On May 3, I signed my lease at 1882 Southern Avenue, and my target opening date is July 1. The landlord is giving me almost three full free months. It was originally supposed to be just June, but he figured since I'm doing a lot of work to the place, he would give me July as well. When I signed the lease, he told me he would turn over the keys as soon as the check cleared for the deposit, which was the typical first and last month. I've got my guys working on quotes for the custom work right now, and I will start the fundraising as well as getting a loan from the bank for the bulk of the work.

My custom work will include:
- a deep bench for the waiting area
- a pedicure platform with plumbing
- a bar with a painted wooden top and steel legs
- cabinets behind the bar for storage and a sink

This is just a large part of what is to be done. I'm figuring everything else out now, such as the paint, flooring, and decor. I got about 22 paint color samples from Home Depot, and now the narrowing down commences! Ooooor...I could just use all of them! Who knows, I'm a color addict so there's no telling what I might do.

Oh yeah, I'm going to commission the help of some local underground graffiti artists as well (insert grin here). I have a pretty good idea of the barstools I want and the chairs for the pedicure platform.

I plan to keep the whole thing under $7,000, which is $2,000 more than I originally planned. The retail area will more than likely be constructed from a lot of repurposed materials, and I'm going to the RE store to see if I can pick up some cabinets to refinish and dress with some nice hardware. If I'm lucky, I can find a lot more than just cabinets there so I can save some money.

(I wanted to post pictures of me signing the lease, but uh, no one was available to capture the moment so, oh well, HERE GOES!)

— Lauren, Graffiti Nail Bar, Memphis, Tenn.