Spotlight on local professionals: Patty Filas of Revisions Remodeling

So waaay back in 2008 when I was working on my first Historic Ellicott City Decorator Showhouse (where I begged to do a space :) ) I met the lovely and talented Patty Filas of Revisions Remodeling.  Since then I've worked with them on some of their projects and had them redo our bathroom.  (Mikey insisted that the 1950's pink and grey tile had to go.) Read more about Patty and what Revisions Remodeling is all about.

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A kitchen hood I painted for one of their clients.

-What is your background?

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I, Patricia Daly Filas, am a Certififed Designer by the National Kitchen and Bath Association as well as an Architectural Designer and a licensed Contractor. I have proudly been working with Revisions Remodeling for over twenty years. We specialize in all areas of remodeling, especially kitchens, baths, and additions. Our focus at Revisions is Kitchens, Baths, Additions, Home Modifications, and Historic properties-How did you get started in this field?

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I got started in this field through education.  My background is art history, architecture and accounting. Dann Cummings, the owner, has a background in engineering.-What do you do?

Our business is Design and Build with an established showroom in Ellicott City, Maryland.  We offer all architectural design capabilities, engineering, planning, material selections in our showroom, estimates and proposals, detailed contracts, construction management along with personalized project management, our own carpentry teams, on staff designers, and of course communications with principals and all staff.

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-What is the most challenging part of your job?

The most challenging part of our job as designers/remodelers is reminding clients that they hired us as their professionals to guide them through this process rather than listening to comments they heard from television or the internet about products.

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-What do you enjoy most?

What we enjoy most about the remodeling business is making people fall in love with their homes all over again.  A truly functional home, as well as beautiful, will make a huge impact on your daily life.

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-What adjustments have you made to your business to keep up with the changing economy?

The biggest adjustment we have made in our business over its lifetime is reaching people through the internet.  The internet is an interesting animal, you have to choose carefully. On our site we only post pictures of our own jobs (where-as many other sites buy photos) and we only recommend products we use.

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-What makes a good client?

A good client is anyone who is involved in their project, but not so involved that they pull up a chair and watch every move - yes, we have had that happen and it makes us feel just a tad scrutinized, as you can imagine. Fortunately, we found out he was more curious and excited than fearful!  Design and Remodeling is a fairly lengthy process by the time you get to demo and installation. We always encourage new clients to visit former clients to see their projects and talk with them about the process. We also have a pre-construction meeting as well as meetings throughout the project.

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-What is your most interesting/challenging/awesome project so far?

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Our most interesting projects are always the Decorator Showhouses.  We have done many of them for Historic Ellicott City as well as the Baltimore Symphony, and putting 20 plus Designers and crews in one house at the same time is a wonderland of diva personalities.  Not us of course! Well maybe I get a little touchy sometimes about design issues.  Since we do either their Kitchens or Baths, we not only design, but carpentry, etc. is involved. so our guys try and keep their heads down and let our project manager and Dann take most of the beatings for making any dust and dirt. But it's not always us by any means causing trouble, we have heard blood curdling screams over lighting issues from other floors and other horrific events that would scare you even more!2009 Historic Ellicott City Show House

-Do you have a location where clients can come meet you or do you come to them?

For anyone who would like to visit our beautiful Showroom, we are located at:

Revisions Remodeling Showroom

9054 Chevrolet Drive

Ellicott City, Md 21042

www.revisionsremodelingshowroom.com

revisionsremodels@gmail.com

410.313.9393

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Oh, how I wish there was more time in a day!

Warning: this is a rambling post, just to get some stuff off my mind.... Its not too long ago that I was worried that I would never be able to make it as a decorative artist.  When I quit my teaching gig in 2008 little did I know that the economy was going to take a nose dive. Talk about bad timing!  Now it seems I don't know how to keep up. Deadlines push my days along and I have to remind myself how lucky I am that Im able to do what I love day in and day out.  Don't get me wrong, I love painting, but it seems that I get overwhelmed and wonder how I'm going to "get this project finished quick enough" rather than enjoying the ride.  Summer seems half way over already (I always feel that the Fourth of July is the height of summer and its down hill to Labor Day) and I haven't been able to enjoy it.

