definitely too small. Imagine if you need crutches for some reason or think about a child in the potty training phase—then sometimes two people need to be in the bathroom, and the child might even need to be changed there. A toilet room should be at least 1.20m (47 inches) wide. Ours is similar in layout to your planned one and 1.30m (51 inches) wide, which I already find borderline. A 30cm (12 inches) sink is also impractical. After washing your hands, you’ll spend more time cleaning than actually washing because the walls and floor (especially with children) will always be wet. The hallway at the entrance is wide enough, so you can take an extra 20cm (8 inches) for the toilet.
I really like the bedroom-dressing room-master bathroom solution—and in this case, the 45-degree wall doesn’t bother me.
Okay, the kitchen-dining-living area is a matter of taste. It wouldn’t be my preference, and I also find it a bit tight if you subtract about 3.50m (11.5 feet) each for the exterior walls and the TV wall from the living and dining areas.
The upper floor looks fine to me as it is.
I really like the bedroom-dressing room-master bathroom solution—and in this case, the 45-degree wall doesn’t bother me.
Okay, the kitchen-dining-living area is a matter of taste. It wouldn’t be my preference, and I also find it a bit tight if you subtract about 3.50m (11.5 feet) each for the exterior walls and the TV wall from the living and dining areas.
The upper floor looks fine to me as it is.
Thanks, Manu,
yes, you’re right about the sink. It does splash quite a bit. With two adults and a child, we would probably use the toilet less often (unless it’s really urgent) since it’s 5 meters (16 feet) further into the bathroom, which isn’t very convenient.
I will keep working on the storage room/toilet combination – maybe I can fit in an extra 20 to 30 centimeters (8 to 12 inches) there.
Living room + dining area:
Yes, I also find the plan looks a bit cramped. On the other hand, it’s 38 square meters (409 square feet). Many living/dining rooms are smaller than that.
We’re not fans of dark oak wall units 🙂 A little storage space for some board games, odds and ends, books, and some decoration is enough for us.
yes, you’re right about the sink. It does splash quite a bit. With two adults and a child, we would probably use the toilet less often (unless it’s really urgent) since it’s 5 meters (16 feet) further into the bathroom, which isn’t very convenient.
I will keep working on the storage room/toilet combination – maybe I can fit in an extra 20 to 30 centimeters (8 to 12 inches) there.
Living room + dining area:
Yes, I also find the plan looks a bit cramped. On the other hand, it’s 38 square meters (409 square feet). Many living/dining rooms are smaller than that.
We’re not fans of dark oak wall units 🙂 A little storage space for some board games, odds and ends, books, and some decoration is enough for us.
The room size is fine. We only have 38m2 (around 410 square feet) as well. But the distance from the couch to the TV is only about 3.50m (11.5 feet), meaning you’re sitting quite close to the screen. The same goes for the table. Assuming a table width of 1 meter (3.3 feet) plus 60cm (2 feet) for chairs on both sides, there is only about 70cm (28 inches) of walking space around the table. And then try opening a patio door in that space. That’s what I meant by it being too tight. :-)
Oh yes, 45-degree walls everywhere you look... that would not be for me... 45 degrees always means... it can’t be done properly, so we just somehow patch a wall in there...
90 cm (35 inches) is too narrow for a toilet... if you are building new and not renovating a house from 1900, it’s better to have a little less hallway space.
90 cm (35 inches) is too narrow for a toilet... if you are building new and not renovating a house from 1900, it’s better to have a little less hallway space.
I really don’t like the proportions in the exterior views. Flat roofs on the extension and garage don’t match the taller main building. The horizontal bands of windows on the front facade are way too large, and overall there are simply too many different types of windows used.
Is the house intended to be divided into two units later on, or why is the staircase placed in such an awkward location? But I don’t see any separate apartment upstairs.
Guest toilet: have you ever used a sink only 30cm (12 inches) deep? Or should I say: wet? That’s not comfortable at all – and maybe you should also consider that visitors might be larger in size.
I love open layouts in houses, but if the postman can look right onto my sofa and I’m obviously working or cooking with my back to the front door, something is wrong with the design. There are almost no partition walls. A decorative podium wall also doesn’t look good everywhere and seems to be used here to fix a planning mistake.
I don’t understand how anyone can find those 45-degree walls appealing. Ultimately, they’re there because the rooms can’t be connected any other way (this makes some sense in the tight space of a terraced house, but not in a spacious home). It also doesn’t fit the Bauhaus style, which the exterior is supposed to clearly represent.
Basically, you can definitely build a nice single-family home on this plot – but whether a two-story house with white plaster and flat roof fits into the surroundings, we can’t judge. To me, the site plan looks like older housing stock, so I would rule this out.
In general, you should hire an architect (or a general contractor with planning services), but chances are you will have to follow the neighboring buildings if there is no zoning plan or building permit/planning permission in place!
What do the houses in the area look like?
asks Yvonne
P.S. if this overlaps with any previous posts, it’s because I didn’t refresh before starting to write three hours ago 😳
Is the house intended to be divided into two units later on, or why is the staircase placed in such an awkward location? But I don’t see any separate apartment upstairs.
Guest toilet: have you ever used a sink only 30cm (12 inches) deep? Or should I say: wet? That’s not comfortable at all – and maybe you should also consider that visitors might be larger in size.
I love open layouts in houses, but if the postman can look right onto my sofa and I’m obviously working or cooking with my back to the front door, something is wrong with the design. There are almost no partition walls. A decorative podium wall also doesn’t look good everywhere and seems to be used here to fix a planning mistake.
I don’t understand how anyone can find those 45-degree walls appealing. Ultimately, they’re there because the rooms can’t be connected any other way (this makes some sense in the tight space of a terraced house, but not in a spacious home). It also doesn’t fit the Bauhaus style, which the exterior is supposed to clearly represent.
Basically, you can definitely build a nice single-family home on this plot – but whether a two-story house with white plaster and flat roof fits into the surroundings, we can’t judge. To me, the site plan looks like older housing stock, so I would rule this out.
In general, you should hire an architect (or a general contractor with planning services), but chances are you will have to follow the neighboring buildings if there is no zoning plan or building permit/planning permission in place!
What do the houses in the area look like?
asks Yvonne
P.S. if this overlaps with any previous posts, it’s because I didn’t refresh before starting to write three hours ago 😳
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