Thanks so much for your inputs. I agree with your idea of making the room auxilary lounge but here our intent is more of having the views and balcony access easier as that will very greatly make the condo look and feel way better. And also, i was not clear enough when i mentioned drop the wall, i meant more of dropping this solid wall and instead putting another wide open wall with double french doors which will allow access to views and the bedroom from the foyer and living room directly. This will still retain the bedroom with only the privacy could be tricky and like you said placing the furniture right to make it both lounge/bedroom area. What would you suggest if we were to allow or have access to views and balcony directly from the foyer/living room? Thank you!

You are buying into a condo assoc. Your questions to houzz are irrelevant. None of your ideas have relevance until you present them to your board.

My bet? You are locked into what you buy...no changes will happen. You own inside the walls, only.

Only the bold dark regions given in the layout can not be modified rest can be changed. I have seen some units which have done modifications and also i checked we can drop the wall if we want to so it is allowed to make modificstions to the unit as long as we are not touching or changing the bold darker areas in the layout.

Thanks for your input though as it could very well be a case at some condos.

Seems like you’re making a big deal about nothing. I agree that it’s not ideal to have the balcony off the bedroom, but it’s not like a backyard of a house with kids running in and out all time. I had a balcony in my old condo that was off of the master bedroom. Had a grill there and would use it for morning coffee. Not a big deal at all. You could take down the wall between the living room and bedroom, use the former bedroom space as a dining area, but then you lose a wall for the tv (if that’s an issue).

Hehe, may be i am making a big deal or may be not. What if i say from the bedroom/balcony we can see the empire state building and we would love to have that view from the main foyer/kitchen?

You didn't ask, but I'm puzzled over the placement of the bathroom so far from the master bedroom, and the bath with shower off the foyer, and no laundry in the unit. Is the kitchen open to the living room? Or is that a solid wall to the ceiling?

I think you are best off considering the balcony and view as a little secret jewel box to be enjoyed, and not worry about making it visible from the public spaces.

No one here can answer if any architectural changes will be ‘worthwhile’...post back if you buy it and have lived there for at least 6 months to see how the unit lives for you.

I live in manhattan and I personally wouldn’t covert a two bedroom apartment to a one bedroom (especially now if one or both of you is working from home - the extra room will be very helpful, but even after, I think I’d rather see an office/den/guest bedroom), but you can do whatever you want and only you know in your heart will make you happy. Removing the wall won’t increase your home’s value and probably will not be cheap. You’ll have to deal with the missing flooring underneath.

I would absolutely remove that wall between the living room and the spare bedroom, and would be really happy that I had that option. It would double the amount of light coming into your living area, double your great view, and give you easy access to the balcony. How often do you anticipate using that spare bedroom? I'm a big believer, when space is limited, in making the space work for how you use it 95% of the time. Instead of keeping that wall for the benefit of the occasional guest, take it out and get the view and light that you really want. Being there for even just 5 years is sufficient for moving forward with changing it to make it work best for what you want now, I would not factor in resale into your plans - you might just love it and decide to stay. This may not apply to you, but I have a (small) balcony off the living room and I love fresh air and breezes in our primary living space that we get by having a door we can prop open. My dogs also love sitting out there.

I have to say unless you have a regular troop of guests I would open up that wall with either french door or a nana wall and make that 2nd bedroom a nice sitting area with a murphy bed for guests. I would be a lot more concerned with the master “suite” no proper sized closet and the guest bath is a long walk from the bedroom so guess what ? You will share the bathroom with guests. I do also wonder where the laundry is ? IMO make that wlkin closet the laub ndry or add the laundry to the bathroom at the front and forget the shower which IMO will never be used by guests anyway. I love that you have views but the space needs to function well before the view becomes the focal point of living there

(not a pro) I think "LC" is a laundry closet.

What an intriguing opportunity! If you have the flexibility and budget, I'd consider opening the wall to br2, making the kitchen area bigger and turn it into a guest/office space, moving the kitchen to the dining space (a galley with an island or peninsula running parallel to the left wall), then the living room becomes your dining area and the balcony room is your living room. However this would mean that your 2nd bedroom has no windows so can't technically be called a bedroom, and you're turning a 2br into a 1 br which will probably hurt resale. Also moving the kitchen is expensive and you'd have to see if the condo board allows it. Finally as a non-pro I would totally defer to an architect.

The foyer seems quite large for the unit. It would be nice to use some of that room, perhaps to make the laundry closet bigger.

mockup:

I think there’s a lot of potential here, depending on which way the view is. Is it more the direction of the master bedroom, or more the direction of the living room?

I’d open up that wall in the kitchen for sure, but starting with a clean slate, I’d put the bedrooms on the sides (probably master on the left if that’s the better view direction, shrink the 2nd bedroom), figure out better closets, and put the living room in the middle with the balcony.

Sorry, I don’t have a pen so I hope my scribbles make sense.

I would absolutely tie the middle bedroom into the living space. The house will live much larger and you will utilize all the space (versus a guest bedroom that gets used occasionally).

If you plan to live there only 5-7 years, don’t do too much. The odd bathroom situation aside, I think having an extra door to Br2 from the living room would be nice. (Keep the door to the hall, so it can easily be a guest room or be converted back to a bedroom in the future.) Where to put it is the question. Not too big of a door, for more flexibility in furniture placement. Try imagining, or laying out, your living and dining room furniture, decide where you would have a tv, home office, store things for entertaining, etc. And think about flooring. Is the flooring the same in the bedroom as in the living room right now? Would you be changing it anyway?

