Master Bedroom: Before and After
Posted by Rey
Here’s the master bedroom before and after (the original is a really bad shot but gets the point across. That there on the floor is plywood after ripping up the carpets). Haven’t put up pictures so the walls look a little bare. Read the rest of this entry »
Stairs: Before and After
Posted by Rey
So here’s the hardwood stairs project when I started it (simply removing carpets to install new ones, realizing that there was gorgeous hardwood there) and after it (stripping, sanding, staining and refinishing).
Surge Protection from Power Trips
Posted by Rey
Sometimes, our personal opinions surge and we bandy them about. Favorite colors, the perfect movie, the right book, the concept of what “pops”, the proper way to cook—on and on. Opinions are a pretty common thing until one person has the power to enforce their opinion. For example: You pay me to paint rooms. You like blue and hate mauve. I bring you a room painted mauve you will hate it. You might think every color I pick stinks until I paint the room blue. And I have to capitulate because I can’t enforce my opinion. Read the rest of this entry »
Painting the Town
Posted by Rey
Stop. Do not go to your local paint shop. You are not ready. You might have your tools all set up and your finishes all picked out—but your missing one of the most important details: what brand of paint to use. Read the rest of this entry »
Tired and True
Posted by Rey
Tiredness comes in several forms and are more easily embraced than others. What are the levels of tiredness—let me list the ways. Read the rest of this entry »
Satin, Semi-Gloss: Which Paint Finish Do I Choose?
Posted by Rey
You planned your room design with care. You spent countless hours poring over color swatches and room décor magazines. With organized folder, selected swatches and cash in hand you step to the paint counter at your local shop and present your genius before the store clerk, fully expecting his showers of praise. Instead, with a vacant stare he asks a question that makes your quivering mouth look like a gasping fish out of water: “what kind of finish would you like?” Read the rest of this entry »
American Idol and Train Wrecks
Posted by Rey
This post has nothing to do with train wrecks. Train wrecks are horrible things. When over fifty tons of steel and glass are hurled down feeble tracks at speeds as high as one hundred and sixty miles per hour towards a wall or a similar oncoming vehicle, everyone should be scared. Or horrified. A similar reaction should also be reserved for the folk on American Idol. Read the rest of this entry »
TTFN New York
Posted by Rey
I cherish the mosaic of people who became part of my life: my family (who I hardly see but constantly think about), my college buddies (whose one year get-togethers feel like we’re still in school), my work friends (who I lunched and hung out with every day for seven years). All of them came together in this town, New York, where I was born and bred. But as New York natives gather around with pointed questions about my exodus, I’ve began to memorize my answers so as to save them some trouble. Read the rest of this entry »