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Three days before Christmas 2006, as chef Matt Beville was sliding a tray of pastries into the oven at work, he had no idea events were unfolding at his 1924 Burbank home that would displace him for 18 months and lead to a $209,000 whole-house remodel.
The first sign of trouble came when a neighbor called to say that a roofing truck had backed over the fire hydrant in front of Beville's house and a geyser had sprung up. Beville, who is 42 and bought the house when he was 27, recalled saying: "That's cool. I wish I could see it."
A series of follow-up phone calls from the neighbor suggested -- with increasing intensity -- that Beville should come home. When told that water shooting from the sheared hydrant was falling on his house, he thought about the pastries in the oven, which were for a catering job, and asked if the neighbor could shove some towels up against the door sills.
But towels would be useless against what would happen next, which was witnessed by neighbors and later recounted by them to a local TV news station, which aired a report.
A sort of sink hole developed underneath the hydrant, causing it to tilt toward Beville's house and point nearly its full gusher onto the flat roof covering the rear of the structure. Falling inside parapet perimeter walls, which stood a few feet above the roof, the water collected into a pool that became heavier and heavier until, all at once, it crashed through, into the house, and forced its way out through doors and windows, taking out some walls.
Beville still remembers the final call from his neighbor: "The side of your house just blew out."
(See all photos)
Read more Rebuilding in Burbank after 'the Great Flood of '06' »
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 By Ariane Wiltse
Every now and then, a story in the local press forces me to reevaluate my decision to move back to New Orleans and buy a house in the Lower 9th Ward. Sometimes the story that jolts me from my idyllic rebuilding spirit focuses on leaks in levees and the recycled newspaper found to be stuffed inside of them. Other times it’s stories about the condition of the swamps to the south and west of the city, stories that describe how the land out there is literally falling into open water, and in doing so is allowing the Gulf of Mexico to creep closer and closer to our fragile city.
But today, I’m not fretting over the potential environmental disaster lurking behind the next hurricane. Today, it’s the city’s rampant violence that makes me question my decision not only to move back here after the storm but to sprout roots.
One recent morning, around 2 a.m., a man in my neighborhood was found dead in his home. He had been shot in the head. The man lived a few blocks away from the house I’m restoring, the trailer I’m living in and me.
Although the police have released the barest of details, it appears that the man was murdered in either a drug deal gone wrong or for some retaliatory reason. Typical tit-for-tat street justice meets the cheapness of human life.
My neighbor is merely the city’s most recent murder victim. By the time the summer finally draws to an end, dozens of other people will be dead. In a city long known for its incessant and often random violence, summertime is the scariest time of year. It’s the time when murders become so common that the city guarantees itself the morbid distinction of becoming the nation’s murder capital for yet another year. I call this time of year the killing season. The killings are a fact of life down here or, better put, a cycle of death.
After two of my friends were murdered last year in separate incidents, and my car was surrounded by drug dealers on a sunny Saturday afternoon –- three blocks from my house -- I decided to get involved in anti-crime efforts. I started asking questions at my weekly neighborhood association meetings, and the next thing I knew, I was co-chair of the crime committee. Ask questions? Get the responsibility. It was that simple and unpopular of a job.
Since then, the other co-chair and I teamed up with local grassroots organizations and launched a petition to keep the Louisiana National Guard in New Orleans. Former Gov. Kathleen Blanco deployed the guard in June 2006 after five teenagers were found gunned down. During the last two years, however, the economic strain of paying, feeding and housing the nearly 300 soldiers stationed here has become extremely unpopular in the rest of the state, placing political pressure on current Gov. Bobby Jindal to pull the guard out of New Orleans.
But for some of New Orleans’ most vulnerable residents, true pioneers rebuilding in a post-apocalyptic atmosphere littered with block after block of abandoned houses, the guard provides their only protection. Dressed in fatigues and riding in military Humvees, the soldiers patrol the areas of the city that took the most water and therefore have been the slowest to recover -- neighborhoods such as eastern New Orleans, Gentilly, Lakeview and the Lower 9th Ward. These patrols allow the undermanned and overworked police force to focus their patrols in the more populated areas of the city. Without the guard patrols in the sparsely populated areas, either the New Orleans Police Department would be forced to pull officers from administrative and intelligence departments, effectively bringing investigations to a halt, or large tracts of the city would be left to fend for themselves.
