Welcome to my blog series, Condo Chronicles where I analyze popular Toronto condo floorplans and offer my professional advice to improve them.
Today’s replanning exercise focuses on a new building near Church and Dundas, known as Social. 100 Dalhousie St. has a high number of rented units and generally has a lower chance of receiving multiple offers for listings compared to other buildings in the district.
You can read more Condo Chronicles right here.
The Original Floor Plan
Reviewing this three-bedroom, three-bathroom floor plan by Pemberton and the accompanying listing photographs, I just shake my head. The bedrooms are small, the living/dining area is poorly designed with minimal wall space, and the kitchen is essentially impractical. These strip-style kitchens are inadequate for serious cooking, contributing to the epidemic of Uber Eats and related rampant health and nutrition issues we see today.
Interested in learning more about some of Toronto’s most iconic condo buildings? Read my condo guides right here:
How on earth do you fit a three-bedroom home into 900 square feet, especially with three bathrooms? It’s like trying to cram a circus into a clown car. To make matters worse, I’ve seen landlords attempting to rent out one bedroom and bathroom in these units, with the common areas to share with two other tenants, all while paying $2,000 a month each. It’s practically criminal!
The Re-Imagined Floor Plan
Although relocating toilets in a condo isn’t exactly a walk in the park—thanks to the plumbing being embedded in concrete slabs—I took a bit of creative liberty here and reimagined the unit as if the building had been designed differently.
What if we had just one less bathroom? Sure, the bathroom shared by two bedrooms would still need to be accessed through the kitchen… but hey, I didn’t design this building; I’m just here to make a bad situation a bit less painful.
Let’s give the master bedroom its own ensuite. While it’s not huge, it boasts views in two directions and now has a slightly bigger closet—though you’ll still be squeezing in a queen bed. Honestly, when was the last time you saw a king bed in a new condo of this size?
I managed to rearrange some doors to create longer wall spaces in the living area, making room for artwork and a wall-mounted TV. It’s amazing how many condos end up with a sofa facing a door to someplace because there’s no wall space for anything else on the facing wall.
Read more about condo life in Toronto with these posts next:
- Don’t Be Unduly Swayed by Glitzy Condorama
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- Toronto’s 5 Most Luxurious Condos Today
With these changes, we now have a living space where a sectional sofa can fit comfortably, along with a couple of armchairs and a coffee table. I also designed a kitchen island with seating, turning the kitchen into a proper cooking space. By reconfiguring the layout, including revising some bedroom walls and eliminating that unnecessary third bathroom, I’ve created an L-shaped kitchen with an island—finally making this condo functional and stylish.
In the end, it’s still not the dream condo, but it’s definitely an improvement. Unless, of course, you’re envisioning people shelling out $2,000 a month for a bedroom with its own bathroom, while sharing a space with strangers where they can sit on a sofa facing a wall and cook instant ramen on a crowded cooktop. I imagine in the original design seeing a permanent laundry pile lounging on the floor in front of the closet, next to that strip kitchen, shared by 3 tenant-strangers.
I give this apartment a solid “D” for dreadful. I don’t feel compelled to share photographs—it’s just too sad to look at.
Okay, fine, here’s one.
Behold, the chef’s kitchen in a condo currently listed at $1.1 million (down from $1.25 million in the spring). Are you shedding tears yet?
Do you have a condo floor plan you’d like to see featured here? Let me know! Get in touch today by calling 416-824-1242 or emailing robert@lifeofluxury.ca. You can also fill out the form on this page.
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