We need help planning our house!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by CommanderROR

We have "Homeway" planned for all rooms, so cables are no issue.

Ah - an interesting system - TV, Ethernet and Phone all in a single wall socket. www.homeway.de

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

1. Having a pantry and/or larder in/off the Kitchen is one of *my* own dreams. Rather than the clutter of lots of cupboards and using up precious counter space, one small room where most of the food, preserves and maybe some of the larger pots and pans and the latest small kitchen appliances can be kept in one place and out of sight. There are some modern innovative cupboard techniques with pull-out pantries and such but these alternatives to a real pantry tend to be costly.

I am so happy with our pantry/larder (or however you may call it, we call it a walk-in closet). But then, we have an older house (100-110 years old).

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

2. Closet space. I notice your bedroom design does not include clothes closets. Is this the choice of most European designs? Do you use wardrobes to keep your clothes in?. Some minor adjustments to the bedroom design could easily add some closet space, a coveted area for most North Americans.

I know you'll find that only in old houses (pre 70s) here (the Netherlands). Modern houses only use wardrobes. That way you have more freedom how you will put your furniture.


To CommanderROR, I just noticed...

Your doors on the first floor (except for Room 4), is there a reason why they won't open towards the wall?

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Ah - an interesting system - TV, Ethernet and Phone all in a single wall socket. www.homeway.de

We have two wall sockets for it... One for tv/radio and one for two ethernet connections. And put plenty of those sockets in your room and you'll never have to worry where to put your tv/computer/telephone

[CommanderROR]

@Sweetpea

the direction the doors open is is purely random. I just defined inward and outward, everything else I left up the the software which does it according to it's own "logic"...


One thing that has me a bit worried is the "Bathroom above Kitchen" thing. I know it is recommended, but I'm not sure whether it is mandatory. In the catalogue of our house-builders there are a few examples where it is not that way, so I'm hoping it might be possible to do it the way we have it in our plan now. If we have to do it otherwise it would disrupt the whole plan and force us to move the kitchen, because the placement of the bathroom upstairs is difficult to change without ruining the whole concept.

The "Arbeitszimmer" is the room that gets the most light the whole day over, so I'd like to to leave that there (my soon-to-be-wife is a designer and she'll take all the light she can get). Using that area for a bathroom would be a complete waste. Putting the bathroom above where the kitchen is now would also cause quite some problems since the rooms on that side of the hose have big floor-to-(almost)ceiling windows and that is not something I want to have in my bathroom...seriously...

I'll just wait and see what the architects say. We have our planning session on the 16th, that's next monday, so we still have time to refine our plans until then, the architects there will then help us optimize it, maybe tell us some things won't work...we'll see.

A seperate entrance to the cellar would be very difficult and I guess we won't piut that in. Water connections for the cellar are on my list, maybe we'll have a washbasin put in rightaway.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by CommanderROR

One thing that has me a bit worried is the "Bathroom above Kitchen" thing. I know it is recommended, but I'm not sure whether it is mandatory. In the catalogue of our house-builders there are a few examples where it is not that way, so I'm hoping it might be possible to do it the way we have it in our plan now. If we have to do it otherwise it would disrupt the whole plan and force us to move the kitchen, because the placement of the bathroom upstairs is difficult to change without ruining the whole concept.

Our previous house (from the '80's) didn't have the bathroom above the kitchen. It was more like you have it in your drawing. The kitchen was at the front of the house and the bathroom at the back. Even the two toilets weren't above each other (one in the bathroom and one beside the front door, downstairs). So, I doubt it would be a problem.

[Wetdogeared]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

To CommanderROR, I just noticed...

Your doors on the first floor (except for Room 4), is there a reason why they won't open towards the wall?

I somewhat agree, rooms 2,4 and 5, on the bedroom floor,the doors should all open towards a wall. If you want to have all the knobs/latches on the same side you could also do this to room 1, unless you have some unknown preference for being right/left handed, in which case I think dg or someone has a poll going.
WDE.

*edit* already asked and answered. I always seem to be 2 steps behind. Good thing I'm not designing a house.

[Wetdogeared]

Just an aside...and off topic...but

I took this photo this morning. This is fairly expensive riverfront property (oceanfront property is unattainable) and the density they build these days is getting too close for comfort.

These homes are only about a year old, built in the craftsman style that is prevalent in Vancouver. However, I can't claim that there is any craftsmanship in the construction.

Residential lots are becoming scarce and zoning bylaws are allowing for much higher density because we are running out of land. There looks to be only a few feet of space between these houses.

You have the luxury of orienting your house in some way. You are envied for that and the fact that you have a slice of that ever decreasing land.

Hope the plans are going well. WDE.

[CommanderROR]

Wow, that is close.
We have problems getting good plots here as well, but that is really extreme...
Our plot is not perfect, but it does have a bit of free space, at least on two sides...

[GeoffC]

No cellar, for the wine/beer ?

[CommanderROR]

We are going to have a cellar, but no wine or beer since nobody drinks alcohol in this household...

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by CommanderROR

We are going to have a cellar, but no wine or beer since nobody drinks alcohol in this household...

Quite right too !!!

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

Just an aside...and off topic...but

I took this photo this morning. This is fairly expensive riverfront property (oceanfront property is unattainable) and the density they build these days is getting too close for comfort.

These homes are only about a year old, built in the craftsman style that is prevalent in Vancouver. However, I can't claim that there is any craftsmanship in the construction.

Residential lots are becoming scarce and zoning bylaws are allowing for much higher density because we are running out of land. There looks to be only a few feet of space between these houses.

You have the luxury of orienting your house in some way. You are envied for that and the fact that you have a slice of that ever decreasing land.

Hope the plans are going well. WDE.

Hmmm, I'd say they are spaciously spread out... Especially in a city area. It's very, very, very hard to find single houses here in towns. Most are long rows of connected houses. Only if you go out of town, into rural areas, will you find larger plots than 150m2. Or you must go into the very expensive areas of the town.

[Wetdogeared]

How are the plans coming along. Nosey members want to know.

WDE

[CommanderROR]

Hi,

the plans are just about done, just details to be decided. At the moment we are at a standstill because the papers for the plot are not ready...they were supposed to be here ages ago, but...well you know how it is sometimes...
I'll upload the most recent plans with this post.

[Wetdogeared]

Any progress on your new home Commander. Pics please.

WetDogEared