A comic series of non-funny events

(LEFT: the newly replaced ceiling)

Have you ever had so many things go so wrong from something that started so simply? That was my week. I did a VERY simple tile job for a neighbor in her upstairs bathroom. It still had carpet in it from the original builder, which as we all know, carpet in a bathroom, can get quite gross. So she decided she wanted basic 6x6 tile in there. Easy enough, right? That's what I thought.

I had to first remove the toilet and take out the carpet. Fine. Next the subbase of cement backerboard went down. No problem. Next, I laid the tile and grouted it with a basic white grout. All good.

Fast forward to a few days later when I get an email from her saying she doesn't like the grout and asking if I can take it out or change it. Pit in my stomach, I calm myself down and decide I can find a solution. I'm a woman afterall, and we are very clever in finding solutions. I found the grout colorant (from the previous post) and she selected a color. All is good, problem solved. Or so I thought.

A few days later, we get a message from her, the toilet is leaking and the water has made its way through the floor and into the kitchen ceiling below and the paint is bubbling up. Yikes! We go over there and replace the old water line to the toilet that had a small pinhole leak from being taken off and replaced. But now, the ceiling is a mess. I'm hoping I can just peel the paint off and drill a few holes to let it dry out, then texture and repaint. But no, it's way too wet. Next step - call a drywall professional. As he opens up the ceiling, we discover there's STILL a leak and it's a bit wetter up there than previously thought. We take the drywall down and dry it out completely, but the leak... Time to replace the valve and put a braided line on. All is good, yes? Well yes - until we turn the water main back on and nothing happens. It had snapped off inside the pipe. I have two people living in this house and looking at me for answers. Now, I have to call a plumber in. He comes out and has to completely replace the main water shut off valve. Then he checks our work upstairs and says all is good. Yeah! Time to close up the ceiling and get this job done. But wait! I go up to caulk around the base of the toilet and notice it's dripping again, NO! We call the plumber out again, and he replaces the entire valve. The washer inside was not filling the gap completely and we needed a new one. Now, with the new shut off valve on the toilet, the new main shut off valve outside and the new ceiling, all that's left to do is paint the ceiling and, oh yeah, color the grout.

Can you believe that such a simple job snowballed to such a crazy turn of events? Lessons learned:

1. Even though you discuss colors and specs with a client, ALWAYS get it in writing. We talked about white grout, but it turns out that's not what she 'really' meant.
2. ALWAYS replace the shut off valves to toilets and sinks when you re-install them, better to spend $8 than the crazy money I just had to spend.
3. Whatever you do, whatever happens - keep your cool and just get it solved. You can freak out about it later. The most important thing is that the job is handled in a professional manner and that all is taken care of to the client's satisfaction.

Tonight may call for a nice glass or two of red wine and a big long chill session. Yikes!

Hate your grout? Check this out, you'll love me!

Ok, so I have a friend who just purchased a new home and of course, sunk all her money into getting the most home for her buck. But, she's going to have to live with some of the, um let's say, yuckiness, of it for a while. One of the key pieces of 'are you serious?' is that the kitchen countertop has off white tiles with navy blue grout! Really? What were they drinking when they decided this? Butt brown cabinets with dirty tile counters and a preppy navy blue grout. If I haven't said it outright yet, YUCK!

Well, in looking for a solution to another, um, issue I came across this grout colorant. The interesting thing is that this actually penetrates your grout to change the color. Like acid washing your driveway to tint it, this is a similar, yet much smaller scale process. I've seen websites that suggest painting your grout, bad idea - it'll totally flake off.

I haven't yet tried this (will do in the next few weeks) so I'm not sure how well it works but all signs seem to point to good. I'll re-post and let you know. One of the mottos I'm bound and determined to obliterate is, "You can't polish a turd." Um, do you think diamonds are as beautiful when the first come out of the Earth? I thought not.

Bee Hives Aren't Just for Hair-dos

Sometimes you have to work at it.

I initially found a really cool shelving unit, pitched it to my client as a key piece in his 'men's dressing room' that I was designing and he fell in love with it too. Finally, it's time to order it and LITERALLY the day before, someone came in and bought the store out of that sku completely. What's a Huh? Girl to do? Search and search and search until you find (if not the exact same) something that will do just as well if not better in the space - and for less money! There's a really cool site out there called Opulent Items but they're not all out of reach.

So moral of the story, don't give up. You can end up impressing your client (or yourself) more than you initially thought and have a bigger impact. If I haven't said it lately, I'll say it now - I LOVE THE INTERNET! I can get so much done and shop the entire United States in a single afternoon. Ah, nice.

Ah, the joy of design - kitchen design even

So, I'm designing a kitchen for a client - however, it's quite a challange. Rather than refacing cabinets, or gutting the entire room, they want to reuse most of their existing cabinets and just rearrange them. Easier said than done! It's like a crazy, twisted puzzle that just doesn't make sense. However, after getting my new favorite friend, Plan 3D - baby, I got this!

Here's the proposed design, we're adding a rolling butcher block island for additional counter space that can be rolled out of the area when not needed and also has plenty of storage. Plus, the flooring will be this new cushy flooring tile, solid surface countertops, a new decorative range hood with spice shelves on either side and more. Can't wait to see if they actually bite! (colors of cabinets denote current, modified and new - so don't pay any attention to them).