Sensing the post-Katrina political tide in Baton Rouge was shifting, and not in New Orleans’ favor, Jeffery and I, along with volunteers from Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans, collected nearly 5,000 signatures asking the governor to keep the guard in the city. Mayor Ray Nagin, Supt. of Police Warren Riley and City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis endorsed our efforts and made personal requests to the governor.
A few weeks ago, Jindal announced that the guard will stay through the end of 2008. It’s a temporary success that helps me and a lot of other people working hard to rebuild our homes and community rest easier, for now.
But it doesn’t quiet the cacophony of second-guessing in my head. That still comes in loud and clear.
(Photos: Kathy Price-Robinson)
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 I want to let you know about the Pardon Our Dust feature coming up Sunday in the Real Estate section. It's about two bathrooms that were gutted and redone in 14 days. But I also want to share with you something that did not fit in my article but that touched me personally as I reported and wrote the story.
As you'll read on Sunday, Meg Moreta, a mother of two small daughters, was diagnosed with Stage 3 cervical cancer, and then breast cancer, while still in her 30s. I don't want to give away too much of the story, but after what she had gone through, she really needed a fresh start with her bathrooms, which were reminding her of bad times.
While I sat and talked with Meg at her pretty and peaceful Los Angeles home (her two daughters were on a play date), I was astonished at what she had gone through. And what she continues to go through. Late-stage cancer, chemotherapy and radiation really take a toll on a body.
Talking to Meg reminded me of how important it is that we all stay on top of our healthcare. Meg's advice to readers: Request your medical reports. Read them and ask questions. And keep your records in a binder. In other words, take charge of your own health.
(Photos: Rod Foster)
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 Question: My father and mother live together in a six-bedroom, five-bath house in Northridge. In the last three years, all three of the kids have moved out. My dad's business isn't doing that well, so he is trying to think of ways to earn a living. But he's over 60, so starting a new career isn't really a feasible option.
His current idea, which he is serious about, is to invest $25,000 into converting the maid's room and guest room areas (which are connected to the house via a garden room and contain a bathroom, study, and bedroom) into two rentable units that would cover the monthly mortgage.
I think this is an awful idea. First of all, there is no need for he and my mother to continue living in a pricey L.A. suburb, much less in a house so large. Second, what would chopping up a house in such a manner do to its resale value? He wants to keep the house (largely for sentimental reasons), which is entirely impractical. Odds are he will have to end up selling after he has butchered it into pieces.
Please give me any advice you can. He is set on this idea, and from what I know of real estate (not much), this will not be successful and will only hurt our already dwindling economic standing.
What would you recommend doing? In this type of situation would it be better to downsize and invest the profits from the sale in different properties? Or does his idea have any merit?
I truly would appreciate your feedback. Sincerely, Tamar K.
My take: Realtor David Kean makes good points below about whether extra units are even allowed. It's possible that one guest unit is permitted but not two.
I have a personal perspective. My 84-year-old mother-in-law, Jody, converted a 100-year-old Victorian in Santa Barbara into rental units several years ago. (You can see Jody above on her lawn with her great granddaughter.) She loves being a landlady and having young people, and their dogs, around her. Her goal is to remain active, useful and independent. Having her college-student-age renters around her actually makes that goal more realistic. Your parents might enjoy having renters. It might not be all about the money but about creating a little community right on their own property.
A Realtor's perspective: From Prudential agent David Kean: The first thing to check are local zoning restrictions. The house may not be properly zoned for multiple residences, so check with the city.
The second factor to consider is how long it will take to recoup the cost of the renovations. The $25,000 figure seems too low an estimate for adding two kitchens and another bath. It may take one to two years before your parents start to turn a profit. A lot can change in a year or two. Ultimately, is it worth the cost and stress of a remodel?
The renovation could work out well if done properly. It would be wise to speak to an architect. The units should have the feel of separate guest apartments. Make sure the conversion blends into the architecture of the house.
The apartments should not feel completely disjointed. One unit would be preferable to two. One unit would give the feeling of a separate guest house, while two units might seem out of place in a private home.
They could close the access from the main house and replace a window with a French door, creating a new access point for the rental unit. There are interesting modular kitchenettes on the market. They are easy to install and, more importantly, easy to remove if the home is eventually put up for sale.
On the upside, future buyers may like the apartment or apartments for a home office, a workshop, an apartment for an elderly parent or older child, or purely for rental income.
