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Imagining the Renovations of Three New York City Apartments

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Welcome to Floorplanning, a new Curbed column in which architect/designer Kristin Luks provides revised floorplans for listings recently featured on Curbed. Have a property to nominate? Let us know in comments or via the tipline.




This week, let's start by taking a look at our first reader request from meechybee, 345 West 88th Street, #9B. Not being familiar with the apartment building, I have chosen to leave the entrance door where it is rather than move it to another location, as suggested. Meechybee is correct, that column can most likely not be removed in the kitchen but the room can certainly be opened up and re-designed while working around the building structure. Rather than opening it into the small, narrow maid's room/office away from the rest of the living space I've opened the room up into the dining room and created more counter space below the windows. This makes for a better working kitchen and also makes the room feel larger.

My main problems with the current layout are the lack of a true second bedroom, the massive gallery, and having to enter the existing bedroom off the gallery. Shortening the gallery allows for a new hallway which links the gallery, living space, and bedrooms together. Removing the existing door between the living space and library along with modifying the bedroom closets creates that much-needed "real" second bedroom. Additionally, the bathrooms have both received new layouts, the washer/dryer has been moved to the storage closet, and that existing maid's bedroom/ office gets larger and is suddenly a much more pleasant place to get some work done.




Next let's look at a floor plan that really gives me the heebeegeebees, 407 East 90th Street, # 11. There is just so much wasted space on that lower level?hallways for miles, two tiny bedrooms, and some funky curved walls. The main level is nice enough but there's no coat closet, a three-fixture bathroom is not really needed, and I would like to see a washer/ dryer. Adding a closet off the entry, rearranging the kitchen and powder room, and placing a washer/ dryer closet between the two really makes the space work. Meanwhile, downstairs, the bedroom on the left takes over the central window, all of the closets are removed and relocated, and the office is completely blown out to allow for two bathrooms and a family room.




230 Park Place, #2A is the last piece of real estate to get modified today. The central congested gallery with no windows and two closets, the kitchen layout, and the bathroom accessed from the dressing room are all problematic. As soon as the two central closets are removed, a great central dining room is created. The bathroom can then be redesigned and one can enter off of the dining room. I've removed the existing closet from the bedroom and turned the existing dressing room into a real dressing room. Once the kitchen is modified you have a good-looking one-bedroom apartment.
?Kristin Luks
· Floorplanning archive [Curbed]