Agents of Moxie :: Contributors

* jb (the journeyman) I began blogging to spread the word about my new business, also called Building Moxie. But as I got into the groove, I began to write more about the interconnectivy of things, the fundamental reasons for, and the related challenges with performing home projects.

I am reminded frequently that “It” often isn’t as easy as following a how-to recipe! But . . . I do believe that anyone can do, and that the best way to learn to do . . . is to do. Join us here as we stream through home projects, business, life and learning.

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* b (the sounding board) Life’s turning points are often the result of an arbitrary choice going on to have a profound and lasting effect. A friend of mine calls this The whim becomes a way of life.

One such whim for me was moving into a dilapidated, century-old schoolhouse in my early twenties. Without this house, where I still live, I most probably would not have become a carpenter, and, later, would not have associated with this blog.

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* CalFinder home remodeling is the homeowner’s start-to-finish remodeling site. Whether we’re posting pretty house pictures or connecting homeowners with local contractors, we’re all about helping people create beautiful living spaces.

The CalFinder Blog is where it’s at. It’s your go-to spot to hear about the trendsetters, catch up on remodeling news, and of course, get ideas for improving your home. Our favorite part is creating community. Our writers are fun, talented, and love to chat with readers. Their professional experience ranges from green remodeling to solar energy to interior design and back again. They cover the gambit and happen to be wonderful writers as well.

For us, what it comes down to is making the home remodeling process a positive one. Our company grew out of a need for free public access to reliable, qualified contractors. CalFinder individually matches homeowners with contractors based on their needs. Our system is a personal one, and we’re proud of our fast-growing number of success stories. Best of all, it’s free for homeowners. Happy, healthy homes, here we come!

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* Regina Garay (the Fauxologist) The Orlando, Fl-based Garay Artisans firm was launched in New York City in 1998 and has since grown into a respected and creative team of faux finishing and Venetian plaster artists. The company is owned by the sibling team of Regina Garay and Jason Rosales and their fresh approach brings a client’s vision to life, marrying masterful techniques with beautiful color combinations. Their experienced team of artists are distinguished by their excellent reputation and superior service.

In 2007, WFTV, the Orlando-based ABC affiliate and Central Florida’s most watched television station, chose Garay Artisans as their Local Expert for Faux Finishing and frequently feature the firm in their newscasts and on their website.  In the 2008-2009 year, American Painting Contractor awarded Garay Artisans the Grand Prize in their national competition, the Top Job Awards.  In the 2009-2010 year, they won the Top Jobs First Place Award for a commercial commission for their work on the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Asheville, NC.  In addition to their private commissions, their decorative painting and antique mirrors have found their way into the following beautiful locations, among others: Orlando International Airport, Hilton at Walt Disney World Resort, The Bohemian Hotel at Savannah Riverfront and Loews Portofino Bay Hotel (Universal Studios).

Regina also pens the Fauxology blog and is one of twelve moderators for the faux finishing forum, Talk Faux.  She is happy to be active in social media and looks forward to continued camaraderie within the building and design communities.

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* Tammy J. Dalton (the Moxie Proxy) Tammy Dalton is a Florida Registered Interior Designer based in Stuart, Florida.  Through her design practice she offers full-service interior design and also e-decorating and design services for do-it-yourselfers.  She’s been practicing interior design for residences, offices, yachts, hotels and restaurants for way longer than she’d like to admit.

In addition to the fabulous world of design, she can usually be found playing punch buggy with her kids, reading a lot of science fiction, doing yoga and modern dance, and excitedly describing how much stuff she recycles and how easy it was to create her own compost bin.

When not designing great places for great people and learning to live a greener life, she’s dishing out design moxie on her website www.tamaradalton.net, on Twitter as @tammyjdalton, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tamaradaltondesign.

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* John Douglas Poole (The Technician) John Poole is a computer scientist and technologist. His mysterious Second Life, however, is almost singularly driven by an all-consuming passion for carpentry, woodworking, timber framing, and the restoration/renovation of old colonial homes, of which he currently has two ongoing projects. In his copious spare time, John enjoys rowing, skiing, sailing, reading, and sometimes even a little gardening.

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* Alycia Wicker (Sista Moxie) I’m Alycia. I’m a certified interior designer, but you can call me a decorator. It’s cool, because I’m not a snotty designer chick that’s defined by her label.

Here’s my resume… started out doing engineering drawings for a metal fabrication company back in 1997, then thought I should work somewhere that was related to my degree. That’s when I started working for a model home company. With the design industry being so “clicky” then (it still is), I felt like a confused Jessica Simpson at a MENSA convention. I moved into contract furnishings where boring is the name of the design game. Construction project management is where life led me next. It was pretty fun and I got to travel around the country for installations. Pretty sweet gig. Then I got knocked up. On purpose. By my husband. I gave birth to my sweet daughter. I went back to work for a short time to the company where I started off and was doing those “manly” mechanical drawings and reigning as the cutest thing in the engineering department. Not that it was hard. Then I came to my senses, followed my design dreams and now happily create design guides for homeowners at e-Decorating. Here’s a tissue.

I LOVE to make fun of celebrities, people on TV, etc. I am sarcastic and insensitive, at times. I’m fun and that’s all that matters. Oh, I have the tendency to have a sailor’s mouth, am totally non-PC and say stuff that gets me in trouble. Are you down with “Cool as Ice,” I say or “Kool and the Gang,” depending on your age. Oh, and I have a blog like every other carbon form . . . . So Not A “Designer” Blog.  Read it, love it, subscribe to it and share it like a VD.

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*Dave Nichols (The Deck & Fencing Guy) Dave writes about fence and deck maintenance and repair, cedar and composite decking, and other home improvement issues for the Rick’s Fencing & Decking Blog.  Rick’s Custom Fencing & Decking was founded in 1980 and has grown to become one of the largest retailers of fencing and decking in the Pacific Northwest.

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