Hello everyone,
I have been following the discussions for some time now, and now it’s our turn. I would like to share our floor plan for discussion:
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 434 m² (4670 sq ft), 14.16 m (46.5 ft) wide on the north side, 14.28 m (46.9 ft) wide on the south side, approximately 30 m (98.4 ft) long
Slope: No
Number of parking spaces: According to the development plan, 2 are required. We would prefer 2 garages, but probably only one will be possible?…
Number of floors: Up to 2 full stories
Special conditions: The access on the north side is not very wide because a small fence separates the adjacent bike path. The location is quiet in a cul-de-sac, with the pedestrian/bike path continuing via a small staircase.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: simple single-family house with a gable roof
Basement, stories: basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of people, age: 2 people, 41 and 46 years old, no children planned
Room needs on ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: kitchen, living room, dining area, guest bathroom, storage space (for beverage crates, coat rack, etc.)
Upper floor: bedroom, bathroom, walk-in closet, guest room/office, and a study/library
Office: family use or home office? A “study” plus an office/guest room, no home office
Open or closed layout: rather open
Open kitchen with island: yes, please!
Number of dining seats: 2 to many, as I like to invite people over…
Fireplace: yes
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage (preferably 2)
Utility garden, greenhouse: we enjoy gardening on a very small scale; a greenhouse might come later if there is enough space/time, but it doesn’t have to be planned now…
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be included
In the study, at least my two bookshelves need to fit (HWD 98 x 233 x 54 cm (39 x 92 x 21 in) and 300 x 41 x 247 cm (118 x 16 x 97 in), with one side only 32 cm (12.6 in) deep over 88 cm (34.6 in) length; currently placed behind the door J). The kitchen is especially important to us because we enjoy cooking and have A LOT of accessories, devices, etc. Therefore, we need a lot of storage space.
House Design
Who designed it: planner from a construction company, together with us
What do you particularly like and why? The spacious kitchen, the separate wardrobe area
What do you not like and why? The entrance to the dining room from the east side because of the garage, the long hallway on the ground floor / the entire entrance situation
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump with controlled residential ventilation and photovoltaic system
If you had to give up something,
- what details/expansions could you do without: double washbasin, recessed front door
- what you cannot do without: fireplace, basement, walk-in closet!
Why is the design the way it is?
Design by the planner together with us
Unfortunately, we only have 8.16 m (26.8 ft) available for the house width, but we can extend further in length…
I am happy to receive any criticism! If you have questions, please ask here anytime!
I have been following the discussions for some time now, and now it’s our turn. I would like to share our floor plan for discussion:
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 434 m² (4670 sq ft), 14.16 m (46.5 ft) wide on the north side, 14.28 m (46.9 ft) wide on the south side, approximately 30 m (98.4 ft) long
Slope: No
Number of parking spaces: According to the development plan, 2 are required. We would prefer 2 garages, but probably only one will be possible?…
Number of floors: Up to 2 full stories
Special conditions: The access on the north side is not very wide because a small fence separates the adjacent bike path. The location is quiet in a cul-de-sac, with the pedestrian/bike path continuing via a small staircase.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: simple single-family house with a gable roof
Basement, stories: basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of people, age: 2 people, 41 and 46 years old, no children planned
Room needs on ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: kitchen, living room, dining area, guest bathroom, storage space (for beverage crates, coat rack, etc.)
Upper floor: bedroom, bathroom, walk-in closet, guest room/office, and a study/library
Office: family use or home office? A “study” plus an office/guest room, no home office
Open or closed layout: rather open
Open kitchen with island: yes, please!
Number of dining seats: 2 to many, as I like to invite people over…
Fireplace: yes
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage (preferably 2)
Utility garden, greenhouse: we enjoy gardening on a very small scale; a greenhouse might come later if there is enough space/time, but it doesn’t have to be planned now…
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be included
In the study, at least my two bookshelves need to fit (HWD 98 x 233 x 54 cm (39 x 92 x 21 in) and 300 x 41 x 247 cm (118 x 16 x 97 in), with one side only 32 cm (12.6 in) deep over 88 cm (34.6 in) length; currently placed behind the door J). The kitchen is especially important to us because we enjoy cooking and have A LOT of accessories, devices, etc. Therefore, we need a lot of storage space.
House Design
Who designed it: planner from a construction company, together with us
What do you particularly like and why? The spacious kitchen, the separate wardrobe area
What do you not like and why? The entrance to the dining room from the east side because of the garage, the long hallway on the ground floor / the entire entrance situation
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump with controlled residential ventilation and photovoltaic system
If you had to give up something,
- what details/expansions could you do without: double washbasin, recessed front door
- what you cannot do without: fireplace, basement, walk-in closet!
Why is the design the way it is?
Design by the planner together with us
Unfortunately, we only have 8.16 m (26.8 ft) available for the house width, but we can extend further in length…
I am happy to receive any criticism! If you have questions, please ask here anytime!
Thank you very much.
With a width of 8 meters (26 feet), you don’t have to follow the example of terraced houses, but you should still adhere to their design rules. The first is: use narrow staircases. The stairwell with landing shown there is far too deep at 2.80 meters (9 feet 2 inches), which restricts the remaining space. Since you don’t want an open staircase, everything is additionally stretched in length.
I would question many things. For example, why do you need a shower on the ground floor if the guest room is upstairs? Why no open staircase? There are no children who might be disturbed. Since you like cooking, you should know that fish odors can pass through closed doors—or actually, pleasant aromas can spread throughout the house.