I was lamenting the other day about how recently I've had to disappoint some clients because I can't meet their schedules because of how much work I have.  I take things very personally and want to please everyone.  I feel horrible when I hear "oh, that won't work. We have to have it done by xyz." I look at my calendar every which way and wish I could add a day here, move that there...but then that would mean I'd have to grow two more arms!

I've tossed the idea around about hiring help.  The problem is I'm a Perfectionist.  I guess it comes from my Grandma Lenehan.  Passed down from her to my dad to me. I can't trust someone else to do something well enough and have to go back and check their work. Is there therapy for that? Oh wait, I don't have time to go to therapy.

When I opened the studio I had grand plans for its use.  Workshops, rental space for fellow artists, open studio weekends, presentations, etc etc.  I've had to cancel the latest presentation because I was pulling 10 hour days on a project and had zero time to prepare.  I've also had grand plans for this blog. I just don't have enough of me to go around.

Perhaps its time to let go of a little and allow someone to help out.  Or I may be trying to rush things along.  Whenever I get an idea in my head its go-go-go on it.  Trouble is I have 10 ideas and I want to go-go-go on all of them at the same time. If only I could let things happen in their time. If anyone out there reading this is a recovering Perfectionist feel free to offer some advice!

So here are some photos of what I've been buried in the last few weeks. Thanks for listening!

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Two paintings (7'x9') The beams were woodgrained previously.

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Medallion: done with a Modello stencil , Proceed metallic plasters, glass bead gel, and Swarovski crystals.

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Woodgrained beams and glazed walls.

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Before

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Plaster with glaze

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BSO Decorator Showhouse 2013

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"Cosy Corner" is the title designer Paula Henry of Simply Put Interiors gave to this tiny little bedroom at this year's BSO Decorator Showhouse.  Previously owned by legendary Baltimore Colts Quarterback Johnny Unitas, the house was transformed by almost two dozen designers. This year Paula enlisted my services to create a unique ceiling treatment and textural wall finish.  In addition, I created sketches of some of our beloved pets, my cats and her dogs.

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It was a whirlwind trying to get all of the work completed but the final result is a stunner.  Paula always has a great way of visualizing and executing a beautiful environment.  I'm always happy to be a part of her projects.

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A special thanks goes to my Friend in Faux, Alison Roy Harrison who owns Columbia Interior Finishes.  Alison bailed me out and executed the finishes on the walls while I was busy trying to finish the ceiling before deadline. Thank you Alison!!

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Spotlight on Local Professionals - April Force Pardoe of AFP Interiors

I am beginning a series on local professionals in and around the Baltimore area. If you or someone you know would like to be featured here, please forward their information! So if you were fortunate to come to my FIRST "Learn from Local Expert" series back on May 21 then you met the very talented April Force Pardoe of AFP Interiors.  She gave a great presentation on how to decorate your outdoor spaces. I first met April a few years ago at a get together at a fellow designer's house.  Since then I have been privileged to work with April on a few projects and am always refreshed after talking with her.  She is always enthusiastic and ready for any challenge. Her work has been featured in local showhouses and in local magazines such as HerMind, Howard Magazine and the Washington Post.

Here is a little "Q & A" between me and April

-What do you do?

I help busy homeowners create stylish and functional rooms they are happy to come home to. I am the owner of AFP Interiors, a residential interior design company.

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-How did you get started in this field?

I've always been drawn to and interested in interiors, color, decorating and design. I have a master of arts in publication design where I concentrated on graphic design. I worked as a graphic designer for years and then transitioned to event planning and design. The principals of designing on paper are very similar to designing a room. Coordinating and managing events, including laying out large public festivals and corporate events at an art museum, prepared me for managing design projects and establishing business and client relationships. From events I transitioned into designing interiors.

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-what does your business offer clients?

The obvious answer is interior design services - complete room design, space plans, furnishing, art, light and window treatment selections. The real answer is that I offer peace of mind and reduce stress for my client. Clients come to me because they doubt their decisions, don't want to waste money, don't have the time it takes to design a room and don't know where or how to begin the process. I offer my clients a completed space that suits their lifestyle without the stress of completing it on their own.

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-What is the most challenging part of your job?

Running the business poses the most challenges - finding time to keep the business moving while getting clients and keeping them happy is continuous juggle.

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-What do you enjoy most?

