next time you’re lucky enough to be wined & dined, be sure to do these few things: linger a little longer in that comfty restaurant chair, admire the grain of the table top or the colour of the paint on the walls that makes the space look just so!
savour the cold caress of the door pull as you make your way into the bathrooms, marvel at the formation of the floor tiles & smile sweetly at the flawless reflection those well-lit mirrors afford you…
why?
because some poor bugger had to agonise long and hard over choosing each & every one of those items in order to make the cohesive whole presented before you…
week twelve: the nooks & crannies…
this week’s task is scheduling, scheduling & more scheduling… & who knew exactly how many components it would take to make a restaurant a functioning space: i certainly didn’t, at least not prior to the events of this past week!
starting with a floor plan & aided by some detailed elevations, my task was to work my way through each & every nook & cranny of this site & record all the furniture, fixtures & equipment required to make it come to life…
from bulkhead fittings to floor tiles, toilet basins to door pulls, pass counters to bar tops, all must be counted, coded & accounted for: believe me, it’s no mean feat, even if this is a relatively-small project…
i’m still not finished, but i have already drawn a few conclusions in this process:
a) sourcing sanitary ware is boring {loos, flush mechanisms, cisterns, bidets, etc.}
b) my mind wanders all too easily when bored; and
c) there’s a market out there for anyone who can design sexy outdoor furniture for restaurants…
what’s even more enlightening is observing how i work when faced with what seems like an insummountable list of decisions to be made: brass fittings or chrome? marble tops or timber? tapered legs or turned? {have i mentioned i’m a libran & therefore astrologically dispositioned to procrastinate?}
take each of these decisions & times them by 3 {as it’s prudent to have options to show the client} & it’s easy to see how a week of your life can disappear in the blink of an eye…
sometimes i’m surprisingly remarkably methodical & stick to finding one “perfect” item at a time… like hunting down the missing piece to a giant jigsaw… i find this method forces me to be more decisive & focussed…
other times i must concede i do fall down the internet rabbit hole: whilst trying to source a door handle, for example, it’s not uncommon to find myself some two hours later staring vacantly at a site with bench cushions {or dining chairs, pendant lights, upholstery leathers… take your pick really}, door handle still m.i.a…
at these times i find a little regrouping session helps… pick an easy target, get a few quick wins in & then resume the search for the more elusive pieces…
most importantly of all though? remember to schedule in a tea break!
image by tim walker via: trendland
