Bless Ken from Fieldstone Windows for the patience he has shown in dealing with our front door. Of course, he probably thinks that now that we are moving forward I have decided on which door we are getting.... bwwwaahhahaaaahaa that would be too easy.

I know Ken thought we were all set but I had a AAAAAHAAA moment over the weekend (Damn long weekends have me looking at my own house too much) which was really more of an AAAACHHOOOOO moment - allergies - and so I rethought it. I don't want a 'too casual' door. I DEFINITELY do not want a country door. I want it to be Notting Hill Posh. BUT it also has to let in as much light as possible given that there's a porch which makes it dark dark dark.

I'm a total traditionalist with my own exterior because it is a red brick Victorian circa 1856. I don't want a fancy colour on my door I want black gloss. I want brass hardware and for goodness sake I WANT A KNOCKER!!!!!!!!!!!! And a mail slot that won't slice my fingers off. I DESPERATELY need a house number somewhere on my house too.

But other than that I'm totally easy right? Don't answer that.

Dirty Birds. Tsk Tsk Tsk.

Didn't have it in me to put together a post after seeing the devestation in Oklahoma yesterday. I feel guilty at the same time that I didn't post something. Talk about a conflicting conversation with myself. My twitter feed last night was two personalities - sorrow for the families in Moore and outrage at our ridiculous local and federal governments here and a few The Voice comments added for good measure. I AM COMPLEX.

But this is a design blog though so I'll leave all that to my various psychiatric outlets - my new name for Social Media.

We are prepping for installations. This is often more work than the installation itself. Of course, this means that there will be design porn VERY SOON. I mean VERY SOON.

Here's a sampling of what you will get to indulge in.

I've been a fan of Dyson products for a good many years now - we were fortunate to have them as a sponsor on Restaurant Makeover my last few seasons. I'll never forget the first time that I tried to use one of their vacuums on camera and I accidentally vacuumed the scarf I was wearing around my neck. It kinda sounded like "Phlumppp" as my chin was whipped down toward my chest. Amazing that they got that on camera though.

We were invited the other week to their Canadian head office which happens to be in Toronto as we are looking at using their products in our #160Pears commercial project. We are redoing all of the bathrooms in this building which is part of Designers' Walk - which is the Canadian equivalent of the D&D Building in NYC. Our office is part of Designers' Walk - we love being a part of the DW family. Anyway, we met with the lovely Amy & Chelsea who not only gave us a quick overview of the technical features/benefits of their products but they also humored me as I was in QUITE a comedic mood. We laughed for 90% of the meeting I think. They also made really great coffee. I mean it was worth the visit alone for the coffee.

Then there came the chance to try a few of the products out.

We went down specifically to see hand dryers and this new, just about to be launched product which to be entirely honest, I had to see to believe. I had seen the technical drawings of it, meh. They don't do it for me but Asa was very keen for us to use this product so me, Doubting Thomas had to go and see it in person. It has a Mission Impossible meets James Bond look - Airblade Tap is the official name - it is FINALLY our chance to have our very own JLO/Beyonce Wind Machine at our beck and call.

Too good to be true - it gets better. Essentially, it is a touchless faucet that you slide your hands under for the washing part and then extended out from the faucet on either side is the... HAND DRYER!!!!!!! Yes all in one. MIND BLOWN and if you just drop your knees ever so slightly the air will hit you and voila - Beyonce yourself in front of the mirror. This was too good not to try out again and again. I went through the motions of washing my hands but I was totally in it for the drying.

They assure me that more amazing and new technology is on the way and I'm happy to be a guinea pig. My hair has never looked so good and my face..... years younger for sure. (Just nod and agree with my fantasy okay?)

Yes. I have a FUN job. It's also stressful and we are continually looking at how we do things to see where and how we can improve. Proposals for clients are always something that give us a pause for thought. We customize our boiler plate per project. Some projects I do a full pitch on others involve a simple phone call or a meeting and voila we are hired.

I went to see a new prospect last week and I know I can work wonders. I mean with a decent investment from the clients, I am 100000% confident that I can transform this house into an Elle Decor cover worthy project.

Now I should mention something about virtual representations/mood boards/etc while they can be an okay tool I find the 3D representation sorta deal is both amateur and a disservice to the client. If they client is hiring you, a true professional, more is required. If you put together a board so that they can self-serve I think it ultimately harms our industry for the same reason why I think that the retail chains that offer dining chairs for less than $100 a chair have warped people's perception that all dining chairs should cost under $200/each. It's like the Stockholm Chair syndrome. Ya know? Devaluing the education, experience and actual time it takes to pull this sort of conceptual work together ultimately devalues what you bring to the table. You know?

As I said, I do find that virtual boards can be helpful to inspire a client to action or to convey an overall concept for what we are after. I want to tease and excite not give someone a step by step plan that doesn't involve me painstakingly selecting each and every element right down to placing it just so on their shelf. I'm the essential part of this plan!!!!

I'm catching up on Revenge, watching the premiere of So You Think You Can Dance and the Results Show from the Voice. My three year old is too hot to sleep, an emotional yo yo and my throat is sore like I'm getting sick sore.

We have THREE massive installations on our #Unionville, #Brooklin and #Thornhill projects that are brewing in the immediate future and some new ones that are tentatively set to launch (one needs an enthusiastic thumbs up after I send out the proposal tomorrow - I had some MAJAH fun with some prelminary concept boards the other needs a space but I'm SO looking forward to diving in). A busy summer ahead but I've been taking time to smell the roses so to speak as you will see in my upcoming Stream of Randomness aka Stream of Consciousness aka what caught my eye and let me tell you why exactly...

Drinking wine and back to Revenge as I post these. OHHH two days until Scandal. 

I'm a TV junkie with not much time to watch - I've still got half a season of Greys to catch up on.