Another Renovation Question

Hello all, Here’s another obligatory “how much will my reno cost?” post. If you would indulge me…. Building: Prewar, 20-story, upper east side (72nd St), doorman, pets allowed, w/d allowed, thu-wall AC allowed (??), right now has subway construction work outside. Unit: 1 bedroom, second floor (no residents underneath), about 750sf (advertised as 800sf), all rooms windowed, south facing,... [more]

Hello all, Here’s another obligatory “how much will my reno cost?” post. If you would indulge me…. Building: Prewar, 20-story, upper east side (72nd St), doorman, pets allowed, w/d allowed, thu-wall AC allowed (??), right now has subway construction work outside. Unit: 1 bedroom, second floor (no residents underneath), about 750sf (advertised as 800sf), all rooms windowed, south facing, overlooking the Street (not Avenue), layout is bedroom on one side, livingroom on the other, with bath and kitchen in the middle (galley kitchen, with a space for small dining area), 1 coat/entryway closet, 1 linen closet (adjacent to bathroom), 1 closet in bedroom, wall-to-wall carpet in the bedroom, kitchen and bath are tiled (kitchen has slightly raised floor and dropped ceiling), the rest of the apartment is hardwood flooring (basic parquet). Reno: Not really gut but changing much of the stuff: Kitchen and bath redo, including new appliances (mid range, except for the refrigerator and stove, which will probably be more mid-to-high end), new fixtures (nothing too fancy); nothing moved around in bath, however the kitchen MAY involve the moving/extending some branch lines to accommodate a bigger space & more appliances, and I’m fine with non-custom cabinets if they can work and are relatively solid and decent-looking (people keep trying to sell me on IKEA, but I dunno…). Would love to replace flooring with something dark and wide-plank (would like to price out engineered vs. solid, but don’t care TOO much either way), this includes ripping up the wall-to-wall in the bedroom; install 2 thru-wall ACs, one in the LR and one in the bedroom; install washer dryer combo unit in the linen closet (adjacent to bathroom, but this closet is quite shallow… I am hoping we don’t have to make it deeper which would involve reworking a small portion of a non-structural wall in bedroom) with shelving above; smooth, re-skimcoat, and paint all walls (they’re in OK shape now… no major cracks or anything); get rid of 1 archway (from entryway into LR) and replace with standard square frame; create and replace 2 stylish but simple radiator covers for LR and bedroom; hang flatscreen TVs in the LR and bedroom with in-wall wiring; install overhead lighting in the LR and bedroom, redo coat/entryway closet and bedroom closet; install stylish but simple wainscoting in the LR, and install crown molding throughout. Questions: How much would costs be? Do I need a designer? Or will an architect do? Can I get away without filing DOB permits? What’s the best way to go about finding a good designer for this type of job? Any recommendations welcome… Thanks all, hope everyone is staying warm :) [less]