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 Joni's condo kitchen update is nearly done. (See the project up to now.) Joni's friend and fellow nurse Patti is helping out, and she files this report:
I'm home from the mountains and went to see Joni's kitchen today. It's beautiful! I am thrilled and so is she. (Click photos to enlarge.)
Joni opted to have a friend who is a "tile guy" finish the tiling. She helped him and said that our thin set was definitely too thin. He applied it the same as we did; it was just thicker. We'll never make that mistake again. The tile guy also did the grout work for her and had a tile saw to cut the few that required adjustments. I think she had just had it with the mess we had to clean up after using thin set that was too thin.
We are very close to being done. I think one day or so of clean-up just may do it. We need to finish some drywall work and put a finish coat of paint on the kitchen walls. And then we'll replace the switch plates.
Joni is already talking about how to carry the mood and color palette from the kitchen into the living room. I can't believe the balance that the chocolate-colored panels at the top of the cabinets (see that here) provides to the tile. I really don't know if it's just dumb luck or if there was some intuition at play in the color choice. However it came to us, I'll take it. It's beautiful.
We have one more issue to resolve: how to hang pendant lights from a solid beam over the breakfast bar. I'll be asking your advice in a future posting.
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 By Ariane Wiltse
My mom arrived last week with the best of intentions. Like other relatives who have come before her, she came to help with my house in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. She also came knowing that we’d be working in temperatures hovering around 95 degrees with 95% humidity. And, the air conditioner in the trailer is busted.
Mentally, she had prepared for the heat. But she hadn’t prepared for the mosquitoes and fire ants. They made a buffet of her, leaving her arms and legs a red, swollen mess. After her first night here, she had 50 bites. (Yes, she counted.) I’m sure she’s up to hundreds by now. I, on the other hand, have about five. I don’t know if being better acclimated to summer in New Orleans makes my blood sour to the little suckers. But they sure find hers sweet.
Heat and bug bites aside, we weren’t able to get much done on the house this week. I had hoped that between my mom (“Mama Lin"), my friend Beau, myself and another worker recommended by a friend, we’d be able to knock out the rest of the foundation. But the worker decided that he didn’t want to work this week, leaving me scrambling for another set of hands, and I found those with Andy.
I’m also partly at fault for the delay. When Beau and I and Mama Lin poured the concrete footings and set the piers in the front of the house last week, I hyper-focused on making sure the damn things were level. And in my obsessing, I missed the small detail that the piers weren’t in line with the house. In fact, they set a good six inches too far back, clearly missing the sills.
I didn’t notice this little problem until we were about to install the sills, after the concrete had had a long weekend to cure. Seeing the distance between sill and piers, Beau grabbed the sledgehammer. He said he was preparing for the inevitable. (He’s become an expert, of sorts, at breaking rocks in the hot sun.) I figured there must be some kind of way to fix the piers without going to such extremes. But Beau said to do so would only be doing a “Peanut job.” (See what we mean by a "Peanut job" below.) The piers had to go.
Andy stepped in and found a middle ground. A post-Katrina volunteer and graduate student from the University of Wisconsin, Andy moved here after finishing up at school. I called him the day before, pleading for help after my scheduled worker decided to take the week off. Andy has worked on lots of crews, so he brought a degree of expertise and rationality that was missing from the trifecta of ignorance among me, Mama Lin and Beau.
Speaking with the authority of the anointed, Andy suggested that we wedge a pick (his favorite tool) and a crow bar under the concrete slabs to finagle them forward. This sounded like a fine idea to me, so I grabbed my camera to document the Moving of the Slabs. Beau kept the sledgehammer close. He knew he’d be vindicated.
The first one moved quickly and easily, so quickly that I almost missed the shot. The second one didn’t work out so well. I tried to encourage Beau and Andy from behind the camera: “Heave! Ho!” But it was no use. The damn thing wouldn’t budge. And even if it had, it probably wasn’t the best-made concrete pier. It was our first attempt at pier-building without experienced supervision. And it looked like it too. It might as well have been duct-taped and bubble-gummed together. A real Peanut job. So after much deliberation, I sacrificed the pier to Beau and his sledgehammer.
Because the concrete footings and piers need at least three days to cure before we can put weight on them, losing one pier to the sledgehammer put us back several days. We’ll get the foundation in the front of the house finished this week, but the remaining 24 feet of sill and half a dozen piers on the side of the house will have to wait until I return from vacation. Bummer.
