Mayra David

More space, a solution for and a place to do some work in peace: Five New Yorkers reveal what they’d improve about their city homes, if only they could! •Office space: My husband and I both work from home from sometimes. I really wish at least one of us had an office to retreat to for conference calls, or just some peace and quiet to concentrate. And soundproofed, too, so that we aren’t disturbed by all the noise on the street, since we’re at street level. - Lisa, Washington Heights •Great outdoors: I have a view of nothing. I wish I had a better view, or at least that I had some outdoor space. I’m very happy that the building told us they will be doing this work on the roof in the future. And it would such pleasure to experience this soon before it’s too cold. But I don’t think it will be! -Verena, Park Slope

Once I had decided I couldn't stand seeing the popcorn ceiling anymore, the popcorn was all I saw. I'd walk into the bedroom and the first thing I'd do is look up and hate those tiny white globules overhead. I really wanted to get going on Operation Ceiling Coverup. My tile samples couldn't come fast enough.

Custom-made apartments, seeing less of the neighbors, and seeing more of nature. We asked five New Yorkers to share what they would change in their city dwellings, if only they could, and here's what they had to say: •Less neighborliness: I love my building, but sometimes the neighbors are too much. I’m very much the new person on the floor (six apartments per floor) so maybe I just need to get used to this co-op neighborliness. I don’t mind people asking for sugar, or asking to come in and see what I’ve done with the place. But the other day, I discovered that a note had been taped next to the building’s key pad: it was asking the FedEx or UPS person to just ring my apartment in case my neighbor wasn’t home! I don’t recall giving permission for them to do that! -Stephen, Harlem

Popcorn paint. Whoever invented it has some explaining to to do. Popcorn paint became a popular way to cover cover up cracks and thin or uneven ceilings all across the country starting in the 1950s. It is sometimes called stucco or cottage cheese. (Yes! People really call it that). Personally, I think cottage cheese is the most apt description of my bedroom ceiling: just a gloopy-looking, bumpy, white mass. What’s in it, however, can be far less benign. Popcorn paint used to be made with white asbestos fibers. Though asbestos was banned in the manufacture of ceiling treatments in 1978, suppliers were still allowed to sell their existing inventory, which lasted well into the 1980s. Builders and DIYers liked the material for several reasons, and by “several” I mean two: cheap and easy.

'Penthouse or townhouse' is a choice most of us will never be faced with, but it's still fun to think about. We asked seven New Yorkers to imagine that money was no object and they could choose between a full-service penthouse and an all-to-themselves townhouse. Here's what they had to say.