Once upon a time, I designed a million-dollar room makeover. Yes, one meeeellion dollars.

The house was classic French style. The clients wanted a space where they could do everything, and I mean everything. We designed an 11-foot limestone fireplace, a built-in theatre experience, a library, a desk, an exercise space, with custom cabinetry and soundproofed doors throughout. We even built a 9-foot aquarium for an eel named Spot, because why not go full Jacques Cousteau while you’re at it?  Every inch was bespoke.

And then life happened. My clients faced serious health challenges, the husband passed (sadly), and the wife sold the house before I could get a single photograph.

Not one. (sob)

So what remains are drawings. And the eel story.

I miss you, ol’ Spotty-roo.

After a long run of designing mid-century modern spaces and contemporary Eichler homes, which I love, but still — a Hollywood glam teen room was a delighful change. She was up for all of it. The rich textures, the shine, the polished deliciousness of it all.

The room was stunning.

It was also a mess. Her stuff was everywhere.

I suggested organizational strategies. I hipped her to Marie Kondo. I offered to be her personal slave and do it myself. No response. I pleaded. I may have even begged. But she was always “too busy.”

Then she went off to college. And took the furniture with her.

I’m left with one art wall drawing and a partial shopping list, and a lot of sighing.

Sigh.

She had a European theme and no name for her donut shop. I gave her one: Donut du Jour.

She wanted the space to feel like a place worth lingering in. Upscale and cozy. Warm wood flooring, brass accents, and a few upholstered barrel chairs for that stay-a-while feel. We fell in love with resin tabletops embedded with green river rock, which were a little quirky but looked incredibly interesting. European travel photos, framed and hung. The whole thing was going to be something.

The transformation was slow going, though. Too slow, as it turned out. She was running a donut shop after all. Very early hours, seven days a week. The donuts came first.

Burnout happened and she sold the business before any of the real charm made it into the space. The new owners had other ideas.

I still dream about eating mini maple bars and chocolate old fashions while lounging in those chairs. Yummy donuts in yummy chairs. Yeah, a real yum-yum fest!

I dug up one of the proposed layouts from an old computer for a space that never happened.

Probably saved me a lot of calories now that I think of it.