ᐅ Your opinion on the floor plan for the ground floor

@Wastl
It is a closed concrete staircase with a covering (tread) of wood similar to that in the living room (smoked oak). The riser remains white to create a nice contrast. The railing will be made of stainless steel construction (though this is not yet finalized), but definitely not built from masonry. An open staircase would be too noisy on the upper floor, and we are not planning to install a door. Next year, when the house is finished, we will know if this was the right choice!

@aytex
The utility room will only contain heating, electrical installations, washing machine, dryer, and a sink for when the kids or the dog come into the house completely dirty.
Our attic will also be developed (with an 80cm (31 inch) knee wall), where we have planned 34sqm (365 sqft) of floor space as cellar substitute rooms. Otherwise, we wouldn’t know where to put all our stuff...
P.S. A 80-inch TV would be nice too.

aytex schrieb:
Otherwise, I don’t even find it that bad that the staircase is right next to the entrance; I’ve often seen that in show homes...

Not everything installed as standard in show homes has to be practical. Having a staircase immediately at the entrance is unpleasant. Expect that dirt from the street will be tracked in near the door and not cleaned constantly. It will then be carried upstairs on socks, and so on. Sloped walls should only be a last resort when no other options are possible. The living and dining area will be difficult to furnish, as it is almost square. You should also consider that visitors may come only for the wife, husband, or child—not the whole family—and then will inevitably have to take part in the rest of family life. Open and spacious living concepts can be designed more effectively, for example with L-shaped layouts or like those in Northern Europe... I generally like this design. But don’t expect your home builder to create a better design for you. Therefore, think carefully whether the design fits your life, also after 5 or 10 years and in everyday situations.

@aytex

I would definitely skip the door to the hallway. That way, you avoid having three doors in the utility room, which creates a lot of traffic space and reduces the available floor area. Especially if you want to use the utility room as a storage space, you can better place shelves there.

What do you think of these modified versions my wife and I have come up with?

@Bjoern
My wife feels similarly, but I’m afraid I will really miss having that short access later on. This door provides a shortcut to both the utility room and the kitchen. Also, we have a fairly large utility room. Not having a direct entrance to this quite spacious and useful room makes me uneasy…

Another question: Do you think a bay window in the dining area (so, just before the kitchen entrance) would help break up the square floor plan and create a better spatial separation between the seating area and the dining area? Although, of course, that would mean a considerable extra cost :-(

The question is from where you need this shortcut to the utility room? You can enter directly from the kitchen. From the living room, the route through the kitchen is rarely used and only slightly longer. From outside, people usually enter the utility room through the designated entrance, especially if the driveway is on the right side of the house. So, only the route from upstairs to the utility room remains. How often do you find yourself in the bedrooms and then need something from the utility room? That’s a difficult question. I asked myself the same, as I have a similar layout on the ground floor and came to the conclusion to do without access from the hallway.

If you alter the stairs, you must also include the upper floor in the changes. With your first version, you won’t be able to achieve a functional layout on the upper floor anymore.

The living space design is clearly better without the 45-degree wall.