A Trip to Majjie's Blog

I took a little trip across "The Pond" tonight to see how Majjie is doing over in the UK.

Majjie is a great blogger and kitchen designer. I like to check up on her every once in a while to see what she's up to design-wise.

She took me touring Mirari Kitchens' sleek and shiny offerings in apple greens and reds. And their glossy glass backsplashes...Interesting.

















Then to Majjie's discussion "Free" Kitchen Designs - Are They Becoming a Thing of the Past?...Looks like the Brits are wising up about You get what you pay for too.

Then to What Do You Want From Your Kitchen Designer?

Now THERE is some food for thought!

Majjie discusses whether her clients prefer to design their own kitchens and have her implement their ideas, or whether she should impose her expertise on their kitchens because she "knows better" and they really don't.

"What I don't want to happen is for any of my clients to be disappointed with the finished result. I'd feel really bad if one of them said to me ... 'you knew this wouldn't really work didn't you? And yet you let me go ahead with it'"

Occasionally, in 25 years of designing kitchens, baths, and other rooms, I have run across a client who really DID design their own kitchen and use me to help them implement their vision.

Much, much, more often it is a collaboration: with me listening to the client's wishes, wants and clues, and then creating a vision for them that is far more than they ever could have imagined on their own.

Then I need to communicate my vision back to the client so that he or she can understand it.

The fact is, if I were turned loose with a client's budget and free rein to spend it any way I wished, then I would be designing a kitchen for myself...not for my client.

It is the give and take and interaction with the client and their space that gets the creative juices flowing. And, when a client throws up roadblocks and hauls me up short to meet what may seem like unreasonable demands; that is what inspires some of the very best solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems.

I LOVE what I do.
It's always different and exciting, never boring or mundane.

Thanks Majjie!

Peggy

Simple Paneer Kurma

Ingredients:

1. Onions - 1 or 2 (your choice)
2. Potatoes - 2 small
3. Capsicum - 1
4. Carrot - 1
5. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Salt
7. Paneer pieces - 1 cup
8. Coriander leaves
9. Lemon(optional)

To grind to a paste:

Cashews - about 20
Sombu - 1 tsp
Coconut - 3/4 cup
Cloves - 6
Cinnamon
Elaichi - 4
Green chillis - 1 or 2

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Fry veges 1 through 4 for 10 minutes.
2. Grind the above ingredients to a thick paste. Add the paste to the veges.
3. Add enough water to get a gravy consistency.
4. Close the lid and let it cook till the veges are fully cooked and oil starts to float on top(takes approximately 30 minutes).
5. Fry paneer pieces with little oil separately and add it to the gravy.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with a wedge of lime.
7. Serve with rotis or parathas.

The Error of My Ways

Today I received a notice about a comment on one of my blog posts about HomeAnnex, an enticing web site with lots of plumbing fixtures and other great items.

Here is the comment:

whgeiger has left a new comment on your post "Home Annex - A GREAT Resource":

You should check the BBB before you make such recommendations. My experience with this firm is contrary to yours. To confirm this, here is what the NY chapter has to say:

"On May 22, 2007, this company's membership in the BBB was revoked by the BBB's Board of Directors due to failure to cooperate with the BBB on advertising matters, unresolved complaints, and the company's failure to eliminate the underlying causes of complaints on file with the BBB concerning: non-delivery of merchandise, failure to respond to customer issues and complaints, failure to adhere to its posted policies, and misrepresentation of product availability."

The URL follows so you may verify these facts for yourself.

http://search.newyork.bbb.org/reports.aspx?id=79745&pid=44&page=0&FindStr=homeannex.com&SearchBy=url&Address=&City=&Phone1=&Phone2=&Phone3=&MembersOnly=False

I must admit I was taken in by a well-constructed web site and recommended an apparently spurious and unethical business to my readers.

Mea Culpa please.

I hope no readers have been harmed by my lack of due diligence.

I will be more careful in the future to only recommend sites about which I have personal knowledge or a good recommendation. This is the way I run my business, so there is no reason to think I have to do things differently here.

I DO like to preview or comment upon new products here and on my other blogs. Obviously I can not be accountable for products that do not perform as advertised.
As always, buyer beware.

My deepest thanks to whgeiger.
I have removed the original, laudatory, post.

Peggy