Bookshelves can also be integrated during the shell construction phase and can be custom built or bought later. A good floor plan shouldn’t fail because of that.
Basically, I question the entire basement, and would rather build one meter (3 feet 3 inches) longer. There are plenty of debates here on how to deal with lawnmowers, junk, and trash.
But for now, the planning will continue with the basement.
I didn’t say the kitchen should be wider, but rather shorter. You even plan to extend it further.
As I said, the staircase is what makes it almost impossible to design this house with these measurements without running into disadvantages in the layout.
I sketched something out, even though I’m not currently in a creative phase.
With a width of 8 meters (26 feet), you don’t have to follow the example of terraced houses, but you should still adhere to their design rules. The first is: use narrow staircases. The stairwell with landing shown there is far too deep at 2.80 meters (9 feet 2 inches), which restricts the remaining space. Since you don’t want an open staircase, everything is additionally stretched in length.
I would question many things. For example, why do you need a shower on the ground floor if the guest room is upstairs? Why no open staircase? There are no children who might be disturbed. Since you like cooking, you should know that fish odors can pass through closed doors—or actually, pleasant aromas can spread throughout the house.
Bookshelves can also be integrated during the shell construction phase and can be custom built or bought later. A good floor plan shouldn’t fail because of that.
Basically, I question the entire basement, and would rather build one meter (3 feet 3 inches) longer. There are plenty of debates here on how to deal with lawnmowers, junk, and trash.
But for now, the planning will continue with the basement.
I didn’t say the kitchen should be wider, but rather shorter. You even plan to extend it further.
As I said, the staircase is what makes it almost impossible to design this house with these measurements without running into disadvantages in the layout.
I sketched something out, even though I’m not currently in a creative phase.
Regarding the shower on the ground floor: we only have one bathroom upstairs, but we want both of us to be able to shower in the morning... Also, this serves as an "emergency shower" in case we can’t manage the stairs anymore. My sofas always have a sleeping function. So if one of us breaks a leg (or something similar), they can sleep, shower, and eat. In an emergency, some clothes can also be stored in the wardrobe.
Do I understand your floor plan correctly, with an open staircase? And then between the living room and hallway without a wall? Otherwise, the hallway would be completely dark...
By mirroring the kitchen and staircase/bathroom, the missing window on the ground floor wall now faces the staircase, which receives light from the windows upstairs. The kitchen can have windows on the west side.
I need to let this sink in.
Thank you very much!
Do I understand your floor plan correctly, with an open staircase? And then between the living room and hallway without a wall? Otherwise, the hallway would be completely dark...
By mirroring the kitchen and staircase/bathroom, the missing window on the ground floor wall now faces the staircase, which receives light from the windows upstairs. The kitchen can have windows on the west side.
I need to let this sink in.
Thank you very much!
Or you can also find nice examples on Pinterest.
If you really want a stair with a landing, maybe the left suggestion could work? The guest room can be made a bit smaller to create more space for the wardrobe or kitchen. Of course, this floor plan would be mirrored vertically so that the dining and kitchen areas are on the west side for window exposure.
Upstairs, the office could then become the walk-in closet.
Source: Pinterest, Schultheiß-Projekte
Regards
If you really want a stair with a landing, maybe the left suggestion could work? The guest room can be made a bit smaller to create more space for the wardrobe or kitchen. Of course, this floor plan would be mirrored vertically so that the dining and kitchen areas are on the west side for window exposure.
Upstairs, the office could then become the walk-in closet.
Source: Pinterest, Schultheiß-Projekte
Regards
The kitchen feels too open to me. Having the kitchen open to the living/dining area around the corner is fine, but walking through the kitchen to get to the living room is really too much.
However, I found this floor plan on Pinterest—what do you think? The dimensions are almost exactly ours... I would enlarge the bathroom slightly at the expense of the cloakroom to fit a nice large shower. There would still be a cloakroom niche.
I would swap the utility room for the pantry and extend the kitchen up to the former pantry wall. The utility room is still large enough for two doors so that supplies can be accessed directly from both the entrance and the kitchen. On the entrance side (currently the utility room), I can also imagine a small window for aesthetic reasons from the outside. The kitchen/pantry windows can be combined into one larger window, which should be sufficient.
Would it be possible to position a large corner sofa nicely in the living room, or is there not enough wall space for the TV? I would prefer not to have the sofa in front of the window because then you wouldn’t be able to look out into the garden.
This layout would have to be mirrored as well.
A landing staircase isn’t absolutely necessary but would certainly be more practical for bringing larger items upstairs or as you get older (keyword: stairlift).
However, I found this floor plan on Pinterest—what do you think? The dimensions are almost exactly ours... I would enlarge the bathroom slightly at the expense of the cloakroom to fit a nice large shower. There would still be a cloakroom niche.
I would swap the utility room for the pantry and extend the kitchen up to the former pantry wall. The utility room is still large enough for two doors so that supplies can be accessed directly from both the entrance and the kitchen. On the entrance side (currently the utility room), I can also imagine a small window for aesthetic reasons from the outside. The kitchen/pantry windows can be combined into one larger window, which should be sufficient.
Would it be possible to position a large corner sofa nicely in the living room, or is there not enough wall space for the TV? I would prefer not to have the sofa in front of the window because then you wouldn’t be able to look out into the garden.
This layout would have to be mirrored as well.
A landing staircase isn’t absolutely necessary but would certainly be more practical for bringing larger items upstairs or as you get older (keyword: stairlift).
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