Isn't it funny how opportunity sometimes falls right in your lap? I had been thinking for a long time that if a first floor unit should become available, I should jump on it. I couldn't see me spending my old age climbing up stairs w/ groceries & such. Not that I would be able to; nor did I want to. Well in Feb., after 2 years, the attorneys were finally ready to distrubute Daddy's estate. Right after that my dear friends downstairs, Charles & Carolyn, announced that they must sell their unit. Charles, in addition to some serious heart issues, had been diagnosed w/ advanced prostate cancer. They felt they had to discontinue their winters in FL; & go back to full time in Ohio. This was quite a blow to me; & I felt badly capitalizing on their misfortune. But they really wanted me to have their unit. It seemed that it was meant to be; or so I thought......
The closing was on my birthday in May; they vacated May 20th. The remodel started in earnest the next day. (Mover's moved me in on Aug. 8th.) I had been planning & plotting since March; & had contracted work through several well established & very reputable businesses. Details, details, details. I thought that was the hard part, until the work actually started........
I ordered black granite countertops for the kitchen. Because someone didn't follow the template exactly, they had to be recut & reinstalled twice. When they took out the old kitchen sink, they failed to completely cap off the water lines. After an absence of about 24 hrs., I go down & find standing water in the kitchen floor, creeping under the cabinets & soaking the living room carpet. I went ballistic!
This of course, warped one of the existing cabinets; & they had to rebuild & install a new one (at their expense). The black & white decorative tile backsplash had to be redone 3 times in order to correct all (or at least most of) the "imperfections". I had all of the carpet & most of the tile removed (what a mess, flying tile "shrapnel" everywhere). This was replaced by wood flooring. Brazilian birch.....little did I know that B.B. is quite soft. Drop a drawer pull, you got a dent. Can't tell you how many dents there are as a result of the remodel. I'm trying to learn to ignore them. Despite this, the floors are beautiful.
I had the lanai tiled on the diagonal; makes it look much larger. I had bought 3 Murano glass pendant lights in Venice last year. I knew I wanted them to hang over the bar/pass through; but didn't want to install them until I had found my "final resting place". The European wiring had to be changed; & wire fished blindly through the walls & ceiling to get electricity to them. But they look fabulous.
I changed the outdated shower door in the master bath. I went w/ the modern, frameless glass w/ brushed nickel accents to match the new lighting & fixtures. It really opened up the small space. Both bathrooms got new countertops (silestone), new sinks/fixtures, lighting & mirrors.
I had the dining chairs, lanai furniture & barstools all reupholstered. I had spent a lot of time looking for a wrought iron chandelier for over the dining table; but w/out success. So I went back to a man who had done some custom furniture for me a long time ago.
If you can describe what you want, he can sketch it; & then his craftsmen can make anything out of metal, glass or wood. And the price isn't as bad as you might think. He came up w/ the perfect design. So, I asked if he could design a round glass top dining table base & a console base (for the foyer) to match. He created just what I had spent months looking for. The chandelier & the dining table had to be retooled a little; but they are gorgeous.
More to follow.....
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