After the housing crash, in some areas, inspectors stopped including the lower level as gross living area and called it a basement because it's partly below grade. Some people ended up with houses worth a third or half (for split entries) as much as they had been. And some were unable to sell to anyone except cash buyers because many split entries have all the bedrooms on the lower level, so the houses suddenly had no bedrooms (because only rooms in the GLA get listed like that). Banks wouldn't issue mortgages. The language really only changed after Sandy, when so many people with lower level NYC brownstone flats got flooded. The value was discounted because they were no longer GLA-eligible spaces. I had a friend in DC with one of the half-underground condos split from s Georgetown town home who got screwed at the same time. Her condo's floor is 6" below grade. Guess who dug out the foundation of her split level? That would be me. (Yes, in my case, it was fine.) The language now has a clause allowing for partly below grade areas to be counted in GLA if it's customary for the area for similar structures. The Sandy thing was covered in The NY Times.

This is amazing, sockpuppetpete! I am about to do this for a small kitchen in a 2 BR apartment. Do you have any suggestions about where I should start? I am very overwhelmed. I have heard many ppl on Houzz mention IKD and Traemand. Any advice would appreciated. Thank you so much.

I would not want to walk into a couch either! How many people and kids usually use this room? Make sure to get a couch and chair with narrow armrests. The curved ones just take up to much room. A chaise is not functional. Make sure the coffee table either has shelves for storage or small ottomans in them for extra seating (if needed). Measure twice, buy once! If you have toys coming out of the toy bin - it's time to rethink the toy storage. Couches and chairs come in all sizes. Make sure not to get the "oversized" type. I see that you are a pillow person. That's fine, but it's not very functional. Each time a human sits down, they have to rearrange the pillows. Upholstered seating already has padding - it doesn't need any more! If you are looking to add the patterns that are in your pillows, do so with accessories, such as table top or wall decor items.

Does the tile run all the way down a hallway? Or is it really just the landing area? If it runs all the way, then leave the tile at the bottom. If it is just a landing, then treat it as the rest of the landing. If you are worried that black is too dark, how about more of a weathered grey (but for all of it and not just the landings). FWIW, the black wouldn’t be that much darker than the tile or marble, so that may give you some sense of it. Also, i would definitely try to mimic the plank size of your existing floors.