Yoy, what a mess we are in! This brain storm was conceived last August and as far as brain storms go; this was a bute! Notice already there are 2 exclamation marks....there will be more for sure. How did this all start you might wonder. Well this is where it all began.
During our winters "down south" we occassionally go and look at new home ideas in some of the better developments. I found myself ooing and ahhhing at the new and wonderful design ideas every time I went on one of these excursions. Funny thing was, the interiors of the homes we were looking at were in homes a fifth of what our house if valued at. Hmmm, what to do? Maybe we "have one more house in us" so off we went looking at waterfront homes for sale that were potentially a "tear downs" so we could build one more time. We saw a couple of potentials but each and every time we came home and drove through our gate and down our scenic 1/4 mile driveway, we'd look at each other and exclaim "What on earth are we thinking!!!!!!!!" See, I said there'd be more. So the renovation plan was hatched.
In came a designer from Vancouver; a birthday gift from my well meaning husband. My first thought was "how's this supposed to work?" If there is a problem how will he get here pronto and sort it out? Long story short, it was a very bad idea....period! So far he not been much help and sashays in on a Friday night on his way to his Island retreat in Deep Cove. He's a nice enough guy but I'm tired of hearing him say, "Let just have some fun!" Fun, he says! Bloody hell, this is a nightmare!
So there we were, Fall had set in and we wanted to go south. Again my well meaning husband says "I'll get all the trades organized and we'll get out of this mess for awhile" HA! Off we go with the intention on returning once before Christmas to check on things. We return, and not much has been done. Go figure! We again leave the trades with a renewed zeal to "get the worst of the job down before we come home again in January" HA! Bloody hell! By the way, I have to thank my British brother for that wonderful statement....it works well for a lot of circumstances.
We had a lovely Christmas "down south" with our daughter, her husband and two other couples that are close friends from Victoria. We all return before New Year to check on the job. HA again! After an intense and stressful 3 weeks at home, off we fly again "down south" to decompress. The next trip home my well intending husband returns alone; I'm done! I don't care if it gets finished or what it looks like, all I know is I'm done! At this point I'm planting "sell the bloody thing" seeds.
Well intending husband returns "down south" with some samples for my approval. Two boards of examples of the venetian plaster colour and texture and a piece of iron with the colour of what he has determined to be what I want. Oh my God! Where is this man's brains! He took a sample piece of metal that was in the salesman's words "Not a good representation of the light fixture you've ordered for the foyer." I said "If the metal looks anything like that, I don't want the fixture!" So here it is, the pickets (whatever the upright bits of the stair railings are called) A DEAD MATCH!!!!! Where is this man's brains? Thank goodness I could jump into the pool and cool down.
After our Spring Break gang had left, we went out to find a metal sample that would convey to the finisher what colour I wanted so he could go ahead and finish the "picket thingies". First place, found a cabinet pull exactly what I wanted. Not in stock; 6-8 weeks for delivery; I only want one; talked the guy into selling the piece off the board and paid the rush delivery of a replacement. $7.00 for the sample, $20.00 for the delivery. OK that's OK. Off we go to send it FedX overnight rush so the finisher can get it done before we get home. $68.00 to send it home. Bloody hell..........oh well, at least he'll have it and can't blame us for holding up the job.
Finally we get home to what was supposed to look like this. All the woodwork would be finished; sanded, base coated, glazed with 2 coats of finish lacquer....furniture grade (well meaning husband's brain child) The ceilings would be painted, the dining room coffers and beams would be gilded and treated to 9 different processes, the stair case would have hardwood instead of carpet treds and the "upright thingies" and hand rail would be finished, the raw hardwood would be down waiting for our return to oversee the colour and finishing of the floor. All that would remain to do would be for the floor to be antiqued and stained and the venetian plaster to be done. HA again!!!!!!!!
What did we see, you might wonder? Not a lot more than when we left!!!!!
See, I told you you'd see a lot of exclamation marks. Better than the alternative @#!&*@% Phew, that felt better. So here we are, two weeks home and in a big dusty, noisy mess with probably another 2 to 3 months more of this. To top things off, the "fancy" furniture grade, extremely expensive paint process on the trim work (which there is a lot of) looks yellow!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG, all I can say is when the plaster colour and the floor colour are in place it better change the way the trim looks!!!!
So there you have it. Nightmare on Oceanwood Lane!
