House Beautiful: Upsized and updated

When they're not running Peppers Foods in Cadboro Bay or cycling along a winding river bank in France or Germany, John and Rosalyn Davits are home enjoying precious time with their five grandchildren. That's why this energized couple decided to pour major resources and creativity into a 1992 house they recently purchased in Broadmead. This is where they intend to enjoy their next dynamic decades, living mostly on one level in a stylish new environment. It's also where they plan to spend treasured time with their expanding family.

"We've gone from a 3,000square-foot home to 4,200," said the youthful-looking Rosalyn with a chuckle. "It seems strange when others are talking about downsizing, but we wanted more space because I babysit our grandkids two days a week and we love having family around." Three of their grandchildren are boys and one of them is nicknamed Popcorn - which says it all.

"They are only young for such a short while and we really want to focus on them," said Rosalyn, who admitted she also longed for a sewing room while John wanted a home gym.we supply all kinds of polished tiles,

To prepare for this exciting phase of life, they hired a young designer to update all the rooms in their home with fresh paint, crown moldings, baseboards, lighting fixtures and door hardware. They also completely renovated the kitchen, family room, two bathrooms and laundry - for a total budget of about $300,000.

Their novice interior designer, Angelique Bulosan, who is 31 and works at Design One Stevens Interiors, leapt at the chance to take on a major project and did such a sizzling job in the kitchen that it was nominated for a CARE Award - Construction Achievements and Renovations of Excellence - presented by the Canadian Home Builders' Associations of Vancouver Island and sponsored in part by the Times Colonist.

The home was nominated in the category of best kitchen over 450 square feet, featuring Island Custom Cabinetry

One of the first things Victoria-born Bulosan did in the 18-year-old house was replace the tired-looking garage and front entry doors. The new ones have opaque glass insets and sleek horizontal stainless steel bands. The same treatment was added to the master bedroom door to echo the updated statement.

All hinges and door handles - from Victoria Specialty Hardware - are stainless, and the owners chose levers instead of knobs, not only because they like the smooth lines but also because they are more forgiving on aging hands.

Caramel wall paint and high-gloss, white crown moldings were the only cosmetic improvements needed in the master bedroom, but the ensuite was gutted. A huge, dated-looking Jacuzzi and large glass-block wall were removed.It's hard to beat the versatility of zentai suits on a production line. A tall, opaque window replaces it, with a top that opens.

"There's still lots of privacy, but the room is much lighter, more open feeling," said Bulosan.

A large shower and water closet (with low-flow toilet and "comfort height" seat) take up one side of the room, while a tall, dark-stained, glass-topped bank of drawers now separates his-and-hers sinks.

"Our grandkids love this room and always ask if they can shower in our car wash," said Rosalyn, adding they stay squeaky clean by using the kid-height telephone shower and take turns lounging on the bench seat. While the walls are tiled in large squares, the floor is a single slab of engineered marble, which eliminates grout lines and speeds cleanups.

Bathroom drawer pulls are low maintenance stainless look-alikes, that don't leave fingerprints. Kick plates under cabinets are mirrored and lit by motion sensors.

"It gives a lovely soft glow and we never have to turn on a light at night," said Rosalyn, who retired from work as a travel agent five years ago.

She has had two hip replacements so the family room table and stools are overheight, making it easier for her to sit, and giving the grouping a distinctly trendy, bar-like ambience. Another advantage is the chairs can double for seating at either of two large work islands.

The whole family can get cooking in this kitchen thanks to almost 40 linear feet of counter space, two dishwashers, three sinks, tons of cupboards and three fullheight pantry shelves that glide on sliders. There are even under-counter appliance garages, with hinges to raise the food processor or toaster oven to counter height, reducing strain and eliminating the need for hunting for attachments in the back of cupboards.

"The cabinet people said they haven't had a call for a baking centre like this in years, but I love it," said Rosalyn, adding everything is plugged-in under the counter and electricity disconnects when doors close.

Another favourite zone is the beverage centre which features glass storage, bar fridge, hot water dispenser, wine display, under-counter motion sensor lights and even a step-stool for grand children. With all these elements the designer said it was important to plan ahead: "We worked closely with Black Box Electrical, who did a great job in locating all the plugs, sensor lights and switches."

She noted one of the challenges in the kitchen was it needed more personality. Moving doors, adding extra windows and reflecting natural light in stainless accents such as kick plates and appliances, achieved it.

Sparkle also comes from recycled glass backsplashes and cabinet insets by Rick Silas, and ceramic floor tile that's set on the diagonal and runs up the family room fireplace. A glittering tiny tile,Replacement China Porcelain tile and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide. strung along the floor like a jeweled necklace, gives spatial definition to family room, kitchen and eating nook - now one large zone.

"This kitchen is the centre of everything we do,. It's where we hang," said Rosalyn, who loves how it flows now.

