Curated Conversations: Hey guys, welcome back to Curated Confessions where we drink wine, talk design. I am Hilary Smith. And I'm Brittany Pelche Como. And we are the ⁓ lead designers and owners of Brit Hill Interiors in Prairieville, Louisiana. Yes. Yes. Sorry, I need a to today. We are not drinking wine. No. Our bartender made us Something straight from Texas, I feel like. I've never heard of it So I had fame like I'm in visit. So I got in in the mood. It's lemony. No one here knows what a Chilton is. Yeah. Except one guy at Turtle Bar, which I was very impressed with. That night we got So tell everyone had a great time. We had a great time is what we The ingredients of and how you make a Chilton. ⁓ it's just a lot of vodka, a splash of soda, a whole lemon, and then like Salt. I used Himalayan pink salt today to fill f festive. Do you mix the salt in or is the salt just like on the top? ⁓ no, you you you're gonna be swollen tomorrow. I think I left out that part, but I've been feeling swollen every day, so it's a difference. So ⁓ if you're ever dehydrated, you can have one and you'll retain fluids. Yes, it's very however you want to look at that. I requested extra club soda in mine. I gave her extra salt so she wouldn't notice. So yeah. The salt is what makes the vodka disappear. Mm-hmm. It does help because I really don't like the taste of vodka. And you can't it just tastes like like a sad lemonade. Okay. Yeah. No, a salty down margarine. ⁓ Kinda like that. No, tequila makes me have the shivers. Yeah, it's a little different. Yeah. Anywho, try it. No, it shouldn't. Tastes like let me see, let me try again. Tastes like a salty goodness. Tastes like an electrolyte drink. Yeah. That's really what it tastes like. But I can't think of the name of that salty one that's like super salty. But if you have a Charlie horse and drink one of those, instantly. So or you could just drink a Chilton. Yeah. That's definitely not good health ⁓ benefits or anything. But I mean it is what it is. It does its job. Same thing as chugging pickle juice after you get a Charlie horse. So Ooh, that would be good with pickle juice in it. ⁓ That is I also went on a kick of vodka and pickle juice. You can drink so much. ⁓ see, I see I'm sounding ho I don't like I I was telling her today, I was like, I feel like I'm making it sound like I drink way more than I do. I really don't. This is the only time we drink really. I mean I did have family in town, so ⁓ i i and ⁓ a twenty five year old niece, so we I might have had a few beverages. A few drinks? Yeah. And then my parents were in town for two weeks, so there was a few margaritas. I normally don't drink too much on the weekends unless I'm doing something, but this weekend I did have some wine and I had a bellini and I did get quite a coup few migraines too, so. Yeah, we're but maybe the salt. We'll see if it's the salt. And I'm just talking like one or two. Like not it's been it's been a problem. You know. If The Vegas Us could see us now. Right. I think they'd be disappointed. It's so old and like all these ailments and not even gonna lie, I took ⁓ my niece to Chimes and I hadn't been there since I long time. ⁓ the spinach artichok dip with the bow tie pasta. So good. Mm-hmm. I didn't even ask if that's what they wanted. I like, That's what you're getting. That's what we're getting. So you'll you'll like it. ⁓ but I had a lemon drop martini and she had some vodka and lemonade some nonsense and then she got a second one and I was like, I think I'm just gonna have a water. She was like How old did you feel? And I was like, We're so far in Baton Rouge and that's so not by my house. So I'm gonna only I'm gonna ⁓ have a water and then I'll Drink later and then I was like, ⁓ my gosh. Yeah, she was like, ⁓ wow, but things have changed. Yeah. So, you know, being responsible, that sort of thing. Yeah. But speaking of responsibilities, we are at work, so this week. Mm-hmm. We well, I guess I should start by where we left off from last week. We installed some beautiful crane shades we spoke about. Yes. And they were so pretty. If you might have caught that on our stories. I missed that on our stories. they came out beautiful and she loved them. And I had presentation for a client that lives on the water near here. So she wanted kind of a coastal, non coastal vibe. So I went with like a green accent. I was thinking, you know, swampy ⁓ instead of tropical. Yeah. ⁓ but they loved everything, so Finalizing details of that and random question, not to cut you off. Remember what you were s about to say, but just because my husband and myself had a whole we're just weird apparently. ⁓ we were watching TV yesterday and there was a picture of a swamp and someone was like, And that's how you know you're in Louisiana and I was like, What differentiates one swamp from the other? And Kyle's response was cypress trees. And so instantly I was get out Google, hold on. ⁓ so what is Florida swamps filled with? Like what is the primary tree in a Florida swamp? It is also Cypress trees. Cypress trees. I feel like all swamps have cypress trees, right? I don't know. I think it's because that's what thrives in swamps. But I don't know why there's so strict about some cypress trees around here. I know. It is I did also find out that it is our state tree. Mm-hmm. The bald cypress, I think is what it's called. Mm-hmm. But that is also the number one tree that is in Florida. Hmm. So we're not special. What am I thinking? That's a