Entrepreneur of the Week - Post # 4 - Thinking Outside the Box in a 2BR Apartment

# Initiated week Post number 4

Thinking outside the box in a 2BR apartment

The first call I made with the condo owner, this one is 1000 square feet (90 square meters) and is on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, I remember well. The owner of the apartment moved with me on their needs list: a room, even a small one, for each child (they have two children, a son and a daughter who were 12 and 10 years old respectively), a dining area for at least 6 people close to the kitchen and a large accommodation area. Then she added; "My dream is an island in the kitchen." I almost started laughing and kept telling her that it was mine too.

At the end of the renovation, she also got the island she wanted in the kitchen.

This project is a good example of the principle I believe in - architectural design is not a shelf product but a custom product.

The background along with the planning solution explain this sentence well.

This is a pre-war apartment that has two large bedrooms facing the street and is the lighted rooms in the house, living room, bathroom, small dining room with door to living room and door to hallway, which has a window and small shower (what used to be a maid's room) and a long narrow kitchen with window Which was away from the dining table.
This family used the apartment a little differently: their parents had their room. The second bedroom served as a family room / dining room. There was a small pull-out couch, a large work desk and a round dining table with four chairs.

The living room served as a hospitality area. The children slept in a bunk bed in the dining area, but the bed was located across the room so whoever had to go to the en suite bathroom had to enter only from the hall area and not from the door in the living room (or pass "through" the bed). When I asked why not move the children to the other bedroom and divide it, the parents said it was a room that had lots of light and actually spent the whole family together. The kids need a little room for each of them.

Then I proposed the following idea: the kitchen would move to what was the living room, where the dining area would be. The bedroom used as a family room will remain like this, but a large sofa will be added to it instead of the small sofa that was there and the desk will be shortened.

The kitchen will become the son's room, he will stay with the bunk bed and so he can host friends who come to sleep and the dining area where the children sleep, will be the daughter's room.

This seems to be a very complex renovation, but in fact the only major change was the transfer of the kitchen, with the sink installed on a common wall with the bathroom that already had a plumbing.

France has a plan here and a plan after. In terms of demolition, all we dismantled was a kitchen, a door between the dining area and the living room and we slightly extended the doorway to the family room to bring more light to what was once the living room (and became the kitchen and dining area)

Did the renovation increase the value of the apartment? This is something that is hard to say since the apartment is not for sale, but as someone who lives in Manhattan and knows more closely the desire to stay in town and the needs of families with children, I appreciate it.

France here also has pictures after and before the renovation as well as a picture of the parents' bedroom, hallway and bathroom, but to convey the idea that the renovation was to be adapted to what is already in the apartment.

Link to the original post in the United States Real Estate Forum on Facebook - Works on a desktop computer (To view the post must be members approved for the forum)

The original responses to the post can be read at the bottom of the current post page on the site or in the link to a post on Facebook and of course you are invited to join the discussion

• Wow what a difference! Really the apartments in Manhattan are small for raising children and there are really strange apartments that you move into a bedroom through a kitchen ?!
• Stunning. Interesting, creative and a great result
• Wow! What a change!
• Many people try to break walls, add rooms and change the interior of the house, and sometimes it looks strange and bordering on poor planning, but this time I was very impressed and definitely an excellent job with a perfectly logical design.
• looking great. We employ a team of interior designers who handle the flip deal and Stigging. We found it very important and helpful for sale
• Perfect job ??
  Shaffo
• You are a magician! You managed to free the apartment from every tenant's nightmare… .this claustrophobic kitchen and you created an apartment that is pleasant and logical to live in! Wow!
  A dream in the heart of Manhattan! And I am sure that such a renovation has increased the value of the apartment. I have no doubt at all
• How complicated is this kitchen transfer / toilet? It's a lot of dealing with piping and infrastructure. Is it possible at all apartments?