See the story so far
Read more Dispatch from New Orleans: The foundation saga, cont. »
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 You know those great big houses the team from the ABC series "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" builds for deserving families?
Well, sometimes those big houses turn out to be just too darned big.
That's what happened in Sandpoint, Idaho, to Eric Hebert. You can see Eric standing in front of the 3,678-square-foot home built for him and his late sister’s 11-year-old twins, whom he is raising.
According to an article in the Bonner County Daily Bee, Eric works all day and spends most evenings taking the kids to basketball and soccer practice. Keeping up the big house is just too much for him, he said.
Plus, Eric said, heating the big house was costing him hundreds of dollars a month in electric bills, and that was on top of the home's gas bills.
And so, hoping not to seem ungrateful to the neighbors who helped build the home for him, he put it up for sale. The house has been appraised at $552,244, but he's listed it and the acre of land it sits on for $529,000.
Here are other "Extreme Makeover" homes that have been put on the market:
Pennsauken, N.J. — The utility bills for this home were said to be from $700 to $1,200 a month, and property taxes were more than $6,000 annually.
Atlanta — The ad for this palatial "Extreme" home says if you buy it, you can own a part of history.
Big changes, people! On the Fourth of July, this blog will move to my own website at www.kathyprice.com and I hope you will join me there to continue the conversation. I plan to blog more about my own projects, as well as the projects of others, green remodeling, the rebuilding of New Orleans and my general love of home.
You will continue to find my 11-year Pardon Our Dust series alive and well in the Sunday Real Estate section. In fact, the story about two bathroom remodels done in 13 days is scheduled for Sunday, July 6.
Also, I'm in negotiations to write a book with the star of a home improvement TV show. More details on that later, on my own website, when the deal is done.
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As you know if you've been keeping up with my blog, I've recently become enthralled and obsessed with the rebuilding of New Orleans. I visited the first time in mid-February and have been there now four times.
So it was with some excitement, in my own Southern California neighborhood, that I came across this door left by a neighbor on the side of the street.
As I drove by, the morning sun glinted through the orange, green, blue and yellow of the fleur-de-lis stained glass. I backed up, got out, did an inspection and called my husband: "Can you bring your truck to pick this up?"
He said: "Do you think you need to stay and guard it?"
Of course! This was too good. Bill was amazed at the solidness of the tight-grain fir of the door. It's heavy. Bill said they don't make doors like this anymore. And we got the door framing to boot.
At home, I researched the fleur-de-lis symbol, which you see everywhere in New Orleans and which has become a symbol of the rebuild. See it here spray-painted on an old refrigerator after the hurricane.
The symbol is found all over Europe, especially in France, Spain, Scotland and Germany, and in the United States in southern Louisiana cities such as Lafayette and Baton Rouge, as well as New Orleans.
Where I will use the door, I'm not yet sure. It's only 30 inches wide, six inches too narrow to replace any of my exterior doors. But I just realized it's the perfect width to replace the door from the hallway into my bathroom, where I'd like to get more natural light. Can I imagine myself soaking in a tub while the morning sun from the living room lights up this window? Oh, yeah! I can see it.
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By Ariane Wiltse
As the big day approached, the day when we'd jack up the house, cut out the old sills and rebuild the piers, I began to take great joy in watching my good friend Beau squirm (he's standing while watching my dad Joe).
"What's the matter Beau?" I asked as he paced incessantly, stealing peeks at my crumbling brick piers. "Afraid we'll drop the house and squash you?"
Now, I don't want to come across as too bold, and Lord knows I don't want to jinx the job -- we still have a good little bit to do. But so far, we've replaced all the sills and piers along one long side of the house without so much as a stubbed toe, let alone a squashed Beau.
And for that, I have my dad and cousin to thank. My 60-year-old "Papa Joe" and 50-year-old cousin Markey spent five hot, humid and hard days here recently working from dawn to Miller time (4:30ish) rebuilding my disintegrating foundation.
In that short period, they replaced 46 feet of 6-inch-by-6-inch sills, poured 24-inch-by-24-inch footings with 4,000 pounds of concrete and rebuilt 22 concrete block piers, setting footlong steel rebar and pouring more concrete inside each cavity. Then we added termite shields, shims where necessary, and leveled the old gal.
Had I been forced to hire a contractor to do the same work, it would have cost, according to estimates, from $10,875 to $13,400.
While my family and I worked on the foundation, Beau busted up the front concrete porch. (Visions of his feet jutting out from underneath a flattened house, Wicked Witch of the East-style, had become problematic.)
