Done deals

After weeks of work, last month I finally sent this 9 x 6 foot handpainted floorcloth to it's home in California. There was no other way to paint it than to kneel, and those calluses have finally softened. The color palette was tailored to suit the client's home decor and overall was based on an older design. To see a project like this installed in the place it was intended is my favorite part!

Still settling in the client's home after having
been rolled and tubed for cross-country shipment

In the wee hours of many nights, the internal argument about realism vs. design raged; tulips as we know them simply do not exist as perfect egg-shaped bulbous blooms, floating in a sea of white, surrounded by atypical foliage folding in upon itself.

Tulips from another dimension

But I'm proud of it. Even when photos don't quite capture the details and true color.

The staircase project, a precursor to installing the desperately needed floors, went from "fugly" (official contractor term) to fabulous thanks to more than double the time and money estimated. I agonized over this.

Before -- pointless wall, unnecessarily steep fiberboard steps

After -- unfortunately all this trim really is necessary.
Wall removal, extra step and proper grade on this set
as well as the second, veering up to the left.
Asparagus fern in a blue pot makes it all better.

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Yes, there were some unexpected issues that arose, like discovering part of the upper level floor was connected to a beam that had been mysteriously sawed off and closed up in the lower level ceiling. The upper railing had to be moved a foot or more over to the corner of the wall to assure enough head clearance -- for others taller than me -- for the first set of stairs below. The result is the multi-color masterpiece you see here.

B the cat could care less.
Poinsettia banner is maybe one of three Christmas decorations up
while the rest await in the kitchen just beyond the new pass-through.

I have no problem paying for a job well done, but it's difficult to budget with incredibly inaccurate information.

For now, the stairs are covered in cardboard except for the bare spots the cat requires to navigate them. Nothing in this house is square; I was told there was only one cut in the entire project that could be. I believe it.

My computer is burdened by pictures from multiple projects that are far from perfect but are finally done. The paperwhites are blooming and the amaryllis is trying. Onward and upward.

Let's not even talk about what I need to do to the fireplace.
Happy Holidays.