NPB Advertiser Archery Bistro (located at the Normandy Park Towne Center), would like our Readers to know about their latest food specials and events.

Here’s a letter from Chef Brandon about this week’s offering:

Hello!!! Chef Brandon here! This will be my last blog of the summer. I can’t believe September is almost here! Fortunately, September means that football season has arrived! Archery Bistro is your pro and college football headquarters!

Come down and have a burger and a brew, and cheer on your favorite team(s) all season long!

As I said last week, people are already booking their holiday parties with us. I would recommend you giving me a call, or stopping by in person to ensure you can book the date that you want!

Until Next Time,
- Chef Brandon

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We’d like to welcome back NPB Advertiser Michael O’Neill Interiors, who want us to share the following information with our Readers:

CHOOSING YOUR DESIGN PROFESSIONAL

Designer or Decorator?
The technical definition of a designer often used is one who reconfigures the space i.e. moving or eliminating walls, windows and architectural elements; adding or changing built-in elements such as cabinetry and fixtures. Interior decorators’ forte is usually construed to be finishes, furnishings, accessories and artwork.

You are looking for professional results when designing your project. Some professionals only do interior design and some do only interior decorating, but there are many who overlap and do both. In reality most professionals will call themselves either interior designers or interior decorators even though in essence they are an interior designer decorator because they do both designing and decorating. For our purposes we’ll use the term interior designer to be all inclusive.

Interior designers serve as artisans for clients looking to cultivate a certain type of look and or solve problems for their space. They advise clients on how to think out of the box and allow their creative ideas to synchronize with the realities and possibilities of the space being designed. They help to set overall design concepts and incorporate budget-saving ideas that still allow the space to reflect a certain level of taste and function. A good designer will take stock of the resources you already have in place and help you determine how those resources should best be allocated to ensure that your design goals are met within your budget.

A degree or professional organization affiliation does not guarantee a designer’s abilities or creative talents. Their portfolio, work history and references are the best gauge of their qualifications. Interior designers who have many years experience may not have a Bachelors in Interior Design, but usually are well educated and have learned their craft in the real world.

Considerations
You should consider a few things before deciding on an interior design company. These considerations include:

1. Personality

Are you compatible?
Get a feel for the person or firm. Do you feel comfortable working with them? Do you have confidence that they can manage the task of designing your project? Being able to work closely with your designer is important because clear communication between client and designer is what will ensure a great result. Pay close attention to how well they receive your ideas and whether they are willing to take the mix of your ideas and their expertise to create a beautiful space.

Ask what size projects the interior designer has worked on, where, and what the budget range was.

Competent designers will a have many questions for you about you and your project. Be prepared to talk freely about problems and concerns.

2. Vision

Does the designer understand your aesthetic vision for the project?
Peruse the interior designer’s portfolio, but remember that the designs will reflect other people’s tastes, not necessarily the interior designer’s, and possibly not your own. Look instead for overall effect – use of color, composition, dramatic appeal – wow factor.

It always helps an interior designer when his or her client has some ideas in mind before beginning the design process. Pulling pictures out of books or magazines helps to give the designer a visual of the direction you want to take with the decor in your space. While you shouldn’t expect to get the exact look of your examples, your designer should be able to get a feeling for the style you are after. However, your reason for hiring a design professional should be to tap their creative juices and achieve a unique, personal and outstanding look.

After they have seen your site, how well do they understand your project? Listen to the types of ideas they have. Do they seem to understand your point of view? Do they seem organized and remember points you brought up?

3. Budget

Can the designer work within your budget?
Establish a budget. Work out details. What can you afford? Many companies specialize in working with people on a budget. However, before you hire a designer, you do need to figure out exactly what the limits of your budget are. The designer may be able to give you rough guidelines, but budget ultimately needs to come from you. Remember, it is not the amount that is important (because the best designers can work with any reasonable size budget), but rather that you understand your monetary limit before you hire an interior designer.

