ᐅ Single-family home, 150 sqm – quiet village setting, spaced apart from neighbors

Hello everyone,

Although we already have our building permit (planning permission), I am still interested in how you would have done it and what you might have changed.

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 1000m² (12,000 sq ft)
Peripheral development: only garage without windows allowed
Number of floors: two full stories
Roof type: gable roof
Architectural style: modern
Orientation: northeast, so the garden is in the southwest

Client requirements
We wanted space but no wasted rooms, like some houses with, for example, a gallery. A large living-dining area, since that is where we spend most of our time. The office must be on the ground floor, and we also wanted two bathrooms downstairs because when we are older, we want to live only on the ground floor. A basement is within the budget and needed to accommodate the pellet heating system and pellet storage. We are a family planning for two children. The family planning is complete with the second child.

Style, roof type, building type: modern, gable roof
Basement, floors: basement, two full stories
Number of people, ages: 2 adults, later 2 children: 27, 31 years old
Space requirements on ground floor, upper floor: about 75 m² (800 sq ft) each
Office: home office
Guests per year: 2–4
Open or closed architecture: rather open
Conventional or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen with island
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no balcony, possibly a covered terrace later
Garage, carport: garage

Utility garden, relaxation garden, snack garden
Other special features
Photovoltaic system

House design
Who designed it:
- Planner from a construction company

What do you especially like? Why?
We really like the floor plan.

What don’t you like? Why?
Maybe some space is wasted? Living-dining room could be too small?

Price estimate according to architect/planner: 450,000€

Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: 530,000€

Heating technology: pellet heating and underfloor heating, electric heater so the photovoltaic system can also heat water with electricity

If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
can you not live without:
Ground floor bathroom, office

Why is the design how it is now?
Individual planning

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Requesting opinions on room layout and floor plan design

Best regards,
Lisa & Udo

The driveway is on the north side,
The living-dining-kitchen area is on the south side
Ground floor + garage with covered passage

Upper floor

Lisa24 schrieb:

Family planning is complete with the second child.

That’s funny. I know two families with triplets and another where the last two children were twins. We always said we would manage whatever comes along, two would be great, and we were lucky with both the number and the “configuration.”

Lisa24 schrieb:

Perhaps too much space wasted?

The entrance takes up a lot of space without really offering cloakroom storage. If the idea is to have the office fully separated from the living area — that’s fine. Otherwise, you might consider swapping the bathroom and office locations, opting for a shorter entrance with a cloakroom, and moving the staircase slightly closer to the front door. The bedroom upstairs could handle being made smaller (especially since it only has one bed).
You can also think about whether you need both a guest toilet and a bathroom downstairs, or if the guest toilet can be omitted. That would free up some space.

Lisa24 schrieb:

Living-dining room too tight?

Yes, that does feel cramped to me. The dining table placed like that will be in the way, and the sofa set looks rather compact. The furniture seems a bit undersized.
What exactly is “too tight” — we homebuilders here are very privileged compared to many people around the world. So it’s not truly “too tight.” But if I can design it myself, I’d want to introduce a bit more spaciousness.

hampshire schrieb:

That’s funny. I know two families with triplets and another where the last two were twins. We always said we would feed however many come, two would be great, and we were lucky with both the number and the “execution.”

I know you can plan a lot, but then the office ends up as a third bedroom and the husband has to move into the basement; if necessary, later on one child or the children have to share a room. No matter how many children there are, all are loved.

hampshire schrieb:

The entrance takes up a lot of space without really offering much closet space. If the purpose is to have the office completely separated from the living area – okay. Otherwise, maybe swap the bathroom and office locations, choose a shorter entrance with a closet, and move the stairs slightly toward the front door. The bedroom upstairs can be reduced in size (especially since it only has one bed).
You could consider whether you actually need both a guest toilet and a bathroom downstairs, or if the guest toilet could be omitted. That would free up some space.

Upstairs we actually have enough space and the room sizes suit us; it’s just downstairs that has always been too small. We even tried swapping the bathroom with the office once, but it didn’t really help; a separate WC is necessary.

hampshire schrieb:

Yeah, that seems tight to me. The dining table placed like that will be in the way, and the sofa set seems to be quite compact. These pieces of furniture seem a bit small to me.
What is “too tight” anyway – we home builders here live very privileged lives if you look around the world. So it’s not really “too tight.” But since I can design it myself, I would want to introduce a bit more spaciousness.

Unfortunately, we cannot change the basic dimensions or the exterior measurements. I hope we can manage with the living-dining-kitchen area, hm…

You don’t want to know!
Once a building permit / planning permission is granted, people don’t want to hear about the disadvantages or potential improvements they could have had...

ypg schrieb:

You don’t want to know!
If you already have a building permit / planning permission, you don’t want to hear about the drawbacks or possible improvements you could have made...

But that’s exactly what I want to know. Everyone is different and likes different things, finds different things great. We have been working on it for ages (years) and for US it fits as it is.
Of course, if the budget were unlimited...

ypg schrieb:

You don’t want to know!
Once the building permit / planning permission is granted, people usually don’t want to hear about the downsides or possible improvements...

Why? He can still move walls around inside as he likes.

I would enclose the entrance canopy at the back, because otherwise it could get quite drafty there. Unfortunately, we don’t know the exact situation of the plot, so we can’t be sure about the layout.

Lisa24 schrieb:

A separate toilet is necessary.

That can be the case. But then you could skip the toilet in the bathroom and save some space. As it is, you basically have two toilets next to each other plus a third one upstairs. Who’s going to clean them all?
I find the bathroom layout upstairs very nice, but the one downstairs looks rather unattractive.

The open plan living area is a bit compact – but I still think it’s okay.
The windows facing the street are not symmetrical, or am I mistaken? I would change that – I know, I’m a bit picky. A window behind the bed is not ideal either, but I could live with that.