Proper layout of rooms in a private house should allow all family members to do their own thing and not interfere with each other. Someone wants to watch TV, another to do homework, the third needs to sleep. Even if a separate room is not provided for each, a correctly planned space allows you to allocate everyone in their own corner. When planning a living room in a private house, interests and guests should be taken into account. It is optimal that they easily fall into "their" room and do not wander for a long time in search of a bathroom.
For reasons of comfort and economic feasibility of a house under construction, one should know the standard rules by which it is planned. And in our article we will talk about them, not forgetting about examples of successful layout of a private house with a photo.
On the delimitation of space
Inside the space of the house should be conditionally divided into two main zones - utility and residential. Residential is divided, in turn, into daytime and evening. Each of them consists of rooms for adult family members, children, as well as for guests. According to the typical layout of a private house, the day area consists of a vestibule, an entrance hall, a hall, a veranda, a dining room, a living room, and a toilet. Under the night rooms are meant bedrooms with dressing rooms and additional bathrooms. The business area includes a kitchen with pantry, laundry, boiler room, garage, as well as a workshop (if any). When planning the layout of rooms, consider the sides of the horizon (the position of the sun in the morning and evening hours), as well as the view from the windows.
The less corridors and halls in the house, the lower will be the cost of the constructed living space. This indicator is reduced by combining the purpose of individual rooms. Part of the rooms can be designed as walk-throughs or a working corner can be allocated in the bedroom or in the living room. The layout of the living room and dining room in a private house should be given special attention - because these rooms actually serve as its center. It is important to think about the optimal placement of the kitchen. The winning option is when it (utility room) is adjacent to the common room and dining room (living area). The layout of the kitchen and living room in a private house requires a particularly thoughtful attitude compared to bedrooms and other rooms.
If the house is quite small, then it is more convenient to combine part of the premises of the day zone - the living room (or dining room) together with the kitchen occupy a common open space without separation by partitions. Sometimes a hall or an entrance adjoins here.
How to plan everything
Each adult family member, not to mention a married couple, is desirable to have their own separate room in the house. Under the common room - the living room - appoint the largest of the rooms where everyone is resting. Those who come also are invited there. It is convenient when the layout of a private house provides for a spare room in the form of an office or a guest bedroom.
If you plan to live in a house of a large family of several generations - two or three (for example, elderly parents, adult children and young grandchildren), then the territories for them should be as autonomous as possible. The minimum requirement is private bedrooms and bathrooms, ideally separate entrances. Older relatives are best placed on the ground floor premises.
It is better if there are two entrance doors to the house, from opposite sides. The door from the street or terrace will serve for household needs. Another option is to place the front door on the side facade. Such a layout of a private house allows you to get by with a single door for entry both from the street and from the garden.
If there is a staircase, safety considerations dictate the need to illuminate it with natural light. Its location and orientation are not fundamental, but the staircase must necessarily have windows. If the staircase is meant as an active element of the interior, it can be located in the living room or in the dining room, otherwise its place is in the corridor or in the hallway.
Below in the photo - the layout of a private house (example).
Remember the prospects
An ideal project is one where it is possible to further expand the area, taking into account the growth of children and expanding the composition of the family. You can increase living space by adding additional premises to the house or equipping the attic. But in any case, you need to take care of this in advance. For example, designing the premises of the upper floor, reserve a place for the stairs. The roof is made with a large angle. The design of the roof is taken in such a way that later it will be possible to insert windows, etc. The construction of a large house immediately may not be economically feasible.
Decide on the fireplace - whether you need it (and where exactly). Most often they have it in one of the common rooms - in the living room or dining room. If you are planning to arrange a fireplace in a ready-made house, you will encounter the need to lay a chimney and chimney, which is not always possible.
The most economical way to build a house has a simple rectangular shape, the number of corners is minimal, with no bay windows, protrusions of complex shape and balconies. Among other things, heat loss through external fences in such a house is much less. Solar heat is used to the fullest extent in a rectangular building, the aspect ratio of which is 1: 1.5 (and the long side is oriented to the south). This is useful to consider when planning the yard of a private house.