Ask how the established budget will be handled, and the kind of payment schedules the interior decorator requires.

4. Time Frame

Can the designer commit to the deadline you need?
Discuss time frame. What are your time constraints? Estimate how long the project will take. Will the project be phased? If so determine priorities. What should be accomplished in each phase? Bear in mind the more work that can be completed in one phase the more economical the whole project will be. How long can the space be “under construction”?

5. Fees

How do designers charge for their services?
Hourly Rate: The interior designer bills a per hour rate.

Per Diem: The designer bills a daily rate.

Flat Design Fee: The client pays a flat fee for the professional interior designer’s services based on the design plan, time required, and scope of services.

Cost Plus Method: Professional interior designers charge a set percentage on all merchandise purchased and tradesmen’s services rendered.

Mixed Method: The client pays both a set percentage on purchases and a base design fee for hourly rate.

6. Role

Exactly what is the scope of the designer’s involvement?
Ask about the types of services the designer can provide. Will you require construction drawings and or renderings? Who will purchase product? Who will hire subcontractors? What do you expect as far as project management? This later consideration is of utmost importance. Some clients feel a designer’s job is done once the specifications and drawings are done and product ordered. Releasing the designer at that point is a recipe for disaster! In order for a designer to best serve their client they should be on board until the project is completed. Cost, quality and maintained vision invariably suffer if this is not the case.

Michael O'Neill

Misconceptions
The most common misconception that exists about the interior design industry is that the process of using professional design services is expensive. The converse is usually the case. Without a designer you could likely end up spending much more money because of the process of trial and error or avoidable mistakes and end up with a mediocre project. Particularly in today’s budget-conscious economy, interior designers are working with clients on how to get the best interior design concepts for less. The best way to navigate the process is to bring this topic up during the interview stage to ensure that the company you choose has some experience designing and sourcing on a budget.

Finally, if an interior designer, or anyone for that matter, tells you the process is easy, stress-free, and will be complete in two weeks, they’re either lying or naive. Don’t hire that person! It should be, however, an adventurous, fun and definitely rewarding experience.

To learn more about Michael O’Neill Interiors, click here, or call (206) 290-3303.

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We’d like to welcome our latest Advertiser, Shawn McEvoy, running for King County Council, District 8.

Here’s what Shawn would like us to share with our Readers:

Thank you for taking the time to learn about me. I’d like to share a little about myself with you; perhaps you’ll gain some insight into why I’m running for King County Council and why I care so much about good government.

Shawn McEvoy

I grew up in Normandy Park and pretty much have lived here all of my life. I’ve seen when things didn’t work in this city and community and how things deteriorated. I’ve been involved in my community and city government because I care and because I feel I can make a real difference and I have. Whether it’s been serving as the Mayor and Council member for the city of Normandy Park, or as President and board member for the Normandy Park Community Club (Cove), I have always made great strides in improving the quality of life for my community and city. I’m proud of the many accomplishments and honors I’ve received for our successes.

The proof of my commitment to good leadership and government is easy to verify. During my twelve years on the board of trustees for the Normandy Park Community Club as President and Board member, add to that, eight years as Mayor and Councilmember for the city of Normandy Park, my service was completely voluntary. That’s right, even though elected, we are not paid a thing for our services. In volunteering I believe it is perhaps the truest form of leadership and democracy.

Our success is because we act in a non-partison fashion. I’m here to tell you non-partisanship works. I believe one of the problems we have today is that politics is getting in the way of solving problems and making progress. Career politicians at the County level are the problem not the solution. That is why our citizens of King County voted to have a non-partisan Council. Instead of career politicians, we want council members that work together on the problems of today and are focused on our future, not theirs.

I can make a difference at the County level. I have the experience, skills and the abilities to help solve the problems of political bickering, as well as help solve King County’s other problems. I can bring real change to the County Council. I’m endorsed by the 11th District Democrats, many Independents and Republicans. I’m rated Very Good by the Municipal League of King County. Because you want a moderate with an excellent environmental record, great leadership skills, strong council experience, and impressive regional involvement, I’m asking for your vote and I’m looking forward to earning your trust.

