MY TAKE by Rose McGlew
I have no head for business at all. I am a financial idiot. But I do know good value and I do know a good bargain and I am going to share two of them with you. It’s Thanksgiving-time and I’m feeling generous.
Not only am I financially incapable, my decorating skills hover only slightly above. I can go to a craft store and pick out a beautiful vase and seasonally appropriate flowers, but somehow, before I reach my house, the vase has turned into a dollar-store horror and the flowers look like the plastic carnations from a cheap diner table. The colors all clash, not only with each other but with the plain beige walls in my house, too.
I feel that the first step in solving a problem is admitting you have one, so it is now that I am crying out for help. Luckily, there is a new business in Allentown that came to my rescue.
Suddenly Chic, owned and operated by Teri Nalbone, is not your average decorating business. Teri does not come to your house with books of paint chips and yards of expensive fabric swatches (although I guess she would if you paid her). She comes to your house with a camera, good sense, and strong arms. After assessing your home’s potential by walking through various rooms and asking you questions about your life, Teri begins her magic. She redecorates. She rejuvenates.
I arranged to have her re-do both my bedroom and living room and the transformation in each was amazing. She moved my bed and repositioned it in a way that made much more sense, but in a position that I had never even imagined. Dressers flanked opposite walls, using up previously wasted space and freeing up other areas and allowing new pieces into the room. The room ended up with both more furniture and more space!
We moved into the living room after she snapped a couple of photos and I picked up my jaw and she made a couple suggestions and asked my opinions on furniture placement. After reminding her that she was the professional and I was the dope, I left to grab some lunch for the two of us, leaving her to hang out for a few minutes alone to gather some inspiration.
I opened the front door and almost dropped my bag. I actually cried when I saw how wonderfully appropriate my living room looked. The furniture made sense, the pictures on the wall were grouped together, making you actually want to look at them, rather than just give them a glance on your way through. By putting our unusual bric-a-brac in small groupings, Teri made it look like we had actually put some thought into our purchases rather than just buying things because they were cute.
While we just had Teri work wonders with what we already owned, she does provide other services as well. She won’t bring you to a showroom and tell you to buy this suite of furniture or that brand of rug. She’ll suggest items and fabrics, color schemes and decorations and will provide them if requested, but she tries to teach you a little as she works so that you can become more secure in your own choices. After all, it’s your house. You should love it!
She is currently running a holiday special to get your home in shape for all those guests around your dining room table. For a very modest fee, Teri can help you turn your home into a welcoming haven for family and friends.
Teri Nalbone and Suddenly Chic can be reached at (609) 259-2302. Call her now and tell her Rose sent you. I’m not kidding you’d better call before she’s completely booked into next year.
The other service company that I have to rave about is Kamaras Tree and Mulch in Robbinsville. While I didn’t have as much direct interaction with Chris while he and his chainsaw were at work in my yard, I can vouch for his phenomenally reasonable work.
This man worked a miracle in my front yard and made my driveway safer for motorists. He gave me an estimate that he stuck to down to the dime, arrived two minutes before he had said he would and finished exactly when he said he would.
Chris and his employee, Jose, showed up ready to work and stopped only for about a 15-minute break from 8 a.m. until 2:15 p.m. Not only did Chris work all day, when he finished up he even offered free advice regarding some other landscaping needs and suggested some other things we might want to consider that we never would have thought about.
Needless to say, Chris will be back in the spring to help us start on some landscape work. If you’d like to work with a young guy who has an old-fashioned work ethic, give Chris a call at (609) 585-7077.
Doing business with workers in your home can sometimes be frustrating, especially when you are clueless about their line of work. Exorbitant prices, sloppy work, no-show/no-call contractors and time constraints can scare anyone. I am beyond thankful to have found these two new businesses, and the professionals who own them.
Why are you sitting there? Go call!
Rose McGlew is a resident of Robbinsville.