She and the designer also had fun creating a "jewel-box" powder room with the help of damask-style wallpaper and faux marble floor tile, laid on the bias for an enlarged look. Glass shelves hold a collection of Swarovski figurines,Replacement China Porcelain tile and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide. a glass sink blooms on the counter like a crystal flower, while faucet and nobs are set into the mirror. A small broom closet was recruited for the powder room and is now a marble-topped vanity.

"Angelique is so imaginative, youthful and energetic," said Rosalyn. "She has been perfect to work with."

And Bulosan admits she's had a blast. A designer for only two years,The additions focus on key tag and magic cube combinations, she always loved painting watercolours, making jewelry, building models, sculpting, glass blowing and silversmithing."

Is it Time To Fire The Outsourcerer's Apprentice?

I suspect that someone who is standing in a hotel lobby screaming “I'm gonna lose my sh*t” into his mobile phone is probably not going to see his sh*t again anytime soon. Yet there he was lighting up the lobby of the Fairmont in Montreal so, naturally,he believes the fire started after the lift's Wholesale pet supplies blew, I had to swing in for a closer look.

Alas, the man whose sh”t had sailed, figured out that he was attracting the attention of the security people and stopped yelling. “Sorry”,Traditional kidney stone claim to clean all the air in a room. he said apologetically, “I've been on the phone with Tibet or someplace for three hours trying to get my VPN to work.” Poor bugger.

Speaking of work, I know a risk management consultant who waited three months to be paid by a previously reliable client. The reason? Contractor management had been outsourced to a local daycare centre (I'm making that last bit up) and managers who once simply authorized an invoice were now required to wrestle for hours with a hostile web application just to set up their consultants and then take a free monthly trip back to Hell to approve the timesheets. Naturally, this system required a senior manager or higher to do the administration previously handled by clerks and assistants. Smells like P-Cubers to me.

A personal favourite of mine was a long-ago employer who Outsourcerered their Lotus Notes administration and development to a consultant who would work only on projects which allowed him to bill at least 20 hours. Need a field added? Drop down menu not dropping? You'd better hope there's a point release coming.

So here we have three examples of Outsourcery. That is, taking costs from a responsible, specialized functional area and, just like magic, making them disappear. Now we all know the costs,which applies to the first rubber hose only, like the bunny and the dove, end up someplace. And the someplace is your budget, your time and your productivity. Bunny and dove probably end up in some trousers.

Meanwhile, back in IT, an exultant Geek Lord is collecting a big fat bonus for reducing support costs by 30%, while the P-Cube pretends not to notice that the cost of supporting some poor road warrior with his VPN has simply moved from IT to sales in the form of lost productivity, lower revenue and someone's sh*t going missing.

The millions of dollars that HR director is crowing about saving has simply shifted from her line to multiple others as senior managers, directors and vice presidents shout at slow applications and outsourced help desks. HR, which is strategic now, in case you missed the memo,They take the plastic card to the local co-op market. will explain that they made it clear that suppliers were not to increase their fees to cover the management tax exacted by the consulting-consultants-to-consult-on-managing-the-consultants. Doesn't every supplier want to pay an involuntary tax of five or ten percent of billings just so some other supplier can make contract negotiation and payment even slower? Well of course they do.

Marcom, yes I see you smirking in the corner, has been doing something I call Sneaksourcing for years. Instead of employing junior people to crank out routine sell sheets and white papers, they sneak it to agencies who don't particularly want the work (no trip to Cannes for you, Brochure Boy) and who are spectacularly bad at doing it While the agency fee is likely a wash versus the junior copywriter, the cost to the sales or marketing department to write a brief, explain it, and then review,When the stone sits in the polished tiles, edit, revise, review again, rewrite, re-brief and sign off on the work is invisible, as is the opportunity cost of not doing one's day job.

One of the few business memes I actually like these days is the one that opposes time-wasting meetings on the basis of cost. Their evidence is pretty simple: meeting organizers and attendees calculate their hourly cost to the company and find the total cost of a useless meeting. I propose we do the same with our Outsourcerers.

In simplistic terms (I am a marketer, after all), someone earning $60,000 a year will cost their employer about $30 an hour (assuming a 2000-hour year and not including benefits and the pencils they keep stealing). So the half hour on the phone with Moncton or Cameroon costs $6 per minute or $180. Plus $15 in lost time for the victim. Then the half day of non-productive time looks like another $120 plus whatever revenue, customer churn or delays cost. At a minimum it's about $300 for a routine IT issue.

Unless you have attorneys fixing your printers and computers, I'd say a technician probably costs about $25 or so and hour. How many of these guys would need 30 minutes on the phone to figure out the issue? How many would need half a day to solve it? None. So your cost to have someone diagnose and fix the problem is under $100.

Yet our Outsourcerers and their little helpers in the P-Cube would have the IT guy laid off and the burden of hands-on support given to far too few people who work for someone else. So if it takes three days for someone to show up and resentfully turn off your Caps Lock, you now know why.