budgeting/splurging

Budget sounds a little low. I would spend to get hardwood floors overall (see the other thread on these boards about engineered vs. hardwood) but the real question is, "what's the competitive standard for renos in your building"?

i.e., if everybody else renos with Ikea cabinets but puts in slightly nice appliances, that's probably what you want to do too.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

I would skip the wood flooring all together and use a nice porcelain tile. It is more economical and you don't have the issue of trying to match the new floor to the rest of the flooring in your apartment. Given the size of your space, the high end appliances just doesn't make sense. Upon resale of a 700 sq ft co-op, not many buyers are going to expect viking/sub-zero...Liebherr, etc. are nice (again I don't think necessary though - GE Profile and the like should be fine - and are cheaper to repair down the road). I have heard Ikea cabinets are fine. I would price out a few places for semi-custom. Don't spend the money on custom cabinets. It isn't worth the splurge when semi-custom can look just as nice. Spend money on a nice back spash tile and counter tops. Name brand sink and faucet - again should not matter given the size of your space. Just go mid-range. Functionality is important; so if that is really messed up in your apartment, I would fix that.

With the stock market swinging down 5% in a day, spending frugally makes a lot of sense,

front_porch - thanks for the advice, I will do some research to see what my neighbors have. Is it important to consider comps in the neighborhood as well as in my building? The majority of the housing stock in this area (midtown south) are new condos or old buildings newly converted to condos and almost all with high end kitchens. My building is a much earlier conversion (80s) from an old office building. I think my current kitchen may still be from the 80s.

omega - I need to do the ENTIRE floor in my apartment not just the kitchen. currently the parquet is throughout the entire apartment including the kitchen.

Citygrad,

MOst of my clients are in the same position. What i have been seeing is Ikea cabinets with nice (GE profile) appliances. The price of flooring is not that big. When you buy pre-finished flooring the price is in the wood and less to install and visa-versa buying hardwood

Primer05 -I have one quote so far for replacing the floor with engineered wood (includes removal of ext'g flooring + baseboards, new cork sub-floor, new eng. floor and replacement baseboards) for $10,500. Considering my overall budget, this is a big expense.

Citygrad, what are your intentions with the apartment?

Too many people are obsessed with getting their investment "back" in the resale. I've never been one to redesign my apartment with its future owners in mind. If you want it, get it.

Life's too short.

NYCMatt - I do fall into the category of those who want to get their investment back in the resale but I didn't really need your "wake-up call" - I never said I wasn't going to get the things that I want. It's just that I happen to want EVERYTHING (new layout, wood floors, high end appliances, natural stone countertops, solid wood cabinets) so I need some general advice on where to budget and where to splurge.

front_porch - I stalked all of the available former listings in my building on streeteasy and see that about half of them have sub-zero/miele appliances and the other half GE (like me). I did not see a single Ikea kitchen.

"if everybody else renos with Ikea cabinets but puts in slightly nice appliances, that's probably what you want to do too."

That's always the RE agent's point of view. However, as somebody who's going to LIVE THERE, you have to decide if you like Ikea cabinets. Don't put them in if you don't like them.

Is it your apartment, or is it somebody else's (ten years from now)? Why do RE agents only care about people who don't live in the apartment in question?

I of L, because we're transaction - obsessed.

Citygrad if you want to go off-board email me (and put "streeteasy" in the title, so I can find it) and I'll be happy to talk about what is customary in your 'hood.

ali r.
Ali [at] dgneary [dot] com

8 x 10 is potentially a very good size kitchen for Manhattan. Spend the money and maximize the floorplan.

I wouldn't cheap out on floors either. Bad floors will make an entire apartment look cheap.

Are your current appliances functional? And are you in a job where you get a bonus or in a position where you can save a good amount of money? If so, maybe you can wait to replace the appliances until your next bonus or you build up another renovation fund. I love my SubZero fridge (inherited) and generally find that higher-end appliances offer an entirely different functionality and experience.

Citygrad,

10k is too much for install.does that include the wood flooring? Why cork subfloor? What kind of subfloor do you have now? If it is concrete you can glue down the floor directly to the slab saving a nice amount of money.

Citygrad - sorry for the misunderstanding, but you would still save money using porcelain tile in the kitchen and have a nice finished product. Even engineered flooring will be more expensive than tile. If you have to do the entire flooring in the apt., I agree with Ali that your budget is a bit low - there may not be room for any splurges. Not sure how you can tell via pics on line that your building has no Ikea kitchens - some of their stuff looks just like the higher end kitchen cabinets in pics.

Primer05 - 10k includes eng. wood flooring. It's unclear whether the cork floor will be necessary - we won't know until they tear up the old flooring. It's likely that there is concrete at the very bottom, however it is an older building and I would not be surprised if there are multiple layers of old flooring below what I can see. I want to try to maintain the existing FFE so my doors aren't floating well above the new flooring.

lad - I like your suggestion. All of my appliances are currently functional - the stove is almost brand new. I will likely splurge now on a Blomberg or Liebherr fridge - I haven't been able to find a less expensive bottom-freezer counter-depth unit as skinny as these (24" or 27"W, except for Summit, which I have not heard great things about) and the decision will affect the overall kitchen layout. The stove and DW won't change in size from what I currently have and will be easy enough to replace at a later date.

Your co-op may not permit you to move gas or water lines. Try to stick to original footprint as much as possible to keep costs down. Ikea cabinets can look great. Use ceramic or porcelain in kitchen and go for real wood floors elsewhere. It is often cheaper than engineered and will help resale. Mid-range appliances are fine. Spend on nice counters and backsplash. Do not overimprove relative to your building.