Finding the right piece for a client makes me so happy. Design involves a lot of research and when you find the "right" piece for a project it's a wonderful feeling. Ultimately that makes the client happy, which is my goal.

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-What adjustments have you made to your business to keep up with the changing economy?

I began my business when the economy was bad so I have not really made many adjustments. I believe that what works always works, regardless of the economy - great customer service, delivering on promises and appreciating people's time and  business.

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-What makes a good client?

A great client is someone who appreciates design, knows it's a process that takes time and is willing and able to bring in a professional because they value  peace of mind, saving time and money and what a completed room will do for their life.

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-Do you have a location (store/studio/workshop) where clients can come meet you or do you come to them?

I meet clients in their homes or at an offsite location for initial interviews.

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To contact April, call 410-446-6340, email april@afpinteriors.com, or go to her website, www.afpinteriors.com. Tell her I sent you!

French Lessons - Part 3

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The final installment!So I will try to sum up the last bit of our trip to France in this post.  We left off with our visit to the Chateau of Versailles.  The next day we began painting the marbles at the bottom of the panel.  The marbles in the panel are direct references to what they used in the palace. Green Campan and Sarrancolin.  My favorite is the Sarrancolin.  Something about the bold rusty red and grey/white strikes me.  Pierre talked about how marbles are quarried and used in decoration, how they are cut; pass cut vs. cross cut, etc.  It was the hardest part of the panel for me to execute.  To make it look "natural" you have to be conscious to not create 45' angles with the veins, and to make everything random.  Since it was such a new marble to me and we didn't have reference photos to work from I had to rely on the demonstration by Pierre and sorta "wing it." Pierre was very helpful to everyone, walking around and assisting those of us struggling.What really surprised me was how much faux there was in the palace.  And same with the Louvre. I didn't realize that before the Louvre was a museum it was the original palace of the king before they moved out to Versailles.  (Perhaps I shouldn't have fallen asleep in Art in the Dark in college?) Because of the number of rulers that lived there, there are many examples of faux marble and woodgraining because each successive occupant would paint over what was there instead of ripping out and replacing elements.  Thus they would paint over one type of marble with another to suit the tastes of that particular period. This is Pierre discussing with Mike how the marble here was painted over with a new type. The Louvre also seems to go on forever.  When we arrived, we entered in the lower level and we could see what was the original foundation of the fortress built in the 12th century. Every monarch since then would put his own stamp on the building by adding on and redecorating.

The morning of the Louvre tour, Pierre met us at the Notre Dame and took us on a foot tour of the areas within the 1st arrondissement.  Everywhere we looked there were beautiful things.  We walked into a church (I can't even remember which one) to see beautiful marbles, paintings, gilding, and more.  We also took a walk around the galerie de montpensier and fogged the windows at the cafe Le Grand Vefour where there were incredible paintings of grottescas and decorative elements.

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A little Bawlmer in Paris!

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Faux Bois on the streets

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Store that has beautiful decorative painting. Randomly came across it on our walk.

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Metro entrance

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Walking through the galleries of the Grand Hotel du Palais Royal

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A beautiful scene in a church...

We made it to the Louvre around lunchtime and spent the afternoon going through various areas of the museum; the Apartments of Napoleon III, the Grand Gallery, and other areas I can now not remember their names!

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Dee meets Mona

Meet getting to meet "Mona".

Here are a few images of our little B&B "Villa Versailles" which I highly recommend.  Vanessa, the owner, is extremely accommodating and brought us homemade treats.  She speaks English (whew!) and she has a dachshund named Elvis who only speaks French.

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View out our front door to the courtyard.Our KitchenetteThis is looking out of the school across the parking lot to our place. Its the small building with the vines all over it.

One evening a friend of Pierre came to demonstrate water gilding.  I got to try my hand at it, it is so very delicate.  You can read more on Pierre's blog.

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Our final dinner was at a restaurant in Versailles.  The food was incredible and dogs are allowed! Apparently the French are huge dog lovers and the idea of not being able to bring your dog into a restaurant is unfathomable. We were all presented certificates of completion signed by both Jean and Pierre.  Everyone came up one at a time for a photo op.  I took the opportunity to get a kiss on the cheek like a Tour De France stage winner does from the podium girls :).

It was a trip of a lifetime and we were sad to go but happy to get back to our boys and our king size bed :).