flower. Magnolia tree? Mm semantics. I don't know. So I was like half right a little bit, maybe? ⁓ however you want to look at that. I don't know. Is it bloom on a tree the same? Is it like a bull ⁓ I hate that word. Ooh, let me let me try again. Bulganville. Boganvilia. It's a it's a tree, it's a plant, it's a vine. It's a Yeah. You get to classify it as like eight different things. Those are beautiful. I wish I still remember when you lived in California and they would like grow on the They would grow wild, like Like crabgrass over here that the bulgambillias everywhere. So would call lilies. I remember being in a parking lot and there was just like a callal lily that was just blooms right in the center of the Target parking lot. Like ⁓ I'm gonna need to borrow this. Yeah, I was just hanging out by itself. Just bring your ⁓ scissors around town and get some clippings while I'm out. Well, I mean, that's kinda like when I was talking about, ⁓ up north whenever I went into the Cape. Just hydrangeas just grew on the side of the street and I'm like, excuse me, that's not fair. Those are like really pretty and expensive and I want them. But we have here is like We had that purple flower that's supposed to be like the Bolandilia, but it's not the same. And I said that I didn't care. I was just gonna plant them anyways. And then I realized how expensive it is to landscape and I said, that's I'm I'm not gonna do that. Now my whole flower bed is just faux. I can plant a faux bonovilion. We do have a client that I went to her house to measure that you just ⁓ that's we're working on her patio. And I was like, She has them all over the place. I was like, I knew she would have them and then I went and touched they were they were awful faux. So Kudos. I've been seeing those. She did drink me at first though. They look real. I thought about getting some too. I was like, I want ⁓ like as an archway over my house. Like obviously they would look fake. That's not possible here. But you know. I really want them then. I did I guess it was Bowling V. I got some of the ⁓ You had ⁓ in Las Vegas. That was the first time like ever. ⁓ I think they're both in V but I mean they're always fuchsia. Yeah. People know, I guess, right? They know they're fish. I don't know. But they stay green and some people fuchsia. I don't think we do, so they probably just are like better than dead. Yeah. I'm gonna get whatever plants those are. Yeah. Yeah. But you did have some in Las Vegas that I did. My sister would water them all the time because she thought they were real. ⁓ they were fake? Yeah. ⁓ I definitely thought. ⁓ no, you're right. The she had water the cactus. Yes. The cactus by the I don't think they need to be water. That's literally why they live there. Yeah. ⁓ she I'm surprised they didn't die from over watering. Like We're too hydrated. We were like moving back home and I was packing them up. She was like, What are you doing? Bringing this like bringing these cactus home, like this planted real and I like, That's fake and I'm taking it with me. She was like, no. ⁓ She was being so helpful. I love that for her. Boy. Yep. Anyways. ⁓ that could be a whole nother podcast. Yeah. ⁓ so I did want to talk up a little bit about so the presentation I was just talking about that we had. ⁓ when I first went on the consultation, they had separate living Like it was a open space but they had living room and then they had a small table that served as their dining room, I guess. Mm-hmm. But they were like, We don't ever use this, we don't ever sit here. and they were not wanting to get rid of their sofa and love seat, but like changing everything around it. Yeah. Well, I was like, Well, you know, if the dining table was a little bit more proportional, larger, maybe, you know, seasonal or if you Christmas gatherings or whatever, you could have family. Well, they were like, Well, how would you see the space? What else could we do? And I was like, Well, ideally I see the space having a pair of sofas facing each other and they wanted recliners. So I was like, recliners, you could bring it further back and utilize the whole space without having to have dining. And they were like, ⁓ we really just, you know, we don't want to get rid of our sofa and love seat. So I just made it work with that in mind. So presentation is floor plan anyways though, didn't you? I did not. ⁓ see I would have sworn We spoke about it. Just I do. I'm like, what's in my mind? I actually show ⁓ even though they don't like say that's not what they want. But so go on through the presentation and I show the dining options and they were like, you know, go on back and forth. They like some aspects of one, some aspects from another. So we we selected one that they overall, you know, like the look of with the living room. And they were like, well you know what? We just are we even gonna use this? You know, it's like a big dining table and they have such a great outdoor space 'cause they're on the water. And they're out there all the time. Like they you know, it's just be space taken up, just like how people have formal dining rooms and they say they never use ⁓ This is not like a dining room, but it's still taking up all this space. And so we went full circle and the husband was like, I mean, well say we just don't do the dining table and we just do living room. I'm like, Well you're gonna have this huge open area that seems odd, you know, and I was like, ⁓ so they said, Well what can we do if we don't do the