ᐅ Single-Family Home – New Construction Project from Day One – And the Planning Begins

Hello everyone,

Thank you very much for all your suggestions! I will now try to systematically work through your comments.

The current floor plan draft has been independently reviewed by two architects regarding practicality and walking routes. The only feedback was "Easily feasible" or "I think the floor plan is OK." In short: there is still room for optimization here. We definitely need to make some minor changes.

Just one thing upfront. Due to our ideas and circumstances, much of the floor plan is difficult or impossible to change. Ultimately, it always comes down to the homeowner's personal taste. I believe there will always be aspects in your layouts that someone might initially consider unnecessary, impractical, or simply not feasible. But what matters is that it works for the people living in the house.

First, here again is the site plan (the arrangement of rooms is very old; this is just about the placement of the house on the plot):

Let's start with the ground floor: the office and multipurpose room should face the garden. The utility room must have an exterior wall due to the air-to-water heat pump. We would like a small, cozy living room corner, and the kitchen should be directly adjacent to the dining area and breakfast terrace. The rest is distributed accordingly.

The staircase position is also fixed to meet the requirements for the upper floor. Changing the stair position would eliminate direct access from the kitchen to the pantry and make access to the master area (in connection with the chimney) difficult to implement.

The basic concept of the upper floor is to separate the children's area from the parents' area. Also, the children's rooms and the master bedroom should be positioned facing the garden. The rest is distributed accordingly. My wife absolutely does not want the dressing room to be a walk-through room to access the bathroom. The requirement here is: to go directly from the bedroom to the bathroom and back.

face26 schrieb:

First of all... it's your house. That means you have to build it as you like. So I can only give you my opinion when looking at the floor plan.
The opinions you get here are generally quite objective because no one knows you, so basically, no one cares how you build. Maybe slightly subjective when personal experience or their own layout influences their view. And you see, there are different opinions.
At the moment, I just think you might be fooling yourself a bit because you already drew an unrealistic furnishing for the living room.

3.8 meters (12.5 feet) is okay in depth for a living room. But not more than that. It works if you place an L-shaped sofa on the left side.
The way you furnished it doesn't work at all. By the way, I currently have a depth of 3.7 meters (12 feet), so I can estimate the dimension well.

Mistake 1 often made: sofas are pushed right against the wall. Do you do that? Apart from ventilation reasons, it looks odd. Move the sofa 15-20cm (6-8 inches) away from the wall.

Mistake 2: the sofa dimensions are unrealistic. I haven’t measured yours exactly, but it looks very small. Of course, it depends on the sofa, but a sofa is usually about 90cm (35 inches) deep. Sometimes a bit less, sometimes more if it has adjustable headrests, etc. This also applies to width. Often people draw a two-seater sofa as 1.50m (59 inches) or a three-seater as 2m (79 inches). With armrests, I’d estimate a two-seater at 2m (79 inches).

Now add it up.

Wall distance 0.2m (8 inches)
Sofa 1 depth 0.9m (35 inches)
Sofa 2 width 2m (79 inches)

Total 3.1m (10 feet)

That leaves 70cm (28 inches) for your TV cabinet.
If it has drawers or doors, depending on the cabinet depth, it could be tight.

With a coffee table, it will be tight as well.

For me, 3.8m (12.5 feet) in furnishing depth is not enough.
It’s possible, but just barely.

There is no window in the living room. Yes, there is a large terrace door at the bottom of the plan. But that is far away and doesn't really feel like part of the living room. In some floor plans, the dining table would even be placed there.

Where I agree with @Alessandro: I don’t know your priorities. If the living room is not important to you, fine. For me, however, it doesn’t fit in proportion to the rest. You are building 180 square meters (about 1937 square feet) with a 59 square meter (635 square feet) "multipurpose area" and only around 12 square meters (130 square feet) effectively for the living room.
That’s too little for me.

You tried to hide that a bit with a plant and the corner armchair. But I still see unused empty space, unlike @Alessandro.

I’ve already illustrated that graphically.

