apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I would knock down as many walls as structurally possible to open up the living room, dining room and kitchen. I bet it would be a really beautiful, big open space.

Peronally I really like open layouts so I would open the kitchen up as much as structurally possible. It will make it feel more spacious as well as let light move through the entire space. As for furniture layout it depends how much furniture you are trying to get in there and what kind of television. If you have a flat screen then you wall mount it or put in on thinner tv stand so it doesn't take up as much room. It also depends on what you want the focal point to be. How is the view out the balcony windows?

Personally I do not like open layouts, so my vote is "no." I know I'm in the minority but I like to have that bit of privacy when I cook... that way my boyfriend can't see when I drop the chicken and stick it back in the pan! (haha, only partly joking)

Another vote for the open layout -- knock down that wall!

As for TV placement, I guess that depends on the other furniture you have or intend to buy for the space, as well as the TV size/type. Without that knowledge, I think the wall backing up the master bath or even that corner might be the best location for the TV.

no question: open it up.

Open that puppy up! It will give you more options in terms of furniture placement, as well.

For the size of your apartment, your kitchen looks like it could use some additional counter space. I would possibly look at making the wall in question a half wall. This would give you more cabinets/storage in the kitchen, counter space, open it up to the living/dining room and you could add a countertop to the half wall to make it a bar for entertaining, etc. I would use the living room as my dining room, take out the walls in the dining area and put the tv on that far wall and create your living area by the windows.

I would rip out the entire kitchen wall between it and the Gallery, Living Room and Dining Room, and I'd tear out the double doors between the foyer and the gallery too. I'd replace the kitchen with a galley style: the plumbing against the back wall as currently flanked by tall pantry and built-in refrigeration. Where the wall is currently, I'd place a giant island the width of the column with a cooktop opposite the wet area: the island would run from the column to approximately where a line parallel to the balcony would run if it were drawn from the back corner of the living room to the kitchen.

I'd switch the use of the remaining L-Shaped room: The dining area would be at the back corner and the Living Room would stretch completely across the front where the windows and balcony are.

For the dining area, a long L-shaped banquette would be built into the back corner with a round table, 3 additional chairs and a chandelier above. Counter stools and below-counter glass-door cabinets would be on the side of the Kitchen island facing the dining area.

For a Media Center/Library, I'd install a low set of cabinets along what used to be the Dining Room wall from end to end - mounted on the wall and suspended off the floor with plenty of drawers, doors and shelves . A couple of lounge chairs would go here. On the opposite end of the living room is where a long sofa belongs against the back wall - with a round cocktail table and a couple other lounge chairs at either end of the sofa facing one another.

Oh, did I mention that the dining room wall would come out too?

You really need to engage the services of an Architect/Interior Designer for this project - this isn't a decorating project and definately isn't DIY...

you definitely need to hire an architect (not an interior designer). condo buildings are filled with complex networks of structural and mechanical issues, which is not something you want to mess around with yourself. true, you will have to pay an architect, but a good one will likely save you some money in the long term.

"1) Should the kitchen be an open kitchen (so knock down the wall that is currently separating the kitchen from the living room). The one problem is that there is a structural beam in the corner of the kitchen that cannot be removed."

I presume you mean that there's a structural COLUMN, not "beam", in the corner of the kitchen. Beams run horizontally at the ceiling and floor level. Columns run vertically and support the beams. A structural beam would have no effect on the removal of the wall, whereas a structural column would.

A technicality, but a pet peeve of mine.... people constantly referring to columns as beams when the two are very, very, VERY different!!