In the same way, you can reduce the cost of construction by choosing a simple roof shape.
How to avoid additional costs
The costs of air conditioning and heating can be reduced by the correct orientation of the house relative to the wind rose and the sides of the horizon. Typically, living rooms are oriented south. On the opposite (north) side, it is best to place utility rooms.
The simpler and shorter the engineering communications, the higher their reliability and lower installation costs. For this purpose, if there are two floors, the bathrooms on each are located one above the other.
If you are building an economy house, select the built-in garage. Unlike a freestanding one, it requires less heating costs, saves space and allows partially engineering communications to be located there. And getting into the garage directly from the house is much more convenient.
It is better to refuse the idea of a basement device: to build it and lay a high-quality waterproofing is quite expensive. It will cost you about one and a half to two times more expensive than building an entire floor. The basement can be replaced by a spacious pantry planned on the first floor on the north side. Another part of the auxiliary rooms can be moved to the attic.
Sound insulation and resource saving
Do not forget that those rooms that are part of the night zone require good soundproofing. This should be taken into account when choosing constructive and planning solutions. The penetration of extraneous sounds into any of the rooms is possible through all structures of the fence - floors and walls, windows, doors and technical openings, for example, ventilation. The bedroom will be the quieter, the thicker and more massive all of these elements.
The proper level of insulation is ensured by a double line of doors and at least a small corridor between the bedroom and the living area. When arranging the bedrooms on the upper floor, you should pay attention to the flooring device.
The layout of a private house implies its energy efficiency. When choosing a project, try to estimate on average the amount of energy that will be needed during the year for heating and water heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Do not forget that gas prices are rising from year to year.
The heating system must be equipped with temperature controllers, then in each room you can set your own desired temperature. Remember that by reducing it in the room by only one degree, you will save 5% of the energy spent on heating.
Between the front door from the street and the premises of the house, it is imperative to arrange a thermal gateway - a vestibule - in order to avoid getting cold air into the house. It can be in the form of a hallway. In addition, it is a good idea to design an insulated covered veranda at the entrance.
Balconies and glazing
When planning a balcony, remember that it should be based on an independent structure in the form of pillars or columns or on the fence of the first floor.
A large glazing area leads to an increase in heating and air conditioning costs. The minimum ratio of the areas of the glazed surfaces of the windows and the floor area is 1: 8.
On hot summer days, saving on air conditioning will help to ensure that there are spreading deciduous trees near the house with large crowns that create a dense shadow. In autumn and winter, in the absence of leaves on the trees, sunlight heats the walls, providing an additional amount of thermal energy. If conifers grow on the plot, this also prevents cooling and protects the house from the cold winter wind.
Your home should be environmentally friendly. For this, only proven building materials should be selected. Over half of what is sold on the domestic market cannot be called safe for health. Many building materials do not pass elementary environmental review. When choosing, do not listen to sellers. Carefully study the label for the presence of phenol or formaldehyde, as well as other harmful impurities. Remember that harmful gas formaldehyde is found in particleboard boards, plywood sheets. Because of this, the air in most homes is of extremely poor quality. Environmentalists estimate the degree of pollution on average 5 times greater (and the degree of toxicity - 8-10 times) compared with street air.
Layout of a private house - second floor and above
There are some nuances here. Unlike the layout of a private one-story house, in two- or three-story buildings there is always a staircase that can serve as a natural border separating the day and evening zones. Typically, the premises in the day area are located within the first floor. The bedrooms along with dressing rooms and additional bathrooms take upstairs. Sometimes one of the bedrooms is located below - in case of lack of space on the second floor. Most often, it accommodates elderly parents or guests.
If the house has more than one floor, each of them must have its own bathroom. The location of the toilet on the ground floor should be considered in terms of the convenience of the guests. It is recommended to equip it with a shower. If, in the presence of a bedroom on the first floor, the bathroom is located in an adjacent room, there is no need to go into it through the living room. Another bathroom (the one in the upper sleeping area) can be equipped according to the full program - a hot tub or a booth in a steam sauna.
