Return customers

This is an especially busy time for decorators/designers. As the weather gets warmer, people are asking for advice on renos big and small.

Clients I met with in October of last year asked me to come by for a new consult. Christine and Pierre were regulars at our restaurant and became friendly with the hubby and me. They liked my aesthetic and when it came time to renovate their kitchen, they gave me a call. They have good taste and  I was excited to be a part of their project. They had done work in the rest of the apartment but had left the kitchen pretty much as it was when they moved in. The space was nice but definitely needed updating. Also, there was a giant pantry that stuck out in the space like crazy, creating a real visual barrier between the kitchen side and the future breakfast-nook area. This meant that the back area was dead weight – not being used properly, if at all.

My number one suggestion at the time was for them to get rid of the pantry. It ate up way too much of the space, making the space between it and the outside wall a useless corridor. And that flooring – nobody liked that. My idea was to knock the pantry down and make the future long-wall the stove, sink and all lower cabinets wall. Then, put all the tall pieces (fridge, pantry, tall cabinetry) on the current sink/dishwasher wall pictured below:

   Pierre, Christine and Terry

I put them in contact with a contractor I work with often, Terry Lalos. And then we found out that the pantry was a sustaining wall. Double yuck. Terry got them a structural engineer. And that’s where my initial involvement ended. The cost of removing the pantry and adding beams was pretty much their budget right there. Unfortunately for me, this happens in my line of work quite a bit. My ideas for a space’s layout can end up costing the client more and then there is little money left over for the fun stuff: the tile, paint, fixtures, cabinetry, counters, furniture. Little money left over to afford a decorator (sad face). Basically, this line of work won’t make me rich anytime soon, much to my mother’s chagrin. But I can not tell a client in good conscience to live with something I find ugly or impractical so that I can be sure to have money left in a budget for me. So, that is sort of what happened with Christine and Pierre. They decided to rethink and also reexamine their finances. The cost of the structural work meant that they would also have to do a lot more work themselves. I didn’t hear from them again until two weeks ago, when I received an email from Christine asking for advice. In the end they had had the pantry removed and beams put in. She wanted me to come by and approve her plans. And then I didn’t. At least not exactly.

   where the giant pantry used to be

Christine had laid out a plan that worked well for her. But it wasn’t perfect. The problem being that when they had removed the pantry, the engineers added crazy giant beams. The North/South axis was fine, it just created a contour to the space but the West to East beam broke the space in a weird corridor, too close to the wall to make much sense or to be used in a decorative way. Another twist: they are expecting a baby (yay!) so needed to add a home-office space to the kitchen as their current office was becoming the baby’s room.

  now the giant beams live here

So because of the beam placement, I flipped her plan around. All the lower pieces (stove, sink, dishwasher, desk) needed to be on the wall I’d originally suggested – the long wall. Tall pieces (pantry, fridge) needed to go on the current sink wall. I felt a little bad doing that; she had thought about her way a lot and was satisfied with her design. But those beams were in the way of making it look good, in my opinion. Sometimes you can impose your will on a space, sometimes the space speaks to you. And sometimes a structural engineer makes the decisions. After poring over her plans, we came up with what I think will be a more logical use of the space, one that takes the new reality into account. I’m happy with where it is going and I’m super excited to see it come together. Christine is not only lovely but also knows what she likes, has a real sense of space and good taste. The problem here was a curve-ball thrown by the beams and, sometimes, living in the midst of the renos means that you are too close to it all. She just needed a fresh set of eyes. I’m glad she asked for mine.

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