We lived in Brooklyn before we moved to the Finger Lakes region in central NY. I loved Manhattan and I loved Brooklyn, but I detested the need to seek out a contractor. For anything. Everything was just more difficult there. To be honest we ultimately did find a couple of really good contractors, though not without some en route pain..

Here in our new house it has, admittedly, taken us a very long time to get moving on doing the updates we wished to accomplish prior to advancing to an opening date. In part I think it was being battle scarred from contractors past and also because these jobs represented a big part of our budget. So we were quite careful. We interviewed a number of people and asked friends for recommendations. We researched the products we thought we wanted, had a design plan and slowly advanced.

We did end up going with a local company for the bathroom upgrades, using Lakeside Kitchens. A small operation employing  four people, I can’t say enough positive about everyone concerned at Lakeside. I would gladly work with this company again and highly recommend them to anyone seeking kitchen or bathroom design and implementation. Great people and remarkable craftsmen.

In terms of the wallpaper, we found someone who was suggested to us via a childhood friend of my sister-in-law Julia. I won’t lie in saying I was quite nervous about finding the right person for this job. The wallpaper is hand printed and each piece has to be hand cut. Not something that offers room for error, especially given the cost of the product. Of course this type of hand cutting is seriously like an art form to me, and I truly believe not just anyone can do it justice. We were gratified to learn Dave — the person recommended — had wallpapered some significant historic homes in the area with similar types of wallpaper.

More than a year ago Dave stopped by to give us an estimate, which we agreed to.  The job date kept being pushed back as other jobs were ongoing (ours, not his). Finally, Dave arrived two weeks ago and dove into it all. I rarely see such professionalism. Dave was fantastic, papering two would-be guest rooms in Bradbury paper, and a bathroom in vinyl. He and his assistant Mike removed the old paper and painted ceilings and wood trim in the rooms. He repaired the flaws in the walls, skim coating where needed, and primed.

There was no assumption in terms of what our goals might be, ongoing discussion in terms of the primer color, paper and all important details all contributed to my growing confidence. We had discussions about the placement of the respective friezes and the overall vision we held for the rooms. It was really pretty amazing because it soon dawned on me that Dave was enjoying this job and it was really great to have someone with shared enthusiasm working the job.

John, Dave’s dad and teacher/mentor in the art of wallpapering, helped him with the Bradbury paper and it was wonderful to see the results as each room was transformed. At one point John told me that art paper, such as ours, was really great to work with because among other things, it requires thinking — measuring, planning in terms of the pattern and so much more. He clearly shared Dave’s enthusiasm, and we have two gorgeous rooms to prove it. When they left, the rooms were flawless.

I cannot help but to write about Dave and John in such a positive manner.  It makes me realize how important it is to find people who share your enthusiasm and vision, are communicative  and are clearly artists in their craft.  Thanks so much guys, looking forward to the seeing you for the next round of wallpaper.