On the layout in a private house of a kitchen and other utility rooms
The boiler room is most often designed on the lower floor. Sometimes the boiler is placed in a separate room or in a garage that is attached to the house. If solid fuel is used, a warehouse for it will be required. In this case, the entrance to the boiler room is done outside, next to such a warehouse.
When planning your kitchen in a private house, do not forget about placing a pantry for storing food next to it. It is optimal to have two walk-in closets - one near the entrance, the other in the sleeping area. Where it will be decided to store daily clothes and linen, it is convenient to put a small laundry room, consisting of a washing machine and dryer with an ironing board. Placing it in the garage, as some owners practice, should not be. Constant trips with laundry to the laundry, especially up and down stairs, seriously tire the hostess of the house.
About windows again
Windows in the house are an important design element. By choosing large (floor to ceiling) modern windows, you will achieve a visual lack of border between the house and the garden. The room will look spacious and you can enjoy a beautiful view of the nature. Unfortunately, the larger the area of glazing used, the higher the cost of building a house. To build a glass block is a pleasure more expensive than building a wall of the same area.
Additional costs will require winter heating and summer air conditioning. But for many people, the economic feasibility does not outweigh the pleasure that can be experienced from the presence of a cozy living room, bathed in sunlight, and a magnificent view of the garden through the huge windows. By the way, such glass doors and windows that open onto a terrace, balcony or garden are arranged not only there. According to the chosen layout, in a private house, the kitchen, dining room and even the bedroom can be equipped with this magnificent interior element. But still it is necessary to do this, taking into account the climate and the available view from the window.
Classic windows of a private house from the outside require the installation of roller shutters. Being closed, they will protect against the penetration of unwanted guests, in severe frost they will reduce heat loss, in the summer heat they will reduce overheating from sunlight. Design their installation should be in advance, at the planning stage of the house.
What rooms can be made walk-through?
Such a planning solution is recommended by architects for the visual expansion of the space of the house. In spacious rooms, people feel more free. The idea of arranging walk - through rooms may come across a prejudice firmly entrenched in the heads of many. In fact, if you have a small apartment and a lot of residents, such a passage room can be called rather a bold minus the layout. But a private home is a completely different matter. The number and area of premises per each individual living there, compared with a cramped city apartment, is usually much larger.
The device enfilade or the union of individual spaces serves the greater comfort of the whole family and allows you to develop original interior solutions.
Nowadays it has become fashionable to combine a kitchen, a dining room and a living room in a private house when planning. It is practiced more often in economy class houses. Such a solution allows the house to acquire a spacious day area, and those living in it - to communicate in comfortable conditions. A modern kitchen equipped with a large number of appliances allows you to conduct the cooking process with minimal inconvenience (the release of harmful gas, unpleasant odors, etc.) Therefore, when planning a dining room and kitchen in a private house, they no longer need to be separated.
A person who is engaged in cooking (the hostess or the owner) during his work may not interrupt contact with other household members and guests. It is most convenient if in a private house the layout of the kitchen and living room allows you to place a dining room between them. But it should be noted that the open type of kitchen makes high demands on the order and cleanliness.
Below in the photo - the layout of the kitchen and dining room in a private house.
What else can be combined
Sometimes make a living room and study (library). Separate layout options include a dining room adjacent to this enfilade - usually in large houses with frequent reception of a large number of guests. The center of the suite, as a rule, is the living room itself, and the whole set of premises forms an official, very presentable area. Guests, along with the owners, have the opportunity to make lunch there in the dining room, then relax by the fireplace in the living room or retire to their office for negotiations.
Couples can arrange a small cozy area in the bedroom, consisting of a bathroom and dressing room. The latter may be a checkpoint.
If we talk about utility rooms, then you can line up the dressing room, laundry room and then the boiler room. These three rooms are functionally connected with each other, and arranging them in the form of adjacent spaces will be more appropriate in comparison with the design of individual doors to each of them from a common corridor.
