What would YOU do with this bland looking New York apartment to make it look good....AND make it homey and a nice place to live?

The bland parquet floors need to be replaced with a dark long wood, then some modern furniture pieces put in.

[quote]The bland parquet floors need to be replaced with a dark long wood

Fuck that, I'd carpet it.

Paint the walls in some colors that would make it feel inviting. Too much white is going on.

I would go full 1950's retro. Seriously. With a layout like that, I'd just go with the flow.

R4 Or:

I agree. Color needed. Very good built in bookshelves. No piles of books all over the place for me.

R5 I find with certain typically undesirable elements for today's trends (wood paneling, cross hatch and linoleum floors, busy wallpaper, etc.), that some people think are too dated, going in that direction full force is sometimes the best answer. More:

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I live in NYC, and it amazes me that a $2.5mm apartment has cheap, press board kitchen cabinets.

Ridiculously high maintenance in a post-war building, i.e., concrete, institutional building.

It needs different area rugs, some color that isnt washed out, vomit green, furniture from this decade (or many decades ago) that grandma hasn't been using covers to keep them looking nice.

I'm liking plaid, green and red rugs, now. I like the look of cream predominantly in a room against a striking rug.

Imperial House is for NYC's upper crust.

WHY oh why are we discussing this fucking apartment again, when the other tread did it handily.

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I wouldn't go for the 60s retro look people are posting at all.

I'd go for a much more classical look.

I want an idealized, "Grandparents" house, now. I look at the sets on shows like "Dennis the Menace", "I Love Lucy" and "Leave it to Beaver" and I'm impressed at how well they did spare, in the '50s and early '60s.

The ideal home looked cozy but not cluttered, sleek but with historical elements and a cultural nod. Rarely too clinical or stuffy. It was also a very livable period for interior design. Tough, simple fabrics, nothing too precious or museum like.

i would burn it out and go 80's squatter chic with chandeliers and furniture made of junk.

I would go for a high class country manor look like this.

Those places R15, they never seemed to own a single book....most of us have so much more 'stuff' now.

& I personally like my stuff around me...and that included DVDs etc.

I don't care how frou-frou this makes me sound but a room can go from "austere" to "cozy" with simple, plain Priscilla curtains. You have to avoid going chintz on everything else or it will too ridiculous looking, though.

I would mirror one wall to add some refinement, put a nice wood ceiling fan to add character with matching wood wall panels. Then have some knick-knacks around to give it a more homey feel, framed with some soft pink curtains for a touch of class.

That looks like a motel in Kentucky, in 1960, R17.

1930's interiors were wonderful, too. My favorite film sets are from 1930's films. Go with the overwhelmingly creamy-white palette with black elements, then to make it more casual, go for classic English check/watch drapes.

Oh, I see...you were kidding.

R18 They all had libraries, offices, dens or parlors that included libraries. People had priority areas to display books because that was a status symbol for Middle Class Americans; encyclopedia sets, books. Town libraries were also more frequently used.

R25 The go-to backdrop for tv program introductions, was the den/office library:

Needs more color.

Remove wall between kitchen and dining room. Put in a modern handle-free smoked oak kitchen with Gaggenau appliances. Keep the walls white. Put in 50's Danish architectural furniture. Integrated light system. 100% hidden STEALTH speakers. Art work by Yang Shaobin and Yue Minjun. No open bookshelves (e-books anyone?) all books etc behind doors. As few lamps as possible. As little clutter and knick-knacks as possible.

R17 Actually, there are some nice elements in the bicentennial, 1970's colonial revival trend in The US. Although I'd update aspects of it, some ideas are still attractive.

The use of a primarily cream, sepia, stone or mustard base, with intense hints of rust, ochres, and greens (like found in old needlepoint samplers from the 1700's), always exudes coziness.

The ceilings are too low to do anything other than it's own time period - mid century - or go minimalist. There just no height to do anything too involved. It'd look good with a Bewitched makeover, simple clean lines, limited muted palette (ochre, teal, sage, grey), knock down the wall between kitchen and dining room, get some fabulous retro Danish light fittings, maybe some plantation shutters on the windows to make it cosier.

NO OPEN KITCHENS! I don't need the whole house to smell when cooking!

New cabinetry, backsplash, countertops and flooring in kitchen. Why not go with wide plank flooring in the rest and add some fucking color. Adding colors and textures might help "de-box" the joint. It's a perfectly nice pad, there's nothing some taste can't fix!

For starters, I'd move. $2.500,000 for that?????

Strip the floor and stain in a silvered gray with a high gloss finish.

The walls shoud go the palest grassy green.

Furniture should go low wide rounded modern.

Color should come from paintings.

Tear out the kitchen. Put in apartment-sized sink, stove, fridge with one free-standing cabinet for stuff.

I'd buy this instead

I'd definitely handle those pathetic rows of windows with full wall-length curtains like at r5 and r8. Put a piece of long furniture under them just like they did, too.

God, that house is gorgeous, r34 (though I would quibble with some of the design choices).

Too bad it's in Detroit.

It's New York and there's no clutter? No piles of books everywhere, or paintings leaning against the walls?

R21 - your suggestion is beyond delicious!

There is just so much to commend you upon your good taste with that room. I like the use of clean spaces to highlight the collections and the utterly gorgeous curtains which set off the fine ceiling fan.

Well done!

I have been following the detroit real estate listings for a year now. There are some gorgeous old mansions once owned by auto industry magnates which are in disrepair now, but their bones are magnificent. If you have 200K to put into improvements, and resale is of no interest to you(I'm the end of the line in my family, so everything's going to charity anyway) it would be fun to have a lovely grand home which would be 3 million in Charleston or Georgetown for a little over half a million.

I too am quite inspired by R21. Do you think I could replace the porcelain angels with commemorative snow globes and souvenir spoons? I'm not particularly religious.

R21 looks like a place Kim Davis would call home.

Attn NYers: What does "full-service building" mean?

Does the doorman do you coming and going?

They would be equally classy R40. You should certainly try to infuse your own personality in your decorating!

[quote]I have been following the detroit real estate listings for a year now. There are some gorgeous old mansions once owned by auto industry magnates which are in disrepair now, but their bones are magnificent. If you have 200K to put into improvements, and resale is of no interest to you (I'm the end of the line in my family, so everything's going to charity anyway) it would be fun to have a lovely grand home which would be 3 million in Charleston or Georgetown for a little over half a million.

R39, thinking about resale would, in fact, be the ONLY reason to buy one of those Detroit mansions. If you wait it out 10 -20 years, the city could turn around and you could get rich from the investment. But to buy to actual live in it would be like committing suicide. It's a war zone there.

You forgot to say “Tasteful Friends,” OP.

You need to go white white, or pick a color. Off white, cream, beige and taupe is death. Clean white walls and freshly done floors, people like CLEAN.

New appliances.

Are you trying to rent this out? The furniture is awful.

It's not that bad. You need to clean it. Clearly, you need to get better furniture. Get plants. Better art.

If you are asking what to redo, I would take down that wall and gut that kitchen. You did not post the bathrooms.