So sorry to make you all wait for the rest of the story about the contractor that I will name A.A. (give you a hint, the first word is arrogant...bet you can guess the next part!!!) Well, first I must provide you with a picture of the progress in my Living Room, it is still coming together....slowly but surely:
The crinkled piece of silk is really not that green, it has an iridescent look, with green and aqua threads. The two scalloped stands are from a recent trip to HomeGoods (always find goodies there for me!!). The Rose print is one of my mom's, as is the peely paint chest (she has great pieces of painted furniture!). The old bird cage is one I bought off of ebay, so my friend Nancy could have the stand for her chandelier...I have some of my brown transferware in it with some sweet pink birdies:
Then I have a set of Italian stacking tables that I adore (my mom gave these to me years ago, I have used them in just about every room of my home!). I really want slip covers for my two sofas, but have not found just what I am looking for at the price I want (single mom budget priced!!) something in Linen would be great.
I am thinking that eventually I will cover the shade on this little lamp (mom's) and maybe even use a chalky glaze over the wall color to soften it....time will tell on that, may just need more stuff on the walls (Lord knows I have stuff!).
OK>OK> I will get on with the story....I return on Thursday to see the cabinet progress, the painter has just a few glazed...color looks good, so I leave. On Saturday, the client calls and is having a fit about the glaze... I ask if she has called the contractor to tell him. Oh no! I am the only one she called, she thinks it is too brown, and I need to fix it...the painter told her I came by and said it was great...well, I did on Thursday when he had done just a little. Well, I guess the little guy's arm just got tired and he must have started slapping the stuff on heavy, really messy! This is what I arrived to on Monday morning, I ask for a piece of sand paper, slightly sanding the glaze on one door with fine grit paper....not helping, discuss that several parts of the cabinets appear darker than others, show him some messy edges....he says the client wants to see more of the green. Now picture this, the walls are Juniper green (a brighter shade of sage), the ceilings are a white with a hint of the sage tint ....the granite is a mix of chocolate brown, terra cotta and russet red, with an undertone of sage. The island is more russet and terra cotta in the marble color. I will have to snap a pic of it to show you later. So, the soft sage cabinets with the "too brown glaze" would have been perfect....if he had not done such a messy job and been so heavy handed. So we agree that if he rubs a sage wash over them, it might soften the color (and hopefully all the splotches and drips he has made!). At this point, I want to cry!!! It is so out of my control...what with trying to deal with this contractor and his idea of "good". While the painter is gone to get the glaze, the marble island top arrives and is ready to install. I end up pulling my copy of the cabinet plans to show them where the sink installs and to tell them where the faucet installs...duh, I think this might be the contractors job to show up for this!! Woops! I almost forgot to tell you the other part of the bad weekend that got me to whining ....my ex-husband shows up to take my son shopping for his 16th birthday on Sunday, only to announce that he is filing Bankruptcy(??????-he makes about 5 times what I do and has only himself to care for!!?????) on Monday!!!! and get this!!! He needs the info on the house for the attorney. Well, for those of you that know me and what all my divorce entailed (another soap opera all it's own!!!-really.) Truly I could have bought an SUV for what I spent on that divorce...and the one thing I fought for was the house, so my kids could grow up in the same home that they had always lived in (my thought was that it would be less chaotic for them, to have that stability in their lives, since their world was being rocked) Well, in the divorce I was awarded the house..house payment and all! but now he wants to know the mortgage company and the account number!!! So I started off very early Monday morning on the phone with my attorney and my mortgage company!!! (enough of that for now...back to the client/contractor story) just wanted to give you a real feel for the craziness of the weekend that headed into the beginning of a new week! Now, the painter comes back and applies a sample of the green glaze over the one door...I point out some "blotchy" places and say "none of this...smooth, soft). O.k., I leave the jobsite with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach!!! What do I do...how do I call the client and say "this guy does not know what he is doing..not to mention that the contractor doesn't either...they are using water base products on a job that should be done in an enamel and an oil glaze so it will last in a high traffic area. Cari is with me in the van and she is appalled at the glaze job. Now remember Cari worked for me for years when I had a faux finish business...she said I would never have let her get away with work that bad...and she is right. I am a perfectionist, I don't want one spot left that is not done right...clean edges and corners are a must. But now I am working with my hands tied behind my back....what to do????? Well, I call the client and tell her that he is making a new sample for her, but I also tell her that his work is not quite up to par...he is a painter after all and he has never done cabinets before...glazed some walls, but not cabinets. She agrees that he is not the one to do the glaze. I tell her that I have a fabulous artist that does all my faux finishes and that she would love his work. She asks me to call him and schedule for him to come redo the cabinets...now this is about 1:00. The client tells me that she will call the contractor to let him know this. I am thinking, YES, we will finally get this job rolling and looking great. So I call and schedule my guy...I also call the contractor to tell him that this is a difficult position, and that I am having my guy come on Wednesday.
OH MY GOSH!!! He was mad! He said his guy was the best and that he could do anything ( he loves to throw in that they do million dollar homes, once he even said billion dollar homes...who says that???), whatever the client wanted. He also tells me..."What do you want, for me to have my guys clean up and pack up and leave the jobsite!" I get off the phone....(sorry guys...to be continued later...I do believe I hear some yawns out there in blogland. I promise to tell more very soon! ) -Sandra
