$6 Million for the Co-op, Then Start to Renovate

[Herman Munster]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/business/06renovate.html?em&ex=1191988800&en=27969812b88dc9dd&ei=5087%0A

Julia Kim rapped her spiked Gucci heels along the floor of a Midtown furniture showroom earlier this year as she approached a $30,000 custom wraparound couch that will be the centerpiece of the Manhattan co-op apartment she plans to share with her fiancé, Stephen Rushmore.

With advice from Mr. Rushmore and their decorator, John Barman, Ms. Kim deliberated for more than half an hour over details like the density of the cushions, the number of pillows and the height of the seating.

This purchase was just one of many steps in the journey that began more than a year ago when Mr. Rushmore, a consultant, and Ms. Kim, a former banker who left her job to concentrate full time on renovating the new apartment, decided to buy a duplex just off Park Avenue for $6 million.

Indeed, even after paying top dollar for a luxury apartment, most buyers see the need for more work. Like Mr. Rushmore and Ms. Kim, they often embark on costly and lengthy renovations intended to reflect not only their own taste but also their ambitions to find a perch in the social and economic swirl of today’s Gilded Age.

[Ellen Forradalom]

1. eat them

spit the bones out.

[madrchsod]

2. hmmm and you can only eat half a hamburger.....

[rug]

3. first roast them slowly

[Cerridwen]

4. .

:spray:

:rofl:

:rofl:

[TahitiNut]

5. (What SHE said!)

:rofl:

[NBachers]

6. Yup, well, I agree with the statements here,

but, just the same, the full New York view from the deck is pretty breathtaking . . .

[Mutineer]

7. When you have that kind of money. . .

paying that kind of dough for a sofa or whatever is like us going down to the flea market or a garage sale. Sure it's a waste but that's how the super-rich spend their dough. Look at it this way-at least their little renovation projects employ people who really need the dough and helps to create jobs. That's about the only good thing about spending that kind of obscene amounts on apartments and redecorating, etc.