Floor plan of a German City Villa - asking for feedback & improvements

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Hello dear builders and house owners!

We are now in the planning stage of our house in Germany and are still uncertain or not completely satisfied with some points. Unfortunately our architect did not give us so much inspiration and tips.

Just FYI, square meters are a bit more than 10 square feet. Sorry for my metric numbers here. :)

Here is the house, I hope you like it. We will us old European bricks

An this is how it might look like from above:

It would be really great if you could give me your opinion on how you like the floor plan in general and where is room to make clever improvements or reduce the square meters, because at the moment the whole house is about 270 m² and we would like to lose a few more square meters. If it is not possible, or only under too many compromises, then it would be ok, but we would like to optimize the floor plan.

Details of the house:

Size of the property: 1200 square meters

Style: City villa with old bricks

Orientation: House entrance to the west

Style, roof shape, building type: City villa with old clinker brick

Number of persons: 4

Home office, 8-12 hours daily.

Reasons why we have done one or the other:

Balcony in front, so that I can go out of the office from time to time and we can enjoy the setting west sun in the evening.

The kitchen should definitely be bright with a view to the street, that's what my wife wanted.

Guest room and guest toilet should be barrier-free and large enough so that the parents or we could live there later.

What doesn't please you? Why not?

First of all the large area! about 270 sqm! It would be really great if we could get it to less than 260sqm by implementing it more cleverly.

Ground Floor:

Here is our current design no. 22 for the ground floor.

What we don't quite like here yet or where we are not sure yet:

The technical room (1), there are a lot of doors and takes away storage space for the equipment. Is it still enough? Some have only 3 m², some say at least 6-8 m².
The question is, if the side entrance (2) is really necessary, I say maybe, my wife says yes, or if a window there might be enough or if we should make the door at the side of the garage.
The arrangement of the guest toilet (3) should be barrier-free, because a parent could possibly move in with us later, does it fit like this or do you have a better solution how to arrange toilet, sink, shower and urinal better? Maybe also to gain space for the guest room or technical room.
We have received feedback from some friends that the staircase (4) is not as presented as it should in such a house, what do you think, do you think that too or what are your ideas? I have tried a lot of things and actually in my opinion it fits also with the first floor and the rooms there.
The hallway would unfortunately be too narrow for a wardrobe behind the stairs (5) as we originally thought, some idea to accommodate the wardrobe there or somewhere else.
Position of the fireplace (6), what do you think is the best place for it?
At the top right of the kitchen (7) we would like to have some kind of window or other solution so that you can see the terrace from there when you are in the kitchen. Any idea how to do it best?
Does it make sense to have a kitchen door right next to the big living room door (8) or to put the kitchen door in the middle of the wall or right next to the front door or even better not having it at all?
What's your opinion of the ground floor layout in general?

Here is the current design for the ground floor with all the points noted.

In the following an alternative current draft no. 24 for the ground floor. The only difference to no. 22 is the staircase without wardrobe, right side wall at the hall with wardrobe and the left kitchen wall moved a bit to the right. So instead of a cooking island, a semi-island, so to speak. Does the semi-island make sense, or rather cooking island, but also the left kitchen wall further back to the left and then without a wardrobe there? What do you like better or do you have other ideas?

First floor:

And here is our current design no. 24 for the upper floor.

What we don't quite like here yet or where we are not sure yet:

Is the children's bathroom (1) big enough like this?
Is the dryer and washing room (2) big enough to iron? It would be great if the room has enough space to not only for the washing machine and dryer, but also to iron and hang up laundry that cannot be put in the dryer. Is the 6 m² sufficient? What is the best way to arrange the washing machine and dryer and furniture there?
Is the dressing room (3) quite well placed? Is it ok like this or do you have other ideas? Morning sun is there in the east.
Is the bedroom size (4) sufficient, we only need it for sleeping, there doesn't have to be much in it.
Do you have any ideas for the arrangement of the bathroom (5), so that you can possibly make the utility room bigger?
In general your opinion about the floor plan on the upper floor, what can be improved, what is not so great and what do you like?

The current design for the upper floor with all the points noted.

I look forward to your feedback, also critical (constructive feedback).

Possibilities for optimizing the room layout/position and possible savings in space would be great.

Are corridors or positions in the planning too narrow or too tight?

Creative and ingenious ideas for making good use of space and making it comfortable.

Thanks for your help and feedback! We really appreciate it!

I would then upload the progress and adjustments in the next steps, let's see how the result will be.

We are very curious ourselves!

Have a nice weekend!

Alex

Featured Answer

Alex Frison
Original Author

4 years ago

Hello everyone;

@lg22 and @One Devoted Dame thanks a lot for your feedback, really appreciate it! Meanwhile we did quite a lot of changes and optimization. For some reason my post was just going public after two weeks now. I hope you like it.

The space has the same size though, so any suggestions to reduce are welcome. But all in all we are quite happy with it now. If you have any additional ideas or critics, please go ahead. In those plans are more dimensions visible.

@K H yes, these are cabinets

First floor

Second floor

Here the two floors with some furniture (be a little bit older version, so not exact same dimension as the one above without furniture).