dining table? Well, to go back to the recorders. Initial design we spoke about. So we went full circle, which we do so many times. ⁓ so sometimes I do like I don't I like to give people exactly what they want and what they say, but like we have to read through the lines about what they're really asking for because really they were saying we don't need a dining room. We don't wanna get rid of our soap and love seat, but there was no other way to arrange that. So I'm like, Okay. I should have just went with my gut and showed ⁓ a whole new room, but I didn't wanna Well, you have to it I feel like in that instance you have to do both, which is Yeah. But at the same time Well, I mean, if you were talking to like our business coach from what, nine hundred years ago, she was always like, No, they hired you, do what you know you're supposed to do And I'm like, I am not that person, but ⁓ I do like to be like you know, devil's advocate or however you want to say it that ⁓ this is also an option. But then when you're trying to pick out furniture and fabrics and clip and like ⁓ put everything in a presentation, it is just that much more work. And if that's what they want then then that's what I'm gonna do. But at the same time to think about You don't want to get rid of a perfectly good sofa and recliner because, you know, it's in great condition and it still works, but you just moved into a new home. Mm-hmm. So would you rather spend money on a dining table and chairs and everything that goes with that that you will never use or use that money to put into a living room that you would use how you you know, how it's designed in the house. So Instead of putting getting over that little hurdle of exactly this is a perfectly good sofa, why would I get rid of it? And they're thinking like, ⁓ my gosh, I'm buying a whole new living room and I have this already when it's like But you're buying a whole new dining room and you don't need it. And put that towards it as well. So ⁓ I found them a really affordable custom sofa. ⁓ that still gave them everything they wanted and the layout worked perfectly in their space. Like it's what that space needed to begin with. Space is a tricky space without having to be able to talk about but ⁓ it's just and everything's supposed to be to look outside, whereas and that's the other thing. ⁓ people will build a house, move in, which and I completely understand this too, but like hired the designer after they finished because they just wanted to breathe for a minute. But once you move your furniture into a space, now that's all you see. Yeah. Like it is so hard. And we've even done this to our like, I've had stuff in my house before and I'm like, even accessories. And I'm like, that's just where it's been for a year. So I can't see it any other way. And I'm like, Brittany just come and she'll move it. I'm like, Well even all like right there. I just needed to move four items. Even this homeowner was like ⁓ they came to us after they built and she was like, I if they kept their sofa, I was even like, let's change the love seat at least to swivel chairs so you can use them to see outside. Right. And bring because she wanted to bring more color into the space. So I was like, we're trying to like work around something and do something. But she was like, I came in here with like cordboard pieces, tape, like laid everything out. I thought I had it all you know, like figured out, but they had this weird corner where the window was only like I don't know, it was like fifteen inches I think from the wall next to the fireplace. So it was this weird corner where you need a piece of furniture, but you don't have a lot of depth. You need it to either have height or, you know, art over it or something, but you've got this window that now needs draperies to come out that far. And so she was like, even with like all what I did I didn't think about the window orientation with the furniture. So this is in the preliminary stages while we lay out all furniture in the space with your door swings and where your windows are located and where your floor receptacles are located to so you could see the whole visual, you know, she was just thinking, Is my sofa fit? Is my you know, so there's so much that goes into it. I don't know. It just had me spiral in thinking about all the ⁓ the things that we go through all the time that I'm sure people are pondering or that's even like ev just talking about window treatments or when they're in the building stages and they're like, ⁓ my gosh, we could add beams. Yay. And we could add and they just start adding things and the builder's like, Yeah, of course we can. Like that's not a problem. Let's add that. And then we come in we're like Where are you gonna mount your drapery hardware? ⁓ you put a beam right there. How are we gonna you know those are Well how about this? Things that we don't think well, I mean we think about, but that aren't thought about in the building stage when throwing a beam right there sounds great. That sounds like a great idea. Mm-hmm. And then we don't have enough room. Let's make a U-shaped drapery. How are we gonna do this? Let's make a custom harness. Correct. Which I kinda had that situation at the same house because they had a huge bank of windows, a huge sliding door next to it, and then another huge window above the kitchen sink. None of them the same house. None of them like I was like, What am and they wanted window treatments along the back but to still be able