Hi pcmom, there are two of us but we would like to preserve the two bedrooms as the idea is to make this a rental property at some point. The apartment is in the middle of the city, so while proper kitchen is a must a large dining table isn't (counter seating is fine). Primarily I was wondering if there is a way to get rid of the "dead" hallway space and add some more closet space or open it up in some way to make it feel spacious. Thought about it for a while but couldn't think of anything :) so thought I'd throw it out here just to make sure I am not missing something obvious :)

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Thanks very much for all your feedback. Just to answer a few queries - the deck is directly outside the main room so the new doors open out onto it. The doors won't be French - they're just the only doors that the 3D planner I'm using had, they'll actually be large stacking doors. I've had another idea too which would be a lot more expensive but offers a completely different approach. This is quite rushed so doesn't show accurate layout of kitchen or anything like that, basically just provides an idea. Thoughts!?

Thanks Mel. We'll see what we can do to make the rumpus enclosed - it's probably more of a "man cave" at the moment :) Grandad had a dining table in his current place (which is bigger) and got rid of it because he never used it. He also wants more bench space than he currently has. So, this was a deliberate choice rather than a compromise due to lack of space. You've reminded me now that someone did warn us earlier in the design process about the back and forth between wardrobe and bathroom becoming annoying over time. We don't currently have an en suite so it feels wonderfully convenient for us by comparison. However, that feeling will change if we realise it could have been even better. We did have the en suite off the wardrobe in some designs but have been warned this can lead to dampness in your clothes no matter how well ventilated the bathroom is (especially in Auckland's humidity). Would love to hear people's experiences of this configuration - good and bad. On top of that, there are lovely private bush views to the south so we've tried to make the most of those.