@One Devoted Dame

We decided for this orientation on purpose, it's not so hot in Germany most of the time. :) But we like to have a bright kitchen, right now ours is pretty dark. We add a window to the north side.

We will keep the island, but we don't want to rotate, we did this too but didn't like it. Yes, we know it would safe space though.

Yes, cooking is planned on the island. The vented is inside the island, there are new solution, which work. We have friends who are very happy with it. See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL2nVOT67jk

We put the technical room into the garage.

@Ig222 we did ask our architect, but we didn't get valuable feedback unfortunately, That's why I came here.

We made the children bathroom bigger without making the bedrooms smaller. The laundry room is also bigger. We just need one dryer and washer, that was just copied twice.

We have the bedroom way bigger now and the way to the bathroom is much shorter now. I hope you like the new layout better.

Hope going from guest to bath is better now. We planned the doors to be wide enough.

We got rid of the 2nd door in front and it will be placed on the side of the garage.

The architect said so, that the coat closet is not possible. But I think we now have a good solution on the other side of the floor.

Good question about carrying food shopping. Have to think about it. Good thought!

I live in the North-West, close to the dutch border and south of Bremen. :)

Actually right now it is quite hot here. But this is rare in Germany, only for some weeks.

I hope you like the changes! Thanks a lot for further feedback!

Alex

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Comments (14)

One Devoted Dame
4 years ago
Here is the house, I hope you like it. We will us old European bricks

The house is beautiful. <3

My first concern is the orientation of the house. It appears that the kitchen has windows that face south *and* west. Having the afternoon heat of western exposure would be a problem for me. (Unless you have mature trees in front of the windows.) :-) The north side seems to lack windows on the first floor.

*** I am using 10.76 to convert square meters to square feet, to help others contribute more easily. ***

First of all the large area! about 270 sqm! It would be really great if
we could get it to less than 260sqm by implementing it more cleverly.

You have 2905 sq. ft., and would like roughly 2800, so cutting 105 sqft (53 sqft on each floor) isn't very much; that's good. :-)

I think you will receive more ideas from more people if you can provide the dimensions (length and width) of each room, instead of the area/square footage/square meters of each room.

Without knowing dimensions, my first thought would be to cut the kitchen on the south side, since it looks like there is a lot of space dedicated to walking around (I would *not* do the "semi-island"/peninsula, because the seating looks very crowded from front-to-back). I would rotate the island 90* and delete countertop/cabinetry on the south wall.

Do you plan to cook on the island? A lot of people here on GardenWeb do not like cooking on islands, especially when seating is also planned for the island. I also do not know how an island cooktop is vented, when there is a second story/floor above it.

Reducing the kitchen also means reducing the master bathroom upstairs, but with some rearranging, a smaller master bath would be better. As it is drawn, there is a lot of space to walk around (exactly like the kitchen), and I think it can be made more compact and more functional, without sacrificing luxury.

Guest room and guest toilet should be barrier-free and large enough so that the parents or we could live there later.

Having a straight path from the hallway to the guest room's entrance would make it easier for people to navigate, especially if/when anyone needs walkers or wheelchairs. I would take away space from the technical room to make a square vestibule to enter the guest room.

Suggestions for clearances and arrangement of guest bathroom elements (urinal, toilet, shower, sink) first need room dimensions (length and width). :-)

I have more ideas, but before I talk too much (hahahaha), I would really appreciate having room dimensions. :-)
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Ig222
4 years ago
I had started answering, but I am unclear why you are asking these questions to your architect, which is probably more well-versed in what is doable or not in Germany.

What seems obvious to me is that the children bathroom could be larger, but you could do that easily by making the bedrooms a little smaller. I think the laundry room is also too small if you need two washers and dryers as indicated. If you need only one, you probably have the space for an ironing table but my guess is that it would need to be folded when not used.

I do not like the master arrangement. A king bed wil be tight in 14.00 m2. I just looked into a French magazine to be sure and they recommand at least 16 m2. Going to the bathroom during the night seems a long trip. You have to go through the WIC, the bedroom hall and at least part of the bathroom. I am pretty sure that there is a better layout for the master suite.

I like the ground floor a lot better. I think the guest room/bathroom need to be rethink because going from the guest room to the guest bathroom does not look easy. You need to find somebody who is specialist in age-in-place to help you with that. Should this person use a walker or be in a wheelchair, I am not sure the doors would be wide enough.

I think the tech room is probably fine. Ours is smaller, if I read the plan well and if tech room is the equivalent of a utility room.

Why does your wife think the door 2 is necessary. I do not see it, but she may have her reasons.

Is there a reason a coat closet is not possible under the starway. As for whether it is in the right place or not, I find it fine. May be they see something I do not see.

Will you be carrying your food shopping in the kitchen from the garage or through the main entry. Moving the kitchen door makes sense if you use the main entry. Leaving it where it is is fine if you come from the garage, IMHO.

BTW, where are you in Germany? How is the weather?

