apartment remodel - look for interior designer or architect first?

7 years ago

We are planning to do a complete remodel of our new home, which is spacious, but a mix of worn out '60s fixtures and less than optimally done '90s and 2000s DIYs. New floors, kitchen and two bathrooms and would like some input on layout changes. It's an apartment with concrete ceiling and floors, however, so we're not going to be moving plumbing or doing too much with wiring (although I think there might be a lot of surprises behind the walls, on that front...) Anyhow, I'd like to work with a professional to get a cohesive and contemporary look and am trying to figure out who to talk to first - interior designer, architect, look for a good contractor?

I've done smaller renovations before in previous places - bathrooms, partial kitchens, but that was more a matter of talking to neighbors about contractors they liked and then working with the conractors' suppliers to pick out fixtures. But, I'm not quite sure where to start, here. Any suggestions?

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Comments (3)

PRO
JudyG Designs
7 years ago
Is your space a loft?

Talk to your building manager first. See what suggestions he has. All that concrete leads me to believe changing out plumbing would be an issue.

You may have an abutter who wants to do a bathroom reno and if you share a wall the cost could be significantly lower.

My daughter found out from her manager there was an architect in the building who had done several of the apartments before and she knew everything there was to know about the building. My daughter hired her and then all the people who worked for the manager. Clean, neat and fast were the results.
mmcgee2
Original Author
7 years ago
Talking to management is smart, thanks! There are some architects that live in the building and their opinions on subcontractors would probably also be good to solicit.

That said, no it's not as cool as a loft - just a big '60s concrete building (it's parquet over concrete on the floors). That's why I don't think we'll be moving plumbing (it's some of the wiring I think may present surprises when we open the walls) but does mean that there aren't really any load bearing walls inside, so we can reconfigure the space (minus plumbing) relatively flexibly.
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loobab
7 years ago
Please keep up updated with photos along the way.