Can you take out the column and section of wall over the pass through? That would do a lot to open the space. The eye gets stuck there and makes the kitchen look like a box.

If you can't take out the column or expand the pass through you can extend the countertop and install cabinets on the living room side of the wall. This not only expands you work and storage space but gives feel of a more open kitchen.

Floorplan! For the love of God, floorplan!

I agree with Rainarana - get rid of as much of the wall with the pass through as possible, and also the wall with the door between the kitchen and the dining area. You could make up for any cupboard space by extending the kitchen into the dining area.

You might also want to think about changing the lighting in the kitchen itself, and putting in a lighter coloured splashback. Replacing the wall-mounted units with open shelving might give a better feeling of space as well.

Would it be possible to extend the hardwood floors into the kitchen?Alos, I would knock out the whole counter/pass through (or as much of that wall as you can) and install an island there. Reposition the stove in the island and put stools on two sides of it (in the living and dining ares). It would definitely open up the space and would also be very functional.

Beautiful place by the way, even if you left it as is it's still great!

wow, typing pre-caffeine is clearly not my forte...

Like others, I would knock out as much wall between the kitchen entrance and the dining area as well as that column and maybe even the section of wall from the ceiling. Then you just have a kitchen with a breakfast bar. Anything more would just be fighting city life. But all this just makes me question why it doesn't just look like that to begin with... meaning there maybe some wiring or plumbing to deal with...

I agree with everyone. Knock out a good portion of the wall opposite your stove. You can keep the column if you need to, but the wall is what is really hiding your kitchen.

The problem is, I don't see a fridge so it must be along that wall. In that case, it's possible that you can't knock out the wall because of electrical. Or you just can't knock it out because then your fridge is just floating.

Not disagreeing with the wall knockdown, but wanted to suggest additional options.

[1] Remove the doorway between the kitchen and dining room and extend the kitchen into the current dining room area (cabinets, pantry, countertops).

[2] If you can't remove the column, remove the wall above and below the pass-through. You'll need to find more counter space (e.g., see [1]).

[3] Decorate your kitchen through your pass-through. I see some utensils hanging on the column, but if you place some (nice looking) cooking supplies -- ceramic jars, flour, sugar, etc. next to column, it will help to extend the kitchen out. Depending on what you do with the other items, consider tiling the column with the same tile as your backsplash. Alternately, and paradoxically, I think you might be able to make your kitchen look more open if you add some sort of shutter to your passthrough, and then leave it open.

The column is probably holding up the beam that runs along the length of the apartment. Moving that isn't much of an option, without a friend on the co-op board and spending $2-5K on an architect. The plans should also be submitted for a permit from the city, which could take some time, unless you hire an expediter.
Also, the sink side looks like it only has about 24" of usable counter space above the dishwasher. I guess you could count the 6-8" next to the stove, but that's hard to cook with. If you take the wall out, you'll be left with no usable counter space- assuming this is a galley type kitchen with a run of counter space on the opposite side.
I'd want to know what's behind the sophets. My guess is another beam and maybe some electrical. It's possible that you could put in taller cabinets that build around whatever you find in the sophets. You'll regain space and give the kitchen a cleaner look. Custom cabinets cost money, but will be a fraction of the cost of hiring a licensed contractor in the city.
Open shelving might work if you're on a budget, but you better have nice stuff to display!
Maybe just changing the back splash and floor tiling would make the place look a lot better. It's possible that those might be Ikea cabinets, unless it's a sponsor unit. If they are Ikea, you could inexpensively change the faces of them. I'd go white. If they're not Ikea and you're handy and have a place to do it, you could refinish or paint the faces.
Someone mentioned better lighting. That alone could make it look much, much better.

Also, is that the only way you can get to the rest of the apartment? Through the kitchen? If there is access otherwise, you may want to consider closing off that door, if you can. See architect note above, though.

I think it's hard to provide useful suggestions without knowing what the plumbing and wiring is like, what's load-bearing and what isn't, and what the specific rules or your building are. At first glance, it would seem that getting rid of the column and overhang on the other side would be helpful, but we don't have a good view of that so we don't know what might be there....

Yes, my thoughts on the column is that it could well be load bearing post, in which case you're stuck with it. Looking at it further, just removing the section of wall where the pass through is would help immensely if you could give up the counter space, maybe get a rolling cart that gives more surface area but can be moved around. If you can get rid of the surface then putting a sliding door of some type would allow you to close off the kitchen if you wanted to or open it up to create space. We did something like that with our admittedly larger, not in Manhattan, house. And we built, so no preexisting structures to work with.

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That second link should read "open". I think I need more coffee too.

I agree with AbigailC - lighting can make a huge difference. You may also want to do a little renovation research trick:

Cover your counters with individual pieces of paper. Also put these in your cabinets right on top of your dishes, etc. Go through a whole week and as you use the counter space, remove the sheet that is in the space you need. The same goes with the cubboards...if you need a bowl for cereal take the sheet away from that cabinet as well as the one with the spoons and one from the counter where you'll pour the cereal. You get the idea!

Basically, this will show you the spots you actually use and the places that are less than efficient. Removing some upper cabinets and putting in some nice open shelving and a full wall of mid-sized, bright tile behind the sink would probably benefit you!

Hope this helps!