BTW, all the windows are shown the same on the plan, so what is the window like to the balcony? Slider? French door?

As a retired appraiser, I will warn you that the loss of a bedroom with reduce the value of the unit. I would not remove the entire wall between the living room and the second bedroom.

You are already aware that you cannot move structural walls, plumbing or electrical without the permission of the condo board.

I wouldn't do a thing. I would furnish the second bedroom as a flex space rather than only as a bedroom.

If you just have to do something, I suggest that you consider a second entry to the second bedroom from the living area. Either a single door or a double door with a glass insert. Blinds can be added to the door to reduce light when a guest uses the room as a bedroom. Also, I would furnish the second bedroom with a murphy bed unit and set it up as a flex space. You can use the area as both office, library and spare bedroom.

I would add a door at the end of the hall to make the master more private. Then you would have an en-suite. I also like the idea of using the guest bedroom as study, as Patricia mentioned.

Forgot to mention to close off the now guest bedroom door since it won’t be needed with access from living room.

Oh, I suspect there's a door somewhere along that hall to the master bedroom. And I wouldn't go to the expense, however low it might be, to close up the Br2 door. Keep it, keep it closed if you want, keep it open to allow a bit of light into the hall.

Can the ESB be seen from the living room too, or not? Just two of you living here; no plan to grow a family? I would turn that middle bedroom into the master since it is closer to the bath and is surrounded by all the closets. You have wall space between some of the closets to install a mirror and small dressing table with a stool. Add doors at each end of the closet hall if you want to use it a s a dressing room. Then the master becomes a media/office, with a sleeper sofa or a Murphy bed for guests, while the living room is your entertainment/dining space. You could add a door into the office/media room from the new master to have direct access without walking through the hall. I didn't show that below, but I would add it at the "north" end of the wall between rooms.

ORG Home Design Gallery · More Info

Office with a Murphy Bed 1 · More Info

That is a lot of wasted Foyer space in a "small" apartment. I don't think there was any well thought out space planning for this building and they just squeezed in the basics to sell as a 2 bed/2 bath.

Just me but turning that second bedroom into the living room would block part of the view. That area is recessed from the rest and creates a tunnel affect. Personally I would want to be able to see the whole view not just a small part.

Deco was onto something and I’d tweak it to be like this (open up wall with double wide slider to ‘guest/sitting/office’) and make the master feel like a master by closing off the opening to the hall and moving the door to include the bathroom within the master suite. I’d argue this would improve resale on the unit. Hardest part will be floor repair where the wall was removed.

I like thinkdesignlive's rendition.

I would make the guest closet on the right a part of the master closet that it adjoins.

What about making a 13X10 section of the living area the guest room and making the guest room the living room? How much space are you willing to give to guests as opposed to using them yourself?

If I did anything to that floor plan, it would be to expand the kitchen and reduce the size of that long, skinny living room. As the kitchen is now laid out, it looks like it has relatively little counter space to be very functional.

kudzu with the placement of the utility closet there and plumbing restrictions in a condo I think that kitchen layout would have to remain as is. I would probably take advantage of the long foyer wall and build a wall of built ins with a counter in the middle with art or mirror above so it feels 'entrance' like. It could act as an entrance table but the built ins could house pantry supplies too....kind of like this but imagine the sides being behind closed doors.

Orono Lakehouse · More Info

thinkdesignlive- The wall between the kitchen and living room is not marked as an unmovable wall, nor do I see anything on that wall that would restrict moving it. The plumbing connections are in the wall that is marked as unmovable next to the bathroom.

think & kudz: I was attempting to give the owners the maximum view and balcony access by making the middle bedroom the master, leaving the larger master (which is quite far from the bath) to contain guest, office and media room furnishings with no balcony and possibly a less exciting view. Not sure which view sees the ESB, but assume it is the balcony area since the OP is focused on that. With the bed placed on the "west" wall of the room, the view may be enjoyed from there and chairs can be added near the opening and/or on the balcony in good weather. Perhaps the smaller closet in the room could be converted to a coffee/wine bar, turning the space into a self-contained a.m.or p.m. retreat. A door on the "north" end of the "east wall" could give easy access to the office. The main issue for me is the distance anyone has to go to reach a bathroom. If the foyer closet and LC could be moved forward that bath would at least feel more spacious and the shower enclosure could be larger. I also wonder if that front foyer WIC would be better if incorporated into a larger, more luxe master bath.

Have you checked with the strata if you can even do any changes? Are taking out walls or adding interior doorways even allowed?

A S-

The OP already addressed this:

”Only the bold dark regions given in the layout can not be modified rest can be changed. I have seen some units which have done modifications and also i checked we can drop the wall if we want to so it is allowed to make modificstions to the unit as long as we are not touching or changing the bold darker areas in the layout.”

kudzu I have no issue with the wall between the kitchen and dining but with the fact that if you take it down to enlarge the kitchen and you have to keep the sink and range in the same spot and the utility closet where it's at - then what? Just a counter and refrigerator that's even farther away from the triangle? I can't see the advantage to it but if you can show a layout that works with those restrictions then by all means show it.

beadsnew - sorry, can't see that as an architecturally sound layout. ilovemod said it first - "if you drop the wall between the LR and BR, you will wind up with an awkward shaped room that might be really tricky to furnish. you might want to plan how you'd lay out your furniture with a space like that first." Bigger is not always better. But, all this is a moot point if the OP is MIA.

thinkdesignlive- The kitchen is too small. It's obvious that moving the wall a few feet gains necessary room for more counterspace and/or an island. I hardly think I need to submit architectural plans, but you're entitled to your opinion...as am I.