Would you knock this wall down?

[renovatingflat]

Hi all, looking for some advice/opinions.

Partner and I have just purchased our first home, a 2 bed victorian conversion flat.

The layout is a bit strange, and my partner is really keen to knock part of the hallway wall down (not a load bearing wall) to open up the kitchen and potentially make room for a dining table. It would make the widest part of the kitchen 10"2 rather than 6"7 and 18"9 long.

My concern is getting rid of the separation between the kitchen and the 2nd bedroom will alter the flow of the flat. We'll also lose some counter space and I'm not even sure it wouldn't still be a bit cramped with a dining table in it. Plus we need to get permission from the freeholder.

A lot of the other flats on the road have converted the current living room into the master bedroom and opened up the back of the flat to make an open plan kitchen/dining/living room. However I'm not as keen, the street itself gets a lot of footfall for a bedroom and I much prefer a separate living room from the kitchen.

I've attached some examples, would love to hear your thoughts and whether you've been in a similar position.

Why not have the bathroom near B3 and leave the corridor into that room and have the rest of the space for a kitchen?

I would change the yellow space into a big kitchen/dining room and sofa then change the small bedroom at the back as a small snug tv room
Get shutters/blinds/heavy curtains for the front bedroom

If the space is enough width wise then I agree with @dancingsands and I'd put in really good noise reducing double glazing for the front bedroom

Thanks for your suggestions, we don't have a huge budget so realistically can't relocate the bathroom.

I agree that @dancingsands idea is a good one, however, it's not just noise it's also the amount of people walking past/upstairs neighbours putting the bins out and I'd want to be able to have the curtains/shutters open to get light into the bedroom.

I think my main question is whether people would find having the 2nd bedroom where it is with that open kitchen weird.

I think I'd be more inclined then to move the bedroom 2 so it's on the other side of the bathroom, and open up the back of the flat to a lounge dining kitchen. Loads of living space (doors out to garden?) with a separate lounge, small child's bedroom and large adult bedroom

No it's not great but it's that way in some properties. The double door configuration is just weird.
I know you say you don't have the money, but if you did I'd move the kitchen to the first bed, knock down the wall to living room (might be load bearing so need an rsj), enlarge the back bedroom taking in that hall fireplace and have second bedroom same dimensions as now in kitchen area, backing on to bathroom.

I'd make the lounge bed 2, if you need a 2nd bed. Or leave as lounge if not.
Then I'd knick out the wall to bed 2 and make that a kitchen/diner/lounge (if needed)

"I think my main question is whether people would find having the 2nd bedroom where it is with that open kitchen weird."

Now we're getting to the nub of the situation.

No, having a bedroom opening off the kitchen isn't a problem at all. I would likely go with @dancingsands and have the whole space as a kitchen/diner, but leave bed 2 as is at the back.

Yes, you can mess around with having the bedroom at the front but you have already described why that doesn't work for you.

I agree with the others, I’d move bed 3 forwards to next to the bathroom and then open up the back so that it’s a nice kitchen/ diner.

I'd seek professional advice about fire regulations in a flat and making the kitchen open plan to your main exit route.

If it's likely that the second bedroom will be used as an office (ie that area/type of flat is more commonly bought by couples) then I think it's fine and not strange at all.

If it's likely to be a child's bedroom, then I wouldn't want it tucked at the back on its own like that. Due to fire risk and intruder risk. I'd rather it be next to my bedroom.

Thanks so much all for your replies, I appreciate it. I've considered moving the 2nd bedroom next to the bathroom, however the boiler is there and I'd have to reconfigure a lot of the pipework and as I said I don't have a huge budget.

@bookgirl1982 , you're right, it's likely we'll need some kind of fire door, one for me to look into.

I wouldn't have a room that's open to the staircase, they can be cold and hard to heat in my experience. I also wouldn't want a bedroom that's directly off the kitchen.

I'd be planning the same, partial close but have good quality glazed doors. Open plan living make me upright.

Seems like generally an odd split of the layout, how about moving the kitchen into the front bedroom? Obviously there's a cost for moving services and it's not clear of those steps are up or down, but if it's part of a kitchen refurb anyway it wouldn't seem so bad. (EDIT sorry just saw you're on a tight budget so maybe not)
The advantage is you have the "downstairs" rooms together for potential partial knock through (if it's south facing) and more space for bedrooms. However it may be tight for all 3 functions (kitchen dining living) in the overall space.
Then that frees up the whole back for bedrooms which are less critical on the width.