Well, here we are again. Getting ready for another client. Again, it is something that we have never done before (and sometimes we do regret tackling this kind of stuff). We are picking up and finishing a partially-completed project. A previous faux-painter stopped this project at around the 30% completion mark, and the client was not able to get this person to respond to phone calls. Strange.
So a realtor (who will put this house on the market shortly) saw our website and phoned us. Our pages on that site are very out of date, but I have been unwilling to pay someone else to do the updates. So we live with this outdated site. Drummer met with the realtor and took photos, and then we reviewed them. But since I will be doing the grunt (okay, the creative) work on this one, I wanted to see the place myself. And that's how we started last weekend, by meeting at the client's home with the realtor on Saturday. We gave an estimate and then waited. It seems the client had, on her own, contacted someone that she knew for an estimate, too. Well, our estimate was about 1/3rd of what the other faux person quoted, so we got the nod. Now we will have to try to do an antiquing finish on kitchen cabinets, using oil-based paint. We have never used oil-based before, but the only problems will be disposal of rags - we'll have to go to a hazardous-materials disposal site. Since the original faux-ing was started with oil-based paint, we are rather forced into using the same type of product. We prefer latex - less toxic, easy cleanup, etc.
This is a home owned by an NBA veteran player. I had to look up his name on the internet. He has been playing for several years and gets an - ahh - let's just use the word "ample" compensation for his endeavors. The home is about 7,000 square feet and of course is beautifully decorated. I have not seen most of the home, but Drummer was given a tour of it by the realtor, after we had been given the go-ahead on the project. The property is gated, and there are two 2-car garages (yes, they have 2 cars in each, and they are not used Hondas) plus another vehicle parked under the port cochere. This basketball player does not play for Houston - he is with another team, in another state. Long story about why they bought the house, and about why they are selling it now. The realtor said that they are a very nice couple to work with (and I am sure that this is NOT true of all moneyed folks). I read good things about this player on the 'net, including his family upbringing. It is interesting to see how the upper 2% live. All this stuff for a home that they only occupy for 2 - 4 times a year, when they come to see his wife's family. I can't imagine what their primary home must look like.
So we figure that this will be a 2-day job (hopefully, no more than that) and we will tackle it on Friday (Good Friday) and Saturday. Not that we had big plans for Easter, anyway - but we will now have to try to plan our meal and buy the stuff ahead of time. I am so glad that Drummer is a capable grocery shopper and can do that without me being there. It will be easier to get ready for the weekend this way.
We wanted to practice using oil-based paints, and Drummer had (a few months ago) snagged several cabinet doors that Home Depot was tossing out. He's putting a base coat or two on two of the doors, and then I can practice with the paint, applying the oil-based stuff with a brush and then wiping it off. I think I will be sick of the paint smell after this weekend. I would never use it in my own home.
Well, need to bring this to a halt. Gotta leave early for a blood test. I take anti-coagulants (okay, blood thinners to most) and have to get that level checked to make sure that I won't throw a clot off my artificial heart valve or that I won't bleed to death internally, either. There's a magic number that I aim for: 2.5 to 3.5. I have been much, much lower (clotting danger!) and a few times much, much higher (bleeding danger - don't want to cut my legs shaving, when this happens) . All kinds of things can skew these numbers: prescription antibiotics, infections, Tylenol or Advil, broccoli or spinach, and then sometimes I don't have a clue as to what happened.
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