Lower the pass through window counter to regular kitchen counter height so you can see into the kitchen from a seated position in the living room. Extend the counter out more so you can comforable pull up stools and talk to the person cooking without bumping your knees. Expand up too if you can and add pendant lights. Or another thought is to lower the ceiling on the living room side demarking your new new extended counter with a soffit and pendant lights. A curve on both the soffit and counter would be nice. Then the pass through needs to be framed better, right now its just a hole in the living room wall. Your eye doesn't stop. Tile kick plate under the counter? Frame it with cabinets?

On the dining room side I would remove the door frame and widen the opening for a better sight line.

Since you just bought your place, congrats by the way, I'd just live with it a while first to see how you use the space. It's already a nice kitchen. I'd consider just lightening up the backsplash(or possibly mirrors), add under cabinet lighting and add a couple of stools at the bar and call it a day.

1. Lighting! Yes, makes all the difference.
2. Doorway between Kitchen and Dining Room - I agree removing that would help to open things up.
3. If that's not a soffit over the cabinets (which there doesn't look to be), instead of taking them out (the cabinets seem to be almost new), you could move them up and put an open shelf below. Like what was done here. Same footprint - HUGE difference.

I agree with onexnwyrkr. Why not live there a while first? In my first place, I didn't change much accept the backsplash. In my scond home, I've changed a lot all over the apartment to suit my taste, but I waited 11 years before making most of the choices. It is amazing how you learn to live with or even like some preexisting features. I thought my similar-style pass-through was going to be one feature to change (either by closing it off or making it more vertical--more like a window) but in the end, the budget for renovations put priorities on other features and the pass-through remains.

love the idea of moving the cabinets up and putting an open shelf below... wish I could use that one in my own place!!

I agree with those who say it is probably impossible to remove the column, BUT, you can likely remove a lot of both walls and leave a much smaller column at the corner (the support post itself is probably much smaller than the wall they built). The only problem you may encounter is that there may be plumbing running through there, depending what is on that side of the kitchen... with your sink on the opposite wall, there may not be anything in there though.

You will also have to think about how you will finish the end of that row of cabinets if the wall is removed.

It may work to leave that column as-is, remove the header above the pass-through, and above the doorway into the dining room. Then you won't even have to change the cabinets or countertops.

You need an architect and possibly an engineer to determine what's possible within this space.

Unlike a single-family home, there are going to be significant structural and plumbing infrastructure issues of the building you're in which we can't see from a couple of pictures that you're going to have to design and work around.

Honestly? Instead of opening it up I'd close the weird drive-through window and make the kitchen feel more private. Without *major* renovations you won't get the open feel you want - and, since you can't move several of the items in the kitchen that might be quite difficult. With that weird hole closed off, it will make the LR feel much better.

the post looks like it's load bearing.

to be perfectly honest, that kitchen looks great as it is. just live with it for a while. add some better lighting, maybe paint. then you'll know what you need to do.

(also - if you can afford a manhattan apartment, just hire an engineer/architect to help decide on the column)

Living in the space for awhile before making any major changes is pretty important. You will get a better feel for the space, how you use it etc.

If you are doing your renovations on a budget, sometimes you just have to be realistic and work with what you have. Opening up the kitchen in a way you envision may not be a viable option.

You talk about wanting to open up the kitchen area. Why do you want to do this? Answer and explore this question and it will help you come up with other solutions. For example, instead of opening up the kitchen to the living room, why not move the living room furniture more towards the dining room. Make the dining room your social hub, and that could help make your kitchen feel more open.

Personally, I feel serverys are outdated. For a fresh look, I'd suggest looking into removing it, and filling in the servery opening.

www.chantaeuxcarter.blogspot.com

A floor plan and budget would be useful. I agree with others that you should live there for a while before rushing to make structural changes.

I would assume the columns are load bearing, so there is NO way you are going to move them, ever. That being said, I would ask the Super to "probe" them and see how much empty space there is between the Sheetrock and the actual columns. Probably not a lot, but maybe enough to make reducing them eventually worth while.

When you have the money, I would consider getting ceiling height cabinets, to give you more storage room, and replacing the stove with a cooktop plus oven, which will give you a cleaner line. For counter tops, I would investigate products like ARPA, from Italy (they have a showroom in SoHo) - not a lot of color choices but durable and vastly less expensive than quartz.

I would also get a dishwasher that can be fitted with a front that matches the cabinets - it will make the whole visual line look much cleaner.

It looks like you have some type of sideboard in the dining room, which matches your dining room furniture, so whether you want to extens the kitchen that way is TBD.

I would also assume the beam is structural, so it isn't going anywhere.

If you can remove vote the kitchen doors and doorways, I would consider it. Cleans up the door molding and opens up the room.

I would close the pass through for now - it adds nothing and the kind of open kitchen you want will involve both work in the kitchen and in the living room. I hate to say it but the existing kitchen lacks the style needed for it to be open and figuring out how close you can get to what you want will take real design time - get a kitchen designer if you aren't doing anything structural, because most architects lack practical kitchen design experience. And make friends with the Super so you can learn what is inside the kitchen walls, from a plumbing and electrical standpoint, which could save you all kinds of grief when you have work done.

Looks like a lovely apartment - give yourself time to live in it before you do anything.

Not vote, but both.