Another point is the panoramic fireplace. I'm out on pricing, but with fireplace, installation, spark protection plate (or whatever it’s called), everything probably costs around 20k (about $20,000), right? That’s why it gets a supposedly "prominent" position. Of course, it’s a panoramic fireplace, but the main viewing axis is "in front" of the fireplace. And there is nothing there. Around 4 to 8 o’clock is the view axis to the dining table and the corner armchair. Where I’d expect to enjoy the fireplace most – on the sofa – is at about 10 o’clock.

That means the space between 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock is, for me, the "best" part. Probably 10-15 square meters (107-161 square feet). But there’s nothing there.

Maybe I don’t know your usage habits well enough and you leave this space so the parents can lounge naked on a big bear skin in front of the fireplace once the kids have moved out.

As I said, if you feel comfortable with it, great, then keep it that way.
I don’t like the proportions in the multipurpose area, especially the living room.

Your criticism regarding the ratio of the living room (12 m²) to the rest of the multipurpose area (59 m²) is absolutely justified. But as you said, it is a conscious choice based on our priorities: we opted for a small, cozy living corner.

By the way, the living corner in our current apartment measures 3.00m (9.8 feet) wide and 3.70m (12 feet) deep. We based our plan on that. We really like it that way. Our L-shaped sofa measures 2.70m by 2.20m (8.9 feet by 7.2 feet) and is big enough for us plus two guests, so there is still 1.60m (5.2 feet) left to the wall. Only the TV on a lowboard will go in the corner, roughly like this:

By the way, the fireplace is not that expensive. Fireplace, chimney, and final installation cost about 12k (about $12,000).

pagoni2020 schrieb:

Basically, I also like the plan (haven’t read the whole thread), but I would consider placing the fireplace on the exterior wall between the living and dining room and orienting it across the room instead of into it. Depending on the model (which might still change), you might consider a stylish external chimney and avoid a bulky internal masonry chimney. As far as I know, there are also models where you can connect an outdoor fire feature if you want something like that.
In my opinion, 3.80 meters (12.5 feet) is really tight, especially being enclosed by three walls. Maybe you could not make the wall to the hallway full height to gain some "air." I share @face26’s impression that the space between the sofas and the window front feels lost and looks like it’s filled with plants as a filler. Without the massive fireplace, the living room would feel less cramped, which I would prefer overall.
Also, I could imagine relocating the planned storage room from next to the garage to elsewhere or perhaps build a modern garden shed to create options for more windows on this long wall, even if just clerestory windows or a window band.

We initially had the fireplace at that location. Somehow it felt lost and created a lot of unrest in the floor plan. Simply put: we didn’t like it. So the fireplace either stays where it is or gets removed completely—which would be a shame.

The storage room next to the garage is necessary so I can get to my tools with dry feet in winter. We really dislike clerestory and window bands. That’s one reason we opted for two full stories. My wife calls those window types "loopholes" — she’s not wrong.

Würfel* schrieb:

Here’s a suggestion to better utilize the unused space. Fireplace on the exterior wall, slightly less deep living area, kitchen shifted further up on the plan, giving more space for the dining table. Shift the cloakroom where it can also be accessed from the utility room. This results in a better office layout.

[ATTACH alt="Dasch17-EG.jpg"]50060[/ATTACH]

Our living room is designed similarly, and we’re very happy with it. The TV is not the main focus, but the view from the sofa into the garden and onto the fireplace. It’s terrible how some people arrange everything around the TV and prefer to stare at a wall with the obstructed window behind their sofa (in my opinion). In your case, it would be at least to the side, which is already better. Watching TV works well, we always lie in the corner of our sectional sofa and have a direct view to the TV. When more than two people watch, we swivel the TV out further. It is mounted on a movable arm.

[ATTACH alt="Kamin.jpg"]50061[/ATTACH][ATTACH alt="Wohnzimmer.jpg"]50062[/ATTACH]

1.) Beautiful living area topped by your garden. Respect! Really great!
2.) Basically, I like your suggestion. Especially your solution for office, utility room, and guest wc is simply better than the other draft, although at the expense of the living room. In this version, we would probably omit the fireplace completely. We will keep that in mind for detailed planning with the architects.

Tolentino schrieb:

It’s terrible how some people don’t have a properly oriented home cinema and suffer not only from suboptimal picture but also poor room acoustics. (my opinion)

No, no, it’s fine. Different people have different priorities.
I imagine the OP is more like you than like me.

