Collaboration

It may not have taken a village to remodel our home, but it took a bunch of us!

First among the helpers was our Ethan Allen lady who gave me some great ideas to work with. I'm certain without her help, you'd be looking at carpet because it never occurred to me to use the pavers. My golly, they are beautiful! There was nothing fun about the week of mess, but as Lisa kept reminding me, it would all be worth it. I fully intended to purchase something from EA when I went into the store asking for help, however, to date, nothing has come from there. Aside from the two chairs, a little table, and the new media cabinet, we are using what we had, albeit in updated fabrics. Additionally she suggested I put the curtains aside the french doors, another great idea that I'd never thought of. I love how it pulls the whole room together.

The tiling guys were awesome, keeping things as neat as possible with a spectacular finished product. They were proud of themselves as they should be. A little history on the tile boxes describes how sometimes there are animal prints in the tiles because after forming them they bake in the sun. Occasionally animals walk through leaving their mark. We are the proud owners of two such tiles strategically placed for maximum viewing! Very fun.

Timing was on our side as well. Matt changed his arrival time to 6:30 on Wednesday evening. The guys finished grouting around 7:30 and said the grout sets up immediately. You know Matt, he loves a project, and if you need someone to help you with same, you could not do better than Matt. We began moving the furniture to the spaces you'd seen previously, however, Matt was not happy with the sofa in front of the door, suggesting we make a second seating area on the other side of the room. Wow, wow, wow! Perfect! So there was yet another partner. If you can imagine I stayed up until 1:00 that night because I was so excited. Another thing he's amazing at is vignettes. Creating little treats for the eye comes naturally to him as you've probably seen in the past. I've no shame in taking advantage of his skills!

I've got to thank the guy at "Something Different", the store where I purchased the chairs. He mentioned that a fabric store near Florida Mall carried cool fabric and indeed they did. In the past I'd seen the place, but thought it was junky. Not so. One of the rugs came from there, the drapery rods, as well as all of the fabrics. I can't wait to see my orange zebra stripe on that antique chair! As well, he gave me the name of an upholsterer who has yet to work for me, but he comes highly regarded.

Bruce. Where would we be without him? He took the red eye home from California, arriving around 9 on Friday morning. Immediately he went to work cutting off the bottoms of SIX doors! Let me tell you those french doors are heavy, heavy, heavy. Next he put up three rods, only collapsing for a little nap mid-afternoon. I may not have told you about the media cabinet I got for $30 at my local thrift store. I was there donating things when I saw it. Because I donate so much, the man said I could have it for the aforementioned $30, instead of the $75 price tag. I have to thank David for coming over and helping me get it in the house during the rain three weeks ago. I don't know what I was thinking, when I told them I'd take it home in the Element. Although it fit fine, once home, I realized it had to come out. Fortunately Dave is a strong man, carrying most of the weight as we got it just inside the door. After Bruce spray painted it a gorgeous satin brown espresso color, it not only looks fantastic, but it's keeping some of my clutter out of sight. Unintentionally I hurt Bruce's feelings when I asked him why he was cutting a hole in the back. Duh!!! For all the cord clutter Gail...

Marhsalls, Ross, and TJMaxx played their part as well, but you knew that already, didn't you? Great lamp find at Marshalls!

So, if you haven't peeked already, here it is:

Not completely done, but we're getting there. I'm hoping we'll have our first dinner party for Bill and Dave's 31st birthday which is just around the corner.

Just prior to Matt's leave taking on Sunday, the table was in use for a game of Scrabble. I took a thrashing.

Polasek time my friends...no time for editing if you'll forgive me...