Mr. Sign told me a funny story about our tilers/painters/workers. Apparently they asked him if he knew me well. He said we’d worked together a few times, so well enough. They then told him that I’m famous and have written books on design (?!). I thought they had been looking at me funny, now I know why. You’d think that working for such a big shot would mean they would do what I ask more. Clearly, that is not the case. So apparently being a big shot wouldn’t change my professional life all that much. Anyway, here are some butcher shop updates:
The tables from “Skidoo Daniel” arrived. They are massive 4’x10′ stainless steel with shelving beneath and maple tops. Here is Lou perched on top, striking a pensive pose. Sefi will sand the tops and we need to find some missing casters for a few of the legs. I love them! They will eat up a fair chunk of space which is not a bad thing in this case.
Speaking of things that take up big chunks of room, the walk-in fridge is installed and it is HUGE. But also pretty great. It will have a large window so that customers will be able to see hanging carcasses. Awesome.
Walking in the basement, I saw this table that Sefi had bought for 100$. I think we may use it for the cash. I’m not 100% sold on the idea because there is always a fine line between too matchy-matchy and too eclectic and jumbled. Using this makes us lean towards the matchy side of things – stainless tables, wood tops. What we need to find is a piece of furniture that can be slid beneath it for storage (paper, bags, stamps etc). Once I find something in a different style/finish, I think I’ll be good with using this one. It is quite beautiful.
We went dumpster diving next. Well, not really – we just went to a couple of spots that have jumbles of antiques/junk/hardware. Our haul was pretty great at Eco Reno:
We got a bathroom light, a latch lock for the bathroom door, a bathroom mirror and a beautiful black top for a stair rail that we’ll use as a paperweight. Or something. It’s so pretty and shiny – I love it. But then the real winner, the coup de grâce, was this stand alone, enamel, double sink:
My life and work partner, Ethan, had the idea to sell oysters at the shop as well. Some drain stoppers, bags of ice and voilà! A perfect oyster home and beautiful enough to be at the front of house.
Meanwhile, the paint is going up on the walls. They still need to do a couple of coats but you can get the basic idea. I love, love, love the Onyx on the mouldings.
So now our missing pieces are stools for the counter (maybe 10), waiting area seating, some kind of storage unit for below the cash table and a surface (table? cabinet?) to put the coffee maker on. The final piece of the puzzle will be the u-shaped counter for customers to have their sandwiches at. The design is slowly coming together, now I just need to figure out how much it will all cost. All in all, we are in good shape.
On my way home I realized that my favourite t-shirt of the last couple of months (from Anthropologie), is basically our wall colour which leads me to believe that I really have a one-track mind. Then again, maybe that’s what you need to have to become a big shot designer that writes books.
xa
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