More information on Shawn is available at his website: http://friendsofshawnmcevoy.com.

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BTB Advertiser Archery Bistro (located at the Normandy Park Towne Center), would like our Readers to know about their latest food specials and events.

Here’s a letter from Chef Brandon about this week’s offering:

Happy Thursday! Thanks to all of you who came out last Sunday for our Waterbrook Wine Dinner! It was great! The winemaker was handing out prizes after testing the diners on their wine knowledge!

Don’t forget, the Normandy Park Hoop Fest will be taking place in our parking lot here at Archery Bistro this Saturday! We will be offering various lunch items and ice cold beers!!! Come down and check it out!

Starting in August (dates to be determined) we will be doing “Hot August Nights.” Our parking lot will be transformed into a classic car show, with music, food, and drinks! Stay tuned for more info.

Geez there is a lot going on down here! Sundays we have been selling food at the Music In the Park concert series at Mar Vista Park. We will be there this weekend selling some of our signature items!! Bring cash!! We have many events lined up for the month of August so we won’t be doing an August wine dinner. However, we have an award winning winery, Dutch John’s from Wenatchee, slated for September. It is sure to be a delicious evening! Stay tuned for the menu!

Until next time!!!

- Chef Brandon

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NPB Real Estate Sponsor Prudential Northwest’s featured Open House for this week is a totally-remodeled 4-bedroom, 2-bath home with views of Mt. Rainier and the Cascade Mountains.

This home features hardwood floors, six-panel doors, tile bathrooms, rounded corners, new furnace, windows and much more.

There’s a large family room off the living room that leads to huge covered deck overlooking a fenced back yard, along with raised gardens and breathtaking views!

Here are the details:

WHEN: Open House will be this Sunday, July 25th, from 1pm to 4pm.

WHERE: 4846 S 170th Street, SeaTac, WA 98188

INFO:

• List Price: $274,950
• Listing #: 107062
• Beds: 4
• Baths: 2
• Year Built: 1948
• 2-car Garage
• Approximate House SqFt: 1,840
• Lot Square Footage: 11,325

Interior Features:

• Ceiling Fan(s)
• Dble Pane/Strm Windw
• French Doors

Site Features:

• Cable TV
• Deck
• Fenced-Partially
• High Speed Internet
• Outbuildings

Marketing Remarks:

Total remodel 3 years ago, 4 bedroom, 2 bath home with Mt Rainier, Valley and Cascade Mt views!

Home features hardwood floors, 6 panel doors, tile bathrooms, rounded corners, new furnace, windows, electric & plumbing.

Large family room off the living room leads to huge covered deck overlooking fenced back yard, raised gardens and breath taking views!

Deep 2 car garage with opener and shelves.

Lot of extra storage, private setting in back yard.

Click here to see the full, detailed listing.

Click here to view all of Prudential Northwest’s Open Houses.

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BTB Advertiser Archery Bistro (located at the Normandy Park Towne Center), would like our Readers to know about their latest food specials and events.

Here’s a letter from Chef Brandon about this week’s offering:

Hello again from the lovely Archery Bistro Kitchen! I’m just enjoying a quick break from answering some telephone messages. I have been getting many phone calls from people wanting to book our private dining rooms for company parties, birthdays, All-Star baseball parties, and even a private wine tasting! It’s a lot of fun working with each customer to plan their party and menu. You can do it too! Give us a call at (206) 421-3145 and ask for me, Chef Brandon!

Our July 25th Wine Dinner featuring Waterbrook Winery is just around the corner and we still have some spots available. Waterbrook Winery is in the heart of Walla Walla, a place so nice they named it twice! Wine dinners are not only a great place to learn about the wineries and the wine itself, but also to learn about what food to pair with wine. I love these dinners and enjoying mingling with our guests in the dining room to talk about where I was when I thought of a certain dish, or why I decided to pair this with that. Stop by Archery Bistro or give us a call to secure a spot at our July 25th Waterbrook Winery dinner.