Exactly. Home cinema is not important to us. Comfort is top priority for the living room. It was already difficult last year to find a sensible TV without 60 inches.

face26 schrieb:

So it’s not said that I just complain; here’s an idea from me. I like @Würfel*’s proposal a lot; mine is similar but I moved the wall to create a small covered terrace.
And you can tell I’m no good with drawing programs.

I find the furnishing by @Würfel* clearly better than the OP’s.

11ant schrieb:

A provocative comment on the panoramic fireplace topic: I like Porsche, but I also know what a "car rental" is. There are also rentals for classics—if anyone thinks, oh no, they always have the latest model. Thanks to this blessed invention, I can manage with my old Opel in everyday life. You could do the same with building: rent a fireplace every year on your anniversary, stay in a hotel suite in a different city every year. With the money you save, you can go on holidays in between, and at home, you have the fireplace area (with spark protection zone of almost 3 square meters (32 square feet)) for a dance with your spouse. You have to be able to play the piano...

Once you have a fireplace, you want one in the future too. It’s about the living experience... Of course, it’s a luxury... @Alessandro already said exactly that.

pagoni2020 schrieb:

In my opinion, the stylish fireplace looks too bulky for this floor plan, maybe a slimmer model. Surely there are ways to build it more compactly or, as I have seen, an open fireplace on the terrace that you can admire from inside. Also, such a fireplace is rarely used compared to how much it reduces the already tight space.
The last two ideas get closer to a good solution, I think.

We are not yet fixed on the fireplace. We could very well accept a smaller model with less kW. The fireplace is basically not for heating but for cozy autumn/winter evenings.

Alessandro schrieb:

Of course, you could skip building the house entirely and spend $600,000 annually at the most beautiful resorts...
Even the cost of a pool, rarely used, could buy many years of great vacations.
A fireplace, whether used a lot or not, is always a highlight!
If you always applied cost-benefit thinking, nobody would have designer clothes, cars more expensive than a Dacia, smart homes, galleries, or houses where not a single square meter is wasted and you can switch on the coffee machine directly from the couch.

Open spaces, galleries, fireplaces, pools shape the style and comfort factor of a house, so they belong there. Whether they are useful or not is irrelevant.

@Würfel*: Very nice! However, I would be annoyed by the side TV, especially with a large window behind that probably needs to be darkened for a good picture.
With the garden, I would be outside 90% of the time anyway.

I can fully agree with that.

Alessandro schrieb:

Advantages: short walking distance from kitchen to terrace, larger living room

Disadvantages: smaller kitchen, guest WC without window, longer walk from living room to terrace

Not sure if the chimney would fit on the upper floor in this variant as I don’t know the plan well. The chimney pipe must not be directly behind the fireplace but to the right side of the stairs.

The problem is that on the upper floor you would run into the chimney shaft. The stairs go up there.

Also, the utility/technical room must have an exterior wall.

Switching living room and kitchen is unfortunately not an option for us.

ypg schrieb:

Woulda, coulda, shoulda...

You could have resolved that in #115 as well.

You could have done that. Now you have a pantry that is not walk-in... a proper chest freezer doesn’t fit anymore...

You keep forgetting to draw the wall on the staircase side. Then you’d see if you imagine a door to the utility room, the hallway (despite glass)…

You could have had 180 (square meters) if you had compressed the house depth a bit. Then you wouldn’t have had those square rooms.
By the way, I don’t see where you mirrored anything.
I think: a lot of useless space on the ground floor. The chaise lounge will be a decorative piece, and you’ll see what happens…

I appreciate your open and direct style. But that was not objective criticism, right?

No. #115 simply doesn’t work with 180 square meters (about 1937 square feet).

Why shouldn’t the pantry be walk-in? We chose to place it under the stairs consciously. The space is sufficient for us, as we have already verified in several model homes. The chest freezer will go into the utility/technical room.

The chaise lounge will definitely not be just decoration. Especially when watching football with several people. Otherwise, we often enjoy reading in our armchair, where the chaise lounge will also be used in the future...

[ATTACH type="full" alt="Modernes Wohnzimmer mit weißem Kamin, grauem Ecksofa, Holzboden, Fensterfront und Pflanze." width="500px">