Let's talk “in numbers” about indicators that characterize a comfortable private home. The main ones are the set and sizes of rooms related to common use, as well as the amount of space for each of the residents. When designing a house, as already mentioned, one should reckon with the possibility of changing the composition of the family in the future. Another thing to consider is the potential changed circumstances in which it is possible to use the premises with a change in their functions. The third important point is the opportunity, if necessary, to reconstruct the house.
What are the main technical and economic indicators of an individual house?
There are three levels of comfort, each of which is characterized by its own, very specific figures. If we talk about the number of rooms, then at the first level of comfort their number is 3-4 (of which 2-3 bedrooms). For the second level, this number is already 4-6 (bedrooms including 2-5). The third, highest level of comfort is characterized by the number of rooms from 5 to 8, of which 3-5 bedrooms.
We turn to such an indicator as the size of the living space. It is equal to the first, second and third level of comfort, respectively, 45-60 square meters. m, 65-100 sq. m and 100-130 square meters. m
The indicators of the total area for each of the mentioned comfort levels are 80-120 square meters. m, 124-170 square meters. m and 180-280 square meters. m
If we talk about the height of the ceilings, the minimum figure is 2.5 m, for a residential attic it is allowed to arrange them with a height of 2.3 m, and in areas of dry and hot climate - 3 m. The basement should not be lower than 1.8 m.
The figures that determine the minimum area are for living rooms - 12 square meters. m, kitchens - 6 square meters. m, bathrooms - 1.8 square meters. m and toilets - 0.96 square meters. m. The average area per person is 30-40 square meters. m
Other features of the location of the premises
As already mentioned, hygiene rules require the separation of utility and residential areas. When planning a bathroom in a private house, abandon the design of the toilet and shower (bathroom) over the living quarters, otherwise, in the event of a leak, water will get into the rooms. The rooms of the night zone, as a rule, are equipped with balconies, on which evening relaxation is possible. The living area of the first floor is often continued by a veranda or terrace, which is good to relax in the warm season.
If your house has a basement, it is possible to establish premises related to the recreation area, for example, a billiard room, a studio or a gym. Most utility rooms (a sauna, a small pool, a pantry, a furnace) or a garage are most conveniently taken out to the annex or (if available) to the basement floor space.
A staircase leading to the second floor and located in the hall or in the corridor is most often installed in the corner. In this case, it would be advisable to choose a structure that has rotations along the outer walls with intermediate sites.
What areas for residential and common areas should I focus on?
Shared rooms must be at least 16 square meters. m, bedrooms - not less than 12 square meters. m, it is desirable to make the kitchen size of 8 square meters. m and more, corridor - 4-8 square meters. m. Ancillary facilities such as a pantry, bathroom, toilet or dressing room will occupy from 2 to 6 square meters. m each. Utility premises should not be too crowded - at least 3 square meters. m, a library, study, game or work room require a space of at least 10 square meters. m. The same area will need to be reserved for the garage.
The dimensions of each room should be calculated between the internal walls and partitions. At the same time, the width of the corridors is no less than 0.9 meters. The same indicator with respect to the front is 1.8 m. When calculating the area of the attic, only that part is taken into account, the height of which is 1.6 meters or more to the inclined ceiling. Other zones are considered with a coefficient of 0.7.
What numbers should be followed when designing stairs? Their parameters are calculated based on the convenience of moving residents from one floor to another, which should not require excessive effort. The recommendations are as follows:
- The step must have a width that allows the setting of a full foot on it. The space between the steps should not exceed 17-19 cm.
- The slope of the stairs (by which is meant the ratio of the height of the march to its horizontal projection) is always within no more than 30 degrees. In practice, this means a ratio of height to size in terms of a ratio of 1: 2
- Any step with its upper plane should be at least 2 m from the ceiling. If necessary, the slope of the stairs can be increased to 45 degrees.
- The flight of stairs must not be less than the minimum width of 90 cm.