Recently I have been taking some heat from some Moms from the neighborhood about our kid’s menu. So I fixed it! Kids are just as important to us as adults at Archery. My new kid’s menu has more to offer and is now more affordable! We also have an art competition for kids where they can win a gift certificate to bring their family into Archery PLUS ALL OF OUR KIDS MENU ITEMS ARE ONLY $6.00! That’s right, $6.00 and each entree includes a dessert! It’s been so cool getting to know some of the kids who enjoy coming in for cheeseburgers and deep fried candy bars and I’m confident they will love our new items I developed just for them!

Don’t forget to mention my Normandy Park Blog note when you come in and receive a FREE APPETIZER with the purchase of two or more entrees, kids entrée’s count, but only one appetizer per table please!

Hope you are having a great week and we hope to see you soon at Archery Bistro!

-Chef Brandon

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We’d like to welcome our latest Advertiser to The Normandy Park Blog – DealPop – a new online and mobile social buying site from WhitePages that offers consumers up to 70 percent off the best places to eat, shop and have fun in greater Seattle area.

To learn more, as well as sign up, just click here.

Here’s what they’d like to share with our Readers:

WhitePages (www.whitepages.com), the largest and most trusted online directory, today announced it has entered the social buying category with the launch of DealPop (www.dealpop.com) in its hometown of Seattle. With the official launch, DealPop will leverage the more than 100 million local and business searches conducted monthly at WhitePages.com and 411.com to determine the most popular places to eat, shop, and have fun. This knowledge as well as picks by DealPop’s local insiders will allow the company to work with merchants to provide the most relevant deals for consumers at local favorites and hidden gems. DealPop is immediately available in Seattle and will launch with popular local favorites such as the Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company, the Alibi Room, Twist, Mad Pizza, and Unexpected Productions. DealPop will expand to major metropolitan areas in the coming months.

“With the emergence of social buying sites, I refuse to pay full-price when trying a new restaurant, bar or even a spa,” said Cindy Locke, a deal-seeking sales consultant who lives in Seattle, WA and subscribes to Groupon, LivingSocial and now DealPop. “I’m excited to use a service from such a trusted brand like WhitePages – one that truly knows the Seattle market and will provide the real inside scoop on new restaurants, stores, salons, and entertainment venues in my hometown.”

WhitePages, a top 50 online and mobile website where more than 20 million people per month visit for personal and business contact information, will offer deals of up to 70 percent off, with each deal available for purchase for a set number of hours. Seattleites can sign up for DealPop at www.dealpop.com and immediately start receiving a daily email with fantastic deals. DealPop customers will receive the following benefits:

• Discover cool things to do and hot places to go based on popular local business searches on WhitePages as well as picks by DealPop’s local insiders;
• The ability to share via Facebook, Twitter and email, turning the deal into a social activity that can be enjoyed with friends or family;
• The opportunity to receive DealPop points that can be applied to a future purchase by sharing a great deal with someone who then signs up and purchases that deal;
• Access to helpful customer service representatives to answer any questions about each daily deal;
• Unlike other daily deal sites, everyone gets the deal at DealPop because there isn’t a minimum number of people who need to purchase before the deal goes through;
• Email reminders before the expiration date of a voucher to encourage consumers to use their purchases

“DealPop is about discovery,” said Kevin Nakao, chief operating offer at WhitePages. “Not only will we find the neighborhood gems – the cozy little bistro in Ballard with great food, the hilarious comedy show that everyone is talking about, or a great spa to relax and rejuvenate at – but people will be able try these places without having to pay full price, a combination that consumers won’t want to pass up and share with their friends.”

About WhitePages
As the largest and most trusted online people and business directory, WhitePages offers a suite of free mobile and Internet services that makes it easy for people to find and immediately connect with anyone in the U.S. Only WhitePages offers one-click access to more than 200 million adults and powers more than 2 billion searches on over 1,500 partner sites including MSN, Ask.com, SuperPages.com and the United States Postal Service. For more information, please visit www.whitepages.com or check out the WhitePages blog at blog.whitepages.com.