Sledgehammer in hand, Beau chipped away at the solid, steel-reinforced structure for a solid two days. (You heard me -- Beau the computer geek was breaking rocks in the hot sun.) I asked him to sing us a little ditty while he swung the sledgehammer, perhaps a Woody Guthrie chain-gang tune, or at least "I've been working on the railroad, all the live-long day," but he refused. Instead he stuck iPod plugs in his ears and turned up the volume to some political podcast. He didn't seem amused, but he never complained.
On their last night in town, and as a small gesture of my gratitude for all their help and hard work, I treated Papa Joe and Markey (Beau didn't return my call in time) to dinner at Commander's Palace, one of the best and most highfalutin' restaurants in New Orleans.
After dropping my family off at the airport, I got to thinking: I don't know many people with as large and close-knit a family as mine. Although we have our disagreements (we are a passionate and proud people prone to stubborn arguments), I know I can count on a crew of kinfolk, as they can count on me. Few people in our fast-paced, cross-country modern world can pick up a phone and ask parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles (living thousands of miles away) to put their lives on hold and come help with a big, nasty and hard job, especially in the New Orleans summer heat.
For that, and so much more, I am truly blessed.
See the whole story in pictures
(Photo: Ariane Wiltse)
Read more Dispatch from New Orleans: From the ground up »
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Isn't this bedroom yummy? It's in the Rosarito Beach vacation condo that Don and Gigi Maurizio remodeled.
Gigi, an administrator with the Glendora Unified School District who lives in Claremont, told me she found the headboard (which is really a footboard) for $5 on closeout at a Pier One Imports store. That was the starting point for the room.
To make reading in bed more enjoyable, Gigi's husband, Don, a professor in the technology department at Cal State L.A., mounted the headboard at an angle. He joked about spending more on the lumber to mount the headboard than the headboard cost.
I love what Gigi did with the "canopy" treatment. It looks so cozy, but it's really just two rods sticking out of the wall with a piece of fabric hanging from each, and tied back at the wall. (Click on the photos for a larger view of this.) And the starfish hanging overhead came right from the beach just beyond the condo patio.
On the floor are ceramic tiles that look like slate; this tile is found throughout the house. To the right, you see a small table and chairs that might not seem in sync with the rest of the room. Those pieces were not bought new (as were most of the pieces for the remodel) but hold great memories for Gigi: The table is where she wrote her PhD dissertation.
Just above the table, the curtains — with seashells tied onto them — are quite in tune with the sound of the ocean waves just outside the window.
(Photos: Los Angeles Times)
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How Don and Gigi Maurizio spent the money on their Rosarito Beach remodel:
Construction
Demolition: $3,000
Scraping textured plaster walls: $500 (labor)
Staining beams: $500 (labor)
Cabinets: $7,200 (materials)
Tankless hot-water system and connections: $1,800 (materials)
Tile for floor, patio, shower and bath countertop, including grout: $7,700 (materials)
Granite countertop in kitchen: $2,000 (materials and labor)
Tube-type skylights for bathrooms: $500 (materials)
Glass block for windows, shower: $250 (materials)
Exterior doors, windows, screens: $2,000 (materials and labor)
Interior doors and hardware: $2,100 (materials)
Mirrors, mirrored closet doors: $700 (materials and labor)
Closet shelving systems: $300 (materials)
Sinks, toilets: $1,000 (materials)
Plumbing fixtures: $900 (materials)
Lighting, bathroom fans: $1,900 (materials)
Forced-air heater, ductwork and specialized vent covers: $2,000 (materials and labor)
Window coverings, shutters: $1,000 (materials)
Appliances: $3,200 (materials)
Fireplace gas logs and propane adapter: $340 (materials and labor)
Change/move plumbing and gas lines: $1,200 (materials and labor)
New electrical wiring, outlets and switches: $1,100 (materials and labor)
Painting: $1,500 (materials and labor)
Additional labor: $5,000
Miscellaneous and hardware: $5,200
Related costs
Duty fees to declare items at the border: $1,000
Gasoline/insurance for weekly trips: $4,000
Termite fumigation: $200
Lodging until condo was habitable: $2,000
Furniture and electronics: $6,800
TOTAL: $66,890
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I found this photo over at the excellent L.A. Land blog. Where do you suppose these two guys are heading with this action?
