GELATO!

I have been working a lot lately. 
 Someone asked me today..."do you really work?"  (it was a man) 
 My answer was yes, of course I work!  (my inner self said something else...) However, it got me thinking, is it really work if I'm doing what I love?  Which is helping other people create spaces that they love!  In that case, nope, I don't work :) 

http://www.gelatodiriso.com/main.html

One of the recent projects that I have not been working on,(:-))  has been helping Larry and Maureen Fuse redecorate Gelato di Riso.  My kids beg to go there after school almost every day.  It's right down the street from school, so its a great place to stop in for an afternoon treat. 

 I did not take any before pics, but here are some in-the-process pics.   Gelato is in an old building with exposed brick walls and some of the original plaster in tact, so we went for a more rustic feel.  

It's kind of a mess right now, but we are under construction people:)

I designed these benches to create more seating ( so you can hang out and eat even MORE gelato).   Charlie from Reclaimed Furniture Art built them. www.reclaimedfurnitureart.com.  Can you see yourself sitting on them with some coffee visiting with a friend...reading a magazine...playing chess...

Charlie also had this door from a building in north St. Louis.  There is an opening between the main eating space and the kitchen prep space that wasn't needed.  The rough door was a great way to carry our rustic theme into the finished space and to cover the unused space.   We sanded it to rough it up even more,then wiped on a dark furniture oil.  It had the existing hardware, so we left it on for added interest.  It's rough and imperfect...exactly what we were going for.  

I had paneling installed to help protect the walls from chair dings, and after its painted a semi-gloss it will be easier to clean, you know, in case sticky gelato fingers touch the walls...come on, you know you've done it! 


I'm heading back tonight to prime the paneling so that tomorrow we can paint and move to the serving area.  I designed a new counter/display that Charlie is building...can't wait to see it in the space!  When it's all finished and set up I'll do another post, but if you're in the St. Louis area, you could stop in and see it for yourself.  Have  some gelato while you're there.  Tell them I sent you :)


Thanks for reading...
Jessica