I would definitely start with the living room and dining room since you'd be spending the most time there. You could update flooring, paint, and add your own furniture and artwork. Once you decide whether you're going to purchase the place, you could re-post to get more specific suggestions which you'll then know you can implement.

Thank you for your reassurance. I hate angles do have wondered whether I could actually renovate this as I see it.

Our current dining table is rectangular. Wood on top with white legs.

that carpet needs to go along with the chandelier!

Believe me, everything is going! None of it belongs to me.

Under the carpet is concrete. I want to put down hardwood flooring but how do I decide on the colour scheme?

The ugly bathroom with strange angles is freaking me out.

I personally think a dark hardwood would look really stunning here,

With this, you can usually go with any furniture style!

As for the bathroom

Maybe a tub like this, brand new tile of your choice, and new vanity.

The space has potential if you update it.

I love your photos. Thank you so much. I really need visuals as it is hard for me to imagine the potential. You've actually given me hope that this can be done! I too love the dark hardwood flooring but I'm worried it will make the room look too dark?

In my professional opinion, I would probably deter you from purchasing this property. It obviously doesn't meet your needs, wishes, wants, and desires. Given the space planning issues, you might find yourself a little over your head without the assistance of a design professional.

I hope my comments have been helpful, and I wish you the best of luck whatever you chose to do.

Thank you for your opinion. You might well be right, but the location is perfect and it is within our budget, including the renovations. We just haven't seen anything else that is remotely possible.

My contractors are great but they don't have too many ideas. As long as I show them what I want, they'll replicate it so I just need to build up a clear picture of how to go ahead with it.

I have to agree about reconsidering if the angles bother you. By the looks of the photos, many of the angles are caused by the shape of the exterior of the building, there is nothing you can do about them except ignore them or, in some cases, you could potentially wall them off at the expense of square footage in the property.

In addition, you describe it as a flat, which means your options for relocating items like plumbing and gas lines and venting are going to be very limited as they will be provided from certain areas for everywhere in the building and you can only have so long a horizontal run for something like a toilet drain pipe before it simply won't drain properly.

Your list of negatives seems very high and the list of positives as they exist now in the property seems very low, and you don't have a lot of budget to work with - this is not a recipe for a happy outcome. The most likely result is probably that you will put a lot of money into doing work, still dislike the end result, and then potentially have trouble selling it as you will have removed the things that some people will like (some people do like odd angles) and yet not achieved enough to appeal to people like you who are bothered by those aspects of the property. You pretty much certainly would not get back the money you spent on changes.

Either figure out how to live with it with the shapes it has, with minor layout alterations and changes of materials (replacing cabinets in the existing kitchen, redoing the surfaces and fixtures in the bath, etc.) or keep looking. The chances of this turning out to be a good investment with the information you are providing us with now are tiny.

Have you assembled any photos of interiors that inspire you to use as a guide?

I would live in the space for a while before I undertook any drastic remodeling. Stick with classic solutions for color selections. Use a medium tone for the floor and white for the walls to start. The only room that might have some 'issues' is the bath, and that room is almost impossible to relocate any of the fixtures if you are in a multif floor building. I would switch out the fixtures to white and address the poor lighting in the room. But you have a window in that room and that's very rare and unique.

I must agree that unless you are presently homeless, don't buy this property. It does not fit your aesthetics and some of those walls may not be movable. Keep looking or buy it and do only updating/cosmetic things. Good Luck!

Thank you ideahound for your very sensible and kind words. Yes, we really love the view. We have the budget to do a good renovation and I think we will go for it. I wasn't asking for advice on whether or not to buy the flat -- I was asking for design advice on how to make it look gorgeous.

I don't want to knock out the corners and square off the rooms either. That was never the intention. I'm just looking for ways to decorate it well -- flooring, walls, knocking through the kitchen to make an open plan one.

Of course I'm building a portfolio of looks that I love and colours, decor etc. Hopefully, we can make this work!

Finding a view is harder than finding a contractor. Enjoy upgrading your new place!

You asked about making changes to the balcony. Can you post a pic of it (and that spectacular view)?