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RENOVATION is no longer a scary word.

I’ve just finished an uber renovation to my Vancouver condo and was very happy with the way things turned out. How happy? Picture walking into a Holiday Inn Express and discovering that you’ve checked into a ‘W’ property. Pretty much an 11 out of 10. This begs some explanataion…

Like most of you who have ventured down this long and winding road, you’ll probably appreciate these words - time, cost, and hassle. In fact, like most of us humans who have been so brave, you’ve probably discovered that renovations tend to:

1. take longer than you’d like;
2. cost more than you’d like; and
3. inconvenience you more than you’d like.

Sound familiar? Sound like something you’ve been through (or are planning to put yourself through)? Been to Home Depot lately?

Anyway, wherever you are and whatever you’ve done or are doing….STOP. I’ve got a fever and the only cure isn’t more cowbell, it’s an interior designer like no other…her name is Christine.

I was introduced to Christine by a friend a few years ago who was in the design business. Both he and Christine worked for a very high end design firm in Yaletown (in downtown Vancouver - Canada, eh?) and some of the projects they’ve tackled had budgets that would quite literally make J.K. Rowling blush (I have no idea why I said that). I’ll put it to you this way…they were big. I saw some of her/their work and it blew me away…full stop.

Cut to me a few years later.

• No, my budget wasn’t equivalent to the GDP of a small country; and
• No, I didn’t have a selection of other properties to live in whilst it was going on; and
• No, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into.

So what did I do? I talked to a lot of contractors, stores, designers, people on the street, and even myself and was drowning in quotes that were ridiculously expensive and long-dated (e.g., ‘we’ll be able to start your job in say….2008 - how’s that look?’), information, timelines, roadblocks, you name it!

I called my friend and got Christine’s contact information, arranged a meeting, met with her, and instantly felt better. Not only did she manage to draw out designs for my place that honestly have transformed my condo into something that would make Optimus Prime happy (yes, I liked the transformers as a kid), she CONNECTED me with suppliers, stores, colour choices, ideas, and most importantly a contractor named Graham.

Graham was the glue in this construction paper work of art as his attention to detail, timing, meticulously clean work environment and suggestions during the job made my place into what it is today.

For those of you who frequent www.timinganddelivery.com you know that the whole point of it is to share great service experiences (and I encourage you to do so as well - comment to your heart’s content under any post).

Christine is WHO you need to know when it comes to designing your renovation and what my place looks like today is WHY you need to know her! Christine’s at mise.enplace@yahoo.ca.

T&D Rating - 5 countertops (out of 5)