ᐅ Small single-family house of approximately 1,500 sq ft – any suggestions for improvements?
Created on: 2 Oct 2019 17:00
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mambo1988
Hello everyone,
Our plans for our small house are already quite advanced, so we believe this is a good time to ask for your feedback.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 355m² (3,820 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: -
Floor-area ratio: -
Building envelope, building line and limits: -
Edge development: -
Number of stories: 2
Roof style: gable roof or hip roof
Orientation: southeast
Maximum heights / limitations: -
Other: -
Owners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: urban villa
Basement, floors: no basement, ground floor, upper floor, attic used as storage
Number of occupants: 4 (2 children)
Room requirements on ground and upper floors: ground floor – living room, kitchen, office, guest toilet, utility and storage room; upper floor – 2 children’s bedrooms, parents’ bedroom, bathroom
Office use: family use or home office: home office
Guest sleepers per year: 5 (living room)
Open or closed layout: relatively closed
Traditional or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes; kitchen island extends up to the wall under the window
Number of dining seats: minimum 6
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: yes, at the staircase
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage with storage, 3 x 9m (10 x 30 ft)
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: no
House Design
Designed by: draftsman and us
What do you especially like? Why?: The open living room and hopefully very efficient use of space for such a relatively small house
What do you dislike? Why?: We are concerned that the utility/storage room, which will also house laundry facilities, may be too small
Cost estimate by architect/planner: €300,000 including garage
Personal budget limit for house including fittings: €310,000; all desired fittings are included in the house price
Preferred heating technology: air-water heat pump
If you have to compromise, on which details/features
- can you do without: walk-in closet
- can you not do without: office
Why did the design end up as it is now? e.g.
Which wishes were implemented by the architect?: Parents’ bedroom in the north, living room in the south
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?:
Good: hopefully efficient use of space, including the masonry staircase
Bad: Actually nothing really bad; only concerned that the utility room may be a bit small and the living room sofa might be slightly narrow
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
What would you change or improve? Have we overlooked anything that could cause problems later?
Is the size of the utility room sufficient? Air-water heat pump combined with water heater, washing machine, dryer stacked above washing machine, drying rack
Explanation of the images:
One shows the floor plan with dimensions, the other shows the floor plan with furniture placement. Behind the sofa there should be some space so the children can leave things there occasionally (and to allow more room for surround speakers).
Then comes the house orientation and plot layout.
I hope everything is clear so far. Feel free to ask if not.
Thank you very much!
Our plans for our small house are already quite advanced, so we believe this is a good time to ask for your feedback.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 355m² (3,820 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: -
Floor-area ratio: -
Building envelope, building line and limits: -
Edge development: -
Number of stories: 2
Roof style: gable roof or hip roof
Orientation: southeast
Maximum heights / limitations: -
Other: -
Owners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: urban villa
Basement, floors: no basement, ground floor, upper floor, attic used as storage
Number of occupants: 4 (2 children)
Room requirements on ground and upper floors: ground floor – living room, kitchen, office, guest toilet, utility and storage room; upper floor – 2 children’s bedrooms, parents’ bedroom, bathroom
Office use: family use or home office: home office
Guest sleepers per year: 5 (living room)
Open or closed layout: relatively closed
Traditional or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes; kitchen island extends up to the wall under the window
Number of dining seats: minimum 6
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: yes, at the staircase
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage with storage, 3 x 9m (10 x 30 ft)
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: no
House Design
Designed by: draftsman and us
What do you especially like? Why?: The open living room and hopefully very efficient use of space for such a relatively small house
What do you dislike? Why?: We are concerned that the utility/storage room, which will also house laundry facilities, may be too small
Cost estimate by architect/planner: €300,000 including garage
Personal budget limit for house including fittings: €310,000; all desired fittings are included in the house price
Preferred heating technology: air-water heat pump
If you have to compromise, on which details/features
- can you do without: walk-in closet
- can you not do without: office
Why did the design end up as it is now? e.g.
Which wishes were implemented by the architect?: Parents’ bedroom in the north, living room in the south
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?:
Good: hopefully efficient use of space, including the masonry staircase
Bad: Actually nothing really bad; only concerned that the utility room may be a bit small and the living room sofa might be slightly narrow
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
What would you change or improve? Have we overlooked anything that could cause problems later?
Is the size of the utility room sufficient? Air-water heat pump combined with water heater, washing machine, dryer stacked above washing machine, drying rack
Explanation of the images:
One shows the floor plan with dimensions, the other shows the floor plan with furniture placement. Behind the sofa there should be some space so the children can leave things there occasionally (and to allow more room for surround speakers).
Then comes the house orientation and plot layout.
I hope everything is clear so far. Feel free to ask if not.
Thank you very much!
mambo1988 schrieb:
Could you tell us why? Sure: You walk in and immediately bump into the sink. There is no natural light coming from the side at the sink—only from behind or at an angle from behind. This means you can only see yourself in the mirror when artificial light is on. The path to the small window is blocked by a cabinet. The passage between the shower wall and the sink is an unattractive narrow gap that makes the space feel cramped. Also, in new builds (although not always successful), the goal is to have enough room on both sides of the sink for the standard cabinets of a bathroom vanity unit.
M
mambo19884 Oct 2019 17:35Ok, sounds reasonable. Do you have an alternative suggestion?
We would prefer the shower to be without a glass partition and to have some privacy screening for the toilet. Otherwise, we don’t have any other ideas.
We would prefer the shower to be without a glass partition and to have some privacy screening for the toilet. Otherwise, we don’t have any other ideas.
mambo1988 schrieb:
Would you have an alternative proposal?Maybe later. You can also ask something like this in a separate small thread, which often gets more responses. But don’t forget to mention what is non-negotiable—such as the door position, what you want, and what definitely should not be included.I don’t want to be a spoilsport, but with a width of 3.62 RBM up there between the exterior wall and the staircase (bathroom/bedroom), furnishing the new bedroom won’t work if you want to fit a wardrobe alongside the double bed and still have enough space to comfortably get out of bed. Even a small bathtub shown in the bathroom doesn’t help with the limited dimensions.
M
mambo19885 Oct 2019 17:44Thank you for the comment. The walls are planned to be 11.5cm (4.5 inches) thick. How much space is typically lost due to plastering and similar finishes?
We have adjusted the floor plan to have 3.75m (12.3 ft) clear room width. That should be sufficient for us.
The bed is 1.90m (6.2 ft) wide, and we estimated about 60cm (24 inches) of space on each side. That should work well, right?
We have adjusted the floor plan to have 3.75m (12.3 ft) clear room width. That should be sufficient for us.
The bed is 1.90m (6.2 ft) wide, and we estimated about 60cm (24 inches) of space on each side. That should work well, right?
M
mambo19885 Oct 2019 18:09I have posted the questions about the bathroom in this thread: Planning a small bathroom of about 10m² (108 sq ft) – suggestions for improvement?
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