Depending on the budget, you could hack a portion of the wall "closed welcome passage" and put up a wall horizontally by the main entrance (creating a passage way to the living area. The window there should be able to shine a bit of light into the house. Replacing the wall between the living area and garage with Large glass panels would also help brighten up the house. At the same time, will give your house the elite concept (of having a vehicle in the living area) http://homememo.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/kop-properties_sky-garage.jpeg Hope this helps. :)

We have taken help to prepare a layout plan of our apartment following are the key highlights 1) Would prefer unless unavoidable false ceiling lights, am more of a wall light or floor/desk lamp person 2) Kitchen layout is such that a large refrigerator cannot make way at the entrance of the kitchen.The left wall edge at the kitchen entrance can be torn down the right must stay (beam). Considering this I was thinking to take the slab to my right of kitchen entrance and keep the refrigerator 3ft width and 2.6 feet depth top left of the kitchen right next to the window and start the double sink right next to it. The right side of the wall to have cooking range and kitchen slab and aligned to the kitchen entrance wall a tall cabinet which will house the oven and microwave 3) The dining space has two two spots one adjacent to the kitchen and utility finishing at the study door. The second opposite to the kitchen entrance the cross path of Kids bedroom and master bedroom. 4) We wanted to have a 6-seater and looks like both the above spots as mentioned in point 3 cannot house it. Also we dont prefer a dining table right across from the main entrance. Hence we are looking at keeping a 4 seater (extendable ) aligned to the wall of the kitchen and utility area which finishes at the study entrance 5) There is an option to cave in the utility area into the living room , will that be of any good? 6) Entrance foyer - to have wooden beam like (lighter tone) work on ceiling and the wall on the right as we enter the apartment to have a low height shoe cabinet upto the edge. The edge of the wall to have a separator or Jaali to keep the visual away of the dining space from entrance. The shoe cabinet wall would have a large mirror on the upper halve. 7) Study room we prefer a colonial classic set up the powder room/small bathroom is being torn down to make that a part of the study. 8) Master bath and dresser area will need adjustment hence we thought of taking down the left wall of the bath and making the area look bigger. We are trying to avoid any plumbing work but there is an option we can do if there is a better plan. 9) Need ceiling and flooring ideas for the entire apartment. As of now we have thought to have a thematic approach of open beam light / heavy as a continuous theme in various ways all across the home.Marble tile of ivory is what we have thought now,with master bedroom and guest room to have a wooden flooring. Challnege is that builder has already provided flooring which we don’t like.So we can go tile on tile or break it up. 10) Guest room opposite to master bedroom has a cabinet designated area. Right beneath the window rather adjacent to it we prefer to have a seating area of 1.5 feet wall depth. 11) Kid room adjacent to the living room – we are looking for an idea for a cubboard. He is a 7 year old, hence making it childish theme and superhero look is not what he likes. He is a chess guy. Slightly serious for his age. :P 12) Looking at décor and design plan for both the balconies 13 ) any idea of change or improvisation for the rest of the two bathrooms 14) Want to prefer a sneakaway bar 15) Main entrance we prefer a larger 8 feet door than a current 7feet. Also entrance from outside wish a stone wall. 16) Does the idea of living room with one stone wall look good or rather textured wall in ivory. We wish to have large 7*8 or 6*5 painting on the opposite wall to TV above the sofa. We prefer the entrance wall of the living room to be the TV unit and Kids room wall of the living room to be the sofa wall. Largely to limit visitor free view towards the inside home areas. We also wish to have the TV sitting on top of an unit rather than wall fitted. Next to it could be floor lamps. I can also post additional photos or videos if required

Hi, you don't always need to hide the beam .....if treated well it can be part of space like vintage homes.....forcefully trying to cover it up also not work always...make it work by just fixing mirror on it so ur ceiling length doubles up or as suggested by someone earlier putting rafters is good idea. hope this helps

Hi Neha, The floor plan is indeed a bit odd. I would suggest to have a living area on the left hand side of entry with TV unit on the left wall adjacent to entry. You can plan a Swing sofa on left of entry. In the niche near bedroom you can plan some decorative corner, some cabinets or cabinets with a memory corner with lots of family photographs. I would have suggested a Pooja corner but the wall is with the toilet on the other side so that wouldn't be suitable. On the right on entry plan dining area. On the wall shared with kitchen you can have a little window in the dinning. It would act as a good place for a little serving table. If you're into carpets then place a big carpet between entry and the balcony. And decorate the balcony beautifully so that on entering the home you will be greeted with a beautiful balcony view. You can also use some indoor plants on the inside of balcony door. If you need any more help you can contact me directly. Happy Decorating! Garima Arora