Mini Restaurant Remodel

I did something I've never done before - advise a restaurant on some remodeling tips. This is how it started. My husband and I usually go out to lunch together every Thursday and Friday (those are the days I tend to work from home). We have our favorite restaurants and Shan Dong in Oakland Chinatown is one of them for lunch. They serve Northern Mandarin cuisine; it's different than your typical Chinese Cantonese style restaurant. They specialize in hand made dumplings and noodles and a little more spice than usual. We've gotten to know the owners, Charles and Tiffany - they're so sweet and one day they asked if I could help pick out a new wallpaper for them. I often bring in Stampington magazines to read and so they thought I was some sort of artist (ha). Well, my first thought was (working on a limited budget and time frame of 2 weeks), "No more wallpaper - let's paint instead". So, long story short, let me show you some pictures...

BEFORE...

 They had lots of red lanterns hanging...

They posted various red signs on the wall and yellow tables (that weren't going to be replaced)...

And assorted pictures here and there.

During the remodeling...

They removed the wallpaper.

And here are the AFTER pictures...

I selected the wall colors and recommended how to hang the new pictures...

I sewed the black and white panels for them (they were red before).

We removed the red menus on the walls.

We removed the red lanterns.

So, now I say it looks a bit more modern and high tech. I love gray with yellow.

 I consolidated all the pictures into one frame. I have more to hang up soon.

And this is how the restaurant was last Friday at lunch. It's usually always packed at lunch time...I mean if you don't get there before 12:15pm, plan on waiting for a table. What a fun project this was and I'm so glad everyone enjoys the new look. It's a small restaurant with great food, friendly service, at a great price! If you go there, tell them Connie sent you :-).

Tomorrow, I'll post a couple more 2012 collaborative calendar pages to show you (July & August) - they're fabulous!