Numbers 3, 4, and 5

Well, so far THIS week we have met with General Contractors (G.C. from now on) number 3 (Dave), number 4 (Bob), and have received a call from number 5 (Brian). Five out of five - - pretty impressive!

Number 3, Dave, had been recommended to us by Rob, our architect. He, like the others before him, was pretty darned impressive. Same with number 4, Bob. AND - - from what I have heard about Brian, his work is excellent.

So far not a "clinker" in the bunch. You are NOT making it easy for us to make a decision here, fellas!

Once we meet with Brian next Monday evening, it will be time to wait for the bids to start coming in before we can seriously start the decision-making process.

In the meantime, it's time to start in with the business of looking at flooring (hardwood, tile, carpeting, and so on) and getting pricing on windows and doors. I'm also going to start looking over a set of floor plans and start deciding on room colors and type of faux finish I want in each (color wash, sponging, ragging, etc.). That will keep us busy, and then some.

GOOD NEWS!! My artist friend, Jessica, has agreed to help me paint the kitchen!

I had been trying to figure out exactly how I wanted my kitchen to be designed, but was not satisfied with anything I had seen so far. I didn't know what I wanted, but knew it was out there somewhere - - I just had to FIND it!

Well - - last weekend, it happened - - in fact, it fell right in my lap.

In her old shop, Jessica had painted a mural on the walls of an old stone wall, very Italian in style. When my friends and I were there last Saturday, Betty happened to mention that it would look good painted in a kitchen, to make it look very Tuscan. Suddenly something inside my head went, "DING!!!". A Tuscan kitchen!!

I didn't say anything to her at the time, but I talked it over with hubby Steve when I got back home. He loved the idea! Then we started talking about having glass doors in the cupboards, and following through with the Tuscan theme by having grapevines etched on them. I also found very pretty, delicate grapevine swags for the tops of the windows in one of many mail order catalogs that find their way into our mailbox daily.

The more we thought about it, the more we liked it.

So - - Tuesday I made a call to Jessica and broached the idea with her about "commissioning" her next summer to paint the murals. She thought it was a great idea! So now the next time I see her, we need to talk about colors and such, and get it all planned out. It will be VERY unique!

Thanks for stopping by - - Stay tuned . . . . .