You should have no problem cutting 10 m2.
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I think the kid's rooms work better now. I agree with Virgil that your bath needs some help. However the way the master area as a whole is laid out wouldn't work well for how we live. I'm going to share what is wrong with it from my perspective so you can think through it from your viewpoint since what bothers me may not be an issue for you at all. Overall the layout only works if both people are on the same schedule at all time. Ie nobody is sleeping while the shower is running or otherwise getting ready going between the bathroom and the closet. The sharing of the wall with the shower and closet and the bed will cause noise to easily reach the person sleeping. Clothes taken off hangers and just general shower noise or dropping a shampoo bottle etc. Getting dressed will also disturb whomever may be sleeping The other part is the walk between the bath and the closet. I tend to take a shower and then get dressed and then finish up hair etc. in the bathroom. That is a lot of walking back and forth to get dressed etc. Yes you can take stuff out ahead of time, but it seems like if you have the opportunity to design stuff like that away you should. However, I should note I really like having my closet right off the bath - I know to many that is a no-no on this site. We don't have any ventilation issues and we live in a humid climate. However, I've also lived with a closet access in the bedroom and bathroom, but they were both along the same wall so not very far to go from the other. I would also prefer to have the option to use a king size bed in my bedroom without it feeling cramped in one corner of the bedroom. In the closet I feel like there is a lot of wasted space with 5ft of open space in the middle - but I can understand if that is a trade off that is needed, but I'm wondering if there are other options to make the master area to work a little better overall and eliminate what Virgil highlighted and still meet your needs as well.
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K H
4 years ago
Are all the boxes with x cabinets?
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K H
4 years ago
You have so many cabinets that could be built as a tall cabinet and be used for coat storage. You hardly need in clothes storage!
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nhb22
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Alex - Love your home!!!

The changes you have made are so much better. :) Shame on your architect. I saw so much wasted space with that first plan. You do still have a little wasted space, but I find it hard to work that out.

The one change that I would make is to flip the guest bathroom layout so that the door is directly across the hall from the bedroom. And perhaps change the door swing to the other side to make accessing the toilets easier, and quickly. Much easier for your parents, especially during the night.

Good luck with your house building. We have just begun to build our new home.

BTW - We live in Tennessee, USA. We have good German friends that live in Bocholt ..also near the Dutch border. We have visited their home a few times when we cruise out of Amsterdam.
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Alex Frison
Original Author
4 years ago
@nb22 thank you very much for your nice feedback! :) Really happy to hear.

We did consider the bathroom like you did before. But then we won't have a window, or just a little small one, so that was the reason why we did it the other way around.

I hope you always liked your stay in Germany. :)

All the best for your home!
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nhb22
4 years ago
I was not sure if there was a window or not in your new plan.

If you can get by without having a window, but wanted it for an aesthetic look to the outside of your home, you could make a Faux window out of shutters... like this:

Shown above.

I love the little person hanging out of your upstairs office window. I think he has had enough work for the day!
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Alex Frison
Original Author
4 years ago
Hey @nhb22 we do actually don't like rooms without natural light, therefore the window is not there for the aesthetic look but for having natural light in there. :)

Also, the man hanging there, is on the balcony. :D In front of the office is a balcony. So it is not such a bad working day, as it looks like. ;)
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nhb22
4 years ago
:) So he is!

I understand about the natural light factor. Unfortunately, one of our 4 baths will not have natural light. We thought about one of those roof sun tubes. And then we decided against it. A lot of trouble and expense for a little sun coming through the ceiling. Not to mention the heat those things put off!
chicagoans
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
(not a pro) Looks like it will be a lovely home!

Have you considered making the window in the mudroom a door instead? I realize people can go through the garage to get there, but I like having a door right into my mudroom for letting the dog out (and being able to keep an eye on him from inside) and when the kids were young they could come in and out directly for the mudroom, restroom, etc. You could have a door with a nice window so you don't lose that light and window view from down the hall. And do you need the door that's currently into the mudroom from the center hall? If you do, I might swing it the other way or make it a pocket door so it doesn't block the cabinets.

Have you looked into the pros and cons of double entry doors? I like how they look, but some people find that they usually only use one at a time. Also be sure that the locks are as secure as a single door locking into a frame. You also need to figure out where your light switch for the front hall will be so it's not covered when you open the doors. You might be just as happy with a nice single door that has windows, a transom and 2 sidelights.
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Ig222
4 years ago
I like your new layout a lot. I had the same thought nhb22 had concerning the guest bathroom, but even as it is, it is a lot better than it was before.

Good luck and enjoy your new house in a wonderful place.

Good luck
Alex Frison
Original Author
4 years ago
@chicagoans thanks a lot for your feedback! That is actually a door, that's why it has a triangle icon before it. :) And yes, it will have a window in there.

Thanks for the suggestions regarding door and light switch! Need to avoid not to forget any. :)

@Ig222 thank you very much, really happy you like it. :)

@nhb22 yeah, those tubes can be expensive. :(
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chicagoans
4 years ago
"That is actually a door" - good! I was looking at a later image (below, where I circled) but now I went back to your original and see it. :)
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Floor plan of a German City Villa - asking for feedback & improvements

Alex Frison
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Floor plan of a German City Villa - asking for feedback & improvements

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