Help me spend $50,000 I don't have, on my apt

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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NY State in its beneficence has decided to sell some of its middle-class housing units to their residents, essentially for the remaining value of the mortgages on the units. I live in one of those units, so the long and short of it is that I will become the proud owner of the two-bedroom apartment in NYC that I have been renting, by sometime next summer.

This is good news–essentially it means that I have been given six figures worth of real estate. I could win the lottery and take away less cash. The bad news is that, being a renter for the last fifteen years, I have seen fit to invest approximately nothing into the value of the place. I’ve painted it (once) and I’ve furnished it (in early horrible), but the kitchen is probably the original kitchen from 1965, the bathroom fixtures are certainly that old, the flooring is disgusting old linoleum (and in wildly different patterns in each room, to boot)–basically the place is mostly over 40 years since its last (and its first) decorating overall.

A friend has recently ballparked a new kitchen, new bathroom, new flooring and various and sundry renovations at $50,000, of which I presently have–let me check–$13.75 and whatever’s in the sofa. But since I’d like to sell it someday, and certain renovations will partly bring the selling price up, and since I wouldn’t mind living in a nice apartment for a while, it may be worth it to borrow some large chunk of money and do a moderate redecorating job.

So–where do I start? Should I read decorating magazines? If so, which ones? My lovely daughter (who turns 18 in 5 hours) suggested that I find decorating magazines that specialize in smallish apartments and frequently discuss space-saving tips --which magazines would those be? Are there books on the subject? Videos? Should I hire a decorator to give me an estimate? How do I find a good decorator? Should I talk to a contractor? Should I visit interior design stores? Are there such stores in the NYC area that cater to clients in my budget range? Would there be other steps I’m not thinking about yet?

I’ve got other logistical questions I have expressed yet, too (like “Where do I live while this is going on?” It’s not as though I can hold it in for a week or two while my bathroom is out of commission.) But that can wait. For now, it’s just “Where do I begin this process?”

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Start watching HGTV, you can get some great ideas from various shows. Design on a Dime, Color Splash, Decorating Cents and others. I love Divine Design but she tends to go high end.

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Also, try Googling terms like “decorating small spaces,” “do-it-yourself renovations,” “DIY design,” etc.

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I think if I did it myself, the place would look designed in “contemporary horrible.” Believe me, anything I can do myself, I won’t be happy with. I’m willing to pay something of a premium to make sure that my spent money will result in a place that people will look at and say “Very nice. This would be a cool place to live” rather than “Omigawd, we’d have to burn all this to the rafters and start over from scratch.”

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My advice is basically to keep it simple. Open, white-painted spaces in the living room, etc. See to it that the bathroom isn’t chock full of hidden faults (those hit you afterwards, painfully) before selling. While the people who will live there will see the furniture while it’s on show, most homebuyers with experience will be able to tell how it will look unfurnished. White, open space is a good blank canvas.

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Apartment Therapy for ideas?

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Damn, I was just going to post that. They had a contest a little while ago and a friend of mine made me register and vote for him.

Another fun little site is floorplanner.com. If you register it lets you make a spiffy little floor plan of your space.