I’m not sure about a 3BR home without somewhere to eat. How long are you planning on living there? If a good whole then do what suits you? Do you need a larger kitchen? Given it’s an apartment- are there others in the same/similar complex that have been updated?

I'll probably live in it for a few years still. I absolutely need a larger kitchen than what is already there- I got a housemate last year and quickly found it impossibly small with no real storage for the different kitchen things we each use. Most of the other apartments in my building have kitchens falling apart (with the existing U-shape) but have knocked the wall between 3rd bedroom and living room down, turning it into a dining room.

Dimensions appear to all over the place on the plan. My first thought for your apartment was to keep the 3 bedrooms as they are valuable spaces and open up between the living and kitchen. You also mentioned that walls are load bearing so was it difficult to open up the wall between Bed 3 and the living..

Anyway I would still open up your living kitchen using a support bean if necessary as this will make you apartment feel bigger and more spacious

Hello Shaun, The alternative plan would be two straight runs of benching one under window one along the hall wall. That way there are no dead corners that are a pain and useless areas of wasted space. You can still knock out part or all the wall to the living room but make sure there is somewhere for the furniture in there : very easy to have lots of lovely openings and walk ways but no where to put couch! Part of the benching one side or other could be open under for legs for eating at it. I hope you find what works for you and if you need anything further I would be happy to draw plans for you. Cheers Margot

Hi Shaun - a couple of good plans suggestions here. Get it checked out structurally of course.

Peter Chivers

hi all, thanks for your inputs and suggestions. Unfortunately all of my walls are solid brick/ load bearing so I can't make any changes to them without significant additional expense :(

I have redesigned the kitchen again based on some of the suggestions above... And I think im happy with the layout! One thing I'm not sure about is drawer placement. The kitchen planner at Ikea put them in places that seem a little odd to me. Thoughts on whether they're in practical spots?

My only doors are under the sink and on overhead cupboards. (I've got a walk-in pantry and no corners.) The rest is all drawers. You can fit more into them and it's easy to access the back. I've got different configurations of drawer depth in different places depending what I want to put into them. I even keep glasses and crockery I use all the time in drawers, with drawer liners so nothing moves around. Drawers are really efficient.

I’m all drawers below bench level apart from under the sink too. Wouldn’t have it any other way.