Click on their Ad to learn more and sign up:

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Hi there loyal Normandy Park-ites (that can’t be right, can it?). Leonard the goldfish here, with INCREDIBLE BREAKING NEWS!

I’m not usually one to type shout, but seriously, this is B-I-G big. After three long years of bugging the heck out of the Seattle Aquarium, they’re finally giving me a chance to get my own exhibit. I just have to prove that people (i.e. you) actually want me there. So I need to get 30,000 votes and I’m in. You can vote and find out more about my plight at VoteLeonardIn.com. Or follow me on my Facebook page.

Hopefully someday soon you’ll be able to follow me at the actual Seattle Aquarium, along with the otters, wolf eels, and moon jellies.

So please, Normandy Parkians (ok, that sounds better), help me prove to the Aquarium folks I’m not too common to get my own exhibit.

Remember, a vote for me is a vote for goldfish everywhere.

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BTB Advertiser Archery Bistro (located at the Normandy Park Towne Center), would like our Readers to know about their latest food specials and events.

Here’s a letter from Chef Brandon about this week’s offering:

Well, I know I don’t need to tell you how hot the past few days have been. But I can tell you what the best way to cool down is. Come eat some soup at Archery Bistro! Drinking or eating hot liquids will make you sweat, therefore cool you down! I find it funny too! But since I know Tomato Bisque isn’t exactly what you are craving when it is 90 degrees out, come and try my new Watermelon and Cucumber salad! Wash it down with a glass of rose or one of our tropical signature cocktails! Hang out on the patio with your friends and keep those sunglasses on all night when our fire pit turns on!

Here is our first friendly reminder about our July wine dinner featuring Waterbrook Winery. It will take place on Sunday, July 25th. The menu will include prosciutto wrapped fruits, Pepper crusted Ahi, Baby Spinach Salad with creamy Pear Vinaigrette, and a dueling entrée dish which will have Black Cod and Kobe Beef! Finished off with a homemade brownie and homemade Cookie Dough Ice Cream! Call us today to make your reservations!

Mention my blog when you come in and I’ll buy you an appetizer when you purchase two entrees! This cannot be offered with any other coupon or discount though!

Be sure your pets have fresh, cool, clean water!!

Adios!
– Chef Brandon

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NPB Real Estate Sponsor Prudential Northwest’s featured Open House for this week is an “extremely clean 3 bedroom, 2 full (all new) bath rambler” located near the beach in Hurstwood and priced at $369,950.

This home features newly-refinished hardwoods, new tile in the kitchen and family room, new interior paint, and a 2-car garage with huge attic storage.

Here are the details:

WHEN: Open House will be this Sunday, July 11th, from 1pm to 4pm.

WHERE: 13843 17th Ave SW, Burien 98166

INFO:

• List Price: $369,950
• Listing#: 32089
• Beds: 3
• Baths: 2
• Fireplaces: 1
• Year Built: 1966
• 2 Garage-Attached
• Approximate House SqFt: 1,420
• Lot Square Footage: 16,000

Interior Features:

• Bath Off Master
• Dble Pane/Strm Windw

Site Features:

• Cable TV
• Fenced-Partially
• Patio

Marketing Remarks:

Extremely clean 3 bdrm,2full(all new) bath rambler.

Newly refinished hardwoods and new tile in kitchen and family rm.

New interior paint. 2 car gar.w/huge attic storage.

Sought after Hurstwood-near the beach.

Get in this one!

Furniture negotiable if interested.

Directions:

• Ambaum Blvd. to SW 144th St.
• West to 13th SW.
• Right to stop sign.
• Turn Right then immediate left to 13843 17th SW.

Click here to see the full, detailed listing.

Click here to view all of Prudential Northwest’s Open Houses.

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