Another layout opinion

[EXgeMMy]

Here's a unit i have on hold at West Harbour City, please let me know your thoughts (8th floor)

http://www.westharbourcity.ca/whc1/pdf/1Bedroom+Den/13-411.pdf

my own notes

- W/D in the master is a bit odd.

- I don't understand why the wall between the living/dining room does not extend to the same length as bathroom wall at the entrance. (might get this extended in future, or possibly now by builder)

- dining room - I'm thinking I will convert this into a bedroom in the future by adding sliding doors and a closet

- structural wall in the kitchen obstructs view into the living room.

- unit faces NE so not as much light in the afternoon / evening

 

[cdr108]

it's unfortunate that construction is almost complete as the plan could have been laid out much better with two changes ...

• rotated the main washroom and moved it to where the den is since there's already plumbing at the kitchen wall ... that would have aligned the washroom + closet with the refridgerator wall
• the entry door then could have been moved to the left about 1 ft and allowed a 9.5 ft x 15.5 ft room that could be used as a den, or converted to a 9.5 ft x 13.5 ft bedroom (with sliding glass doors) with a 9.5 ft wall of closet

as laid out ... the bedroom, kitchen and LR are fine as is ... this structural wall b/t the kitchen and LR isn't that bad and sometimes open plan living can be too much of a bad thing.

conversion of the DR to a bedroom would make for a very cramped space of ~10 ft x 7.5 ft with wall of closet, and much less if you were to align the bedroom wall with the bathroom (ie. 8 ft x 7.5 ft ... pretty much the same size as the den)

 

[ACE]

.

 

[EXgeMMy]

I think I may put in cabinets in the living room on the Western wall so it is flush with the structural wall in the kitchen. This will serve as a pantry or storage.

Another option is to put a butcher block table flush right to the 2nd structural wall coming out of the kitchen. Although right now I'm still leaning on putting a small table there.

I'm still thinking about putting slidding doors in the dining room to make it another bedroom. By using sliding doors I can still use as a dining room as it'll still be open.

Right now it's just my soon to be wife and I so we don't need to put a closet into that 2nd bedroom yet. We just figure if we made it a 2nd bedroom it would be good for resell value.

 

[Team Me]

I'd be hesitant about closing off your current dining room area. You already have one den, and another room with no windows basically creates a second den instead of a bedroom. Now, you may have very good reasons for it (family visits, children on the way etc.), but a 1 bedroom + 2 den layout may not be ideal for your resale value.

 

[officedweller]

- I don't understand why the wall between the living/dining room does not extend to the same length as bathroom wall at the entrance. (might get this extended in future, or possibly now by builder)

Probably to allow as much light as possible in to the kitchen and dining room area.
Inside corner units are notoriously dark (plus your living room window/glass door) is probably shaded by a balcony above - the lack of light alone may impair this unit's resale value.

 

[lead82]

This unit looks like the bat cave. How can anyone live in such dark spaces? I would get depressed with no natural light coming in the the unit.

I lived for 1 year in a condo facing NE, and let me tell you, never again. I need a unit that sees direct sunlight at least for a few hours of the day.

For investment, this would certainly lower resale and even rental value of such a unit. I appreciate the largeness of the space, but the darkness will make it feel much smaller than it really is.

 

[EXgeMMy]

ha, sounds like I better put in some better lighting fixtures.

 

[EXgeMMy]

I take possession of the unit in January and I'm kind of split in the middle if I should leave the dining room as is our add in glass/sliding doors to make it a 2nd room.

I did the measurements in person today and basically the room would be 7'9 X 9'6. Not including the closet (but I would not install one anyways)

My debate is this. Should I just put in the sliding doors so it still leaves the unit open? Or should I just not install anything at all and leave it as is?

In a few years we'd probably move out but if we were to make any renovations we want to do it before the condo registers because then we have to get all things approved by the condo corp. including our contractor.

 

[gregv]

Is the east side of the balcony a wall? It looks like the neighbour's balcony is there leaving a < 2 ft opening facing north...allowing very little light in the unit.

 

[Monaco]

Looks to be an inside corner unit which won't get a lot of sun.
Invest in some nice light fixtures (I personally don't like too many windows).

 

[EXgeMMy]

there is a screen that will separate the neighbours so limited light will get in so I do plan on getting good light fixtures inside.

the inside corner unit was part of the sacrifice for getting a good price point.