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How did Don Maurizio puzzle out the cabinet installation in his Rosarito Beach kitchen? Click here to read the whole story.
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 In a previous post, Andrew C. wondered how to best use the extra space on the ground floor of his Crofton, Md., townhouse. He wanted both a larger laundry area and a bathroom.
Several readers gave good suggestions. Helen thought up a different configuration for the space with room for a big bath and a bigger laundry room.
Readers Jose and modernemama each suggested a stackable washer and dryer to free up space for, perhaps, shelving.
But it was lil_gaucha who has my vote for this idea: Use all the space for a combination laundry room and full bath. Then, Andrew gets a nice big space to do his laundry, and when he sells the townhouse in five years, the appraisal will reflect that extra full bath.
After doing some Internet searching, I see this is not an uncommon use of space. At first it seemed a little odd, having a toilet in the laundry area. But after seeing a few photos, especially with the washer and dryer behind folding doors, I warmed up to the plan.
I was also reminded of Bethany Orlemann's brilliance when she incorporated the space of her service porch into the kitchen and then added front loaders under a counter. It made her Eagle Rock kitchen much larger and her laundry area is stylish.
You like the idea of a combo bathroom/laundry room?
(Photos: Bethany Orlemann)
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Andrew C., a reader from Crofton, Md., needs our advice on whether to add a bathroom to some extra space on his ground floor, or to enlarge his cramped laundry room. (See the miserable laundry room here and here.)
A little background: Andrew bought his three-story townhouse a year ago and plans to live there another five years. The second story has an eat-in kitchen, living room, dining room and half bath. The top floor has the master bedroom, two more bedrooms and two full baths. So far, so good.
But Andrew feels the space on the ground floor could be better used. There are two rooms down there that Andrew uses as a media room and an office. There is also a utility room with the washer and dryer and all the home’s mechanicals, and an adjacent storage room. Both spaces together are 6 feet by 12 feet.
Andrew wants a larger laundry room, but he also would like a bathroom on that floor. He considered a half bath, but it would require a walk through the laundry room to get to it. And he wonders: Is that too weird? A real estate agent told him that a full bath would bring most resale value in case the two existing rooms are used as bedrooms.
But it makes me sick to think of Andrew doing his laundry in that pitiful space for the next five years. That can't be right. I wonder if there is some compromise or another idea we're not considering.
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 If you've ever wondered how a school administrator and college professor from Claremont would remodel a condo in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, I've got a story for you. It will be in Sunday's Real Estate section.
Above, you see the view from the front porch. Referring to wages earned in academia, the husband of the couple said: "You know that house in Malibu? It's never going to happen."
But this beachfront home -- and a $70,000 remodel -- did happen. Check it out Sunday.
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Patti here. Since our weekend tile project, which Joni and I wrote about in a previous post, we have gathered some valuable information.
First and foremost is that thinset should be the consistency of peanut butter! Ours was more the consistency of sour cream, so it was too thin. (Notice the food references; it is a kitchen, after all.)
Second, with this Oceanside tile, we need to make certain we thoroughly cut through the thinset all the way to the wall surface with the quarter-inch notched trowel. That means when we apply the thinset and pull it across the wall with the notched side of the trowel, we should hear the trowel scratching on the wall.
All things considered, I think our problem was that the consistency of the thinset was too thin and we applied it too thickly.
To our credit, we weighed and measured the proportions exactly, to the manufacturer's specifications. But there are variables to consider, I'm sure, and we now know to mix it thicker no matter how precise our measurement. These are the types of things a professional would know.
For Joni and I, a couple of novices, I consider this all well within a reasonable learning curve, and I'm tickled with the tile. It's beautiful and has exactly the right feel to set off the colors and features of this kitchen. We'll keep you posted.
See the project so far.
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 Isn't this a lovely garden room? The owner calls it a teahouse and may not visit for months on end because of a busy schedule.
The garden was designed by Dan Bifano, who has also designed gardens for such high-profile clients as Barbra Streisand. The garden is filled with roses, wisteria, hydrangeas and plants like that. In fact, this little building was at first destined to be a flower-cutting space. But the owner decided it needed to be a sitting room.
"I chose the color of the grout," the owner is quoted saying in a magazine, "and I chose the particular kind of gravel that was right for the rose garden, and another kind for the pathways. Grout color and gravel size would drive most people nuts. But it's all part of the process for me."
Hint: Does this sound like a control freak to you?
Take your best guess then click here for the answer.
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