to see out. So I'm like, challenge accepted. Yep. ⁓ so what ended up happening was she said that the window and the door was supposed to be the same height. So they ordered them the same height. And when they got to the house after seeing ⁓ installed, they found out because they are on the water and the codes and everything they could not put the windows all the way to the floor like they had planned. They had to be a certain distance off from the floor. Got it. ⁓ which made them taller than the door. Than the sliding door. So I'm like so what we ended up doing was we did a cornice to kinda cover ⁓ on one of the windows to so you don't know where so the your window stops. The side line line of sight, that's what I was looking for. Is completely straight. Yeah. Without making anything look too squatty or hardware. mounted right on top or you know, so even if you have like split the difference different height, door, window, whatever, you don't want your eye like bobbin all over you want to keep that consistent ⁓ to go around the room. So that's what we did. Yep. Or are doing. Yep. ⁓ so yeah, some some challenges that we overcame and I think it's gonna look great. So I hope they proceed with everything. Yeah. Absolutely. And then What else? We had towards the end of the week a we designed a kitch well kitchen remodel a long time ago. And things kinda got put on pause. Contractor was gone out of town and just they wanted to finalize some things and so we put everything on pause and now we're circling bot back, so we had a meeting. I mean, isn't money the The pause? That was a part of the pause too, like these budgets are well, ⁓ I we're gonna I think we're gonna go into all of that. But There's a lot of ⁓ I don't think people expect what these bids are gonna come back as and which we have gone to a couple of architects here lately and we're like, Here's our ideas and they're like, Do you understand what you're asking us for? I don't think you're ready for the price of this house and so I do respect them at this you know, for doing that because Yeah. Which we try to do with clients as well. Yeah, I also feel that You know, it but I I feel like people don't even can't grasp even like a simple bathroom remodel or something like it has increased so much just with materials and labor cost and it's you know, if you're thinking about doing that, do some research beforehand in twenty twenty six what to expect for a basic or a custom or a you know, remodel before quoting and going into it because we have people come to us and they're like, ⁓ I want walnut cabinets and I want all I want this and I want it to look like this inspo picture and we're here to tell you that we would love to. But this costs X amount of dollars. Are you ready? We are ⁓ So yes, with this it was a bit of they have they had a decent budget. ⁓ Yeah, that's not what I was saying. I was just Yeah. It a it adds up. Yeah. And and also what they were wanting to do kept kind of like they're like, well, since we're doing this, we might as well do this kind of thing, which happens a lot. Snowball effects. so it was a bit of that. So I went ahead and designed for everything so they could see the full scope of the whole project and what it would look like. And then we got bids on that. And then a few of them. Yeah. We we back down to a a realistic 'cause they're good budget still because of the size of their kitchen. They have a huge kitchen and adding on a pantry within that square footage and so there's framing. There's like, you know, all these other things, not just refinishing or our new cabinet doors or you know, like it was it's a full mm. Taking down existing pantries and demo, I can do that for cheap cheap. Yeah. It's funny. so I'm just joking, I don't really do any of that. ⁓ in my own house I do, but that's just not in clients' house. Our luck, we'd like a pipe. Yeah, yeah, that's the first thing that I would do. Which I am questioning if that didn't happen in my cabinets in my living room. So you have a leap? I don't know, I smell something weird. Something's something something's up. Mm-hmm. ⁓ no. Mm-hmm. Not more. Another problem for another day. ⁓ man. And I that's the wall that I've Venetian plastered black and the cabinets are black and everything's black. So I have no idea. I'm like something smells weird in there. And then I just we'll drill with that tomorrow. What is it with the molt? We just went through I think we told y'all last episode that ⁓ We have a client that they encountered a lot of found a lot of mould in the house, so had to whole do a whole mould mediation and setbacks and reschedule all these contractors. So we've been in the midst of trying to get all that rescheduled too. Well that started today. We're allowed back in the house this week, so that's back on. Yep. so you'll be seeing some updated footage of that. Hopefully this week or next week? Yes. wallpaper. I will be delivering wallpaper tomorrow. So she started doing prep work today. We have stone fireplaces going in today. We or no, this week I mean Lighting, electricals happening. it's a movement. Yes, that's gonna be moving quickly, I think, but in the next upcoming month, hopefully. But ⁓ like, subscribe, follow us along on social and you can see our podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. YouTube. That's the last one. That is like the one, but yes. I don't know why. I need to post that somewhere. Anyways, we hope you all have a good day and you enjoyed. Cheers.