Common Vision Designers

This project consisted of a bathroom renovation, and new elevator installation. Both portions of the project came out wonderful for long time past clients in New Haven. Recently completed by Michael McCardle.

Larry Page recently completed this bathroom in New Haven for long time past clients. Matching colors on the vanity and window trim look great against the white walls. This bathroom features a walk in shower with glass enclosure, a neat floating vanity, and beautiful large windows that allow natural light to fill the space. Also included here are some bonus pictures of their kitchen that we completed approximately 4 years ago.

A couple times a year we like to break the guys away from their job sites on a Friday to celebrate Common Vision, the success we have been able to build together, and simply to have a good ole' time with everyone from the company, together in the same spot. A great time had by all at our local BBQ in New Haven. Now, back to work!

This bathroom in Woodbridge posed a bit of a challenge as it was built directly on top of its original stone floor from 1953. It is a very good example of what can be done in a smaller space. Brass fixtures are accentuated through the room against black subway tile. Great job by Shaun McCardle.

This bathroom remodel in New Haven features a large walk in shower, with a tub situated inside. A beautiful project completed recently by Shaun McCardle.

And here are just some of the creatures we saw at the Penfield Farm while we were making their new kitchen and stair tower, along with other modifications. You can visit them here on Facebook, or at their website http://penfieldfarm.com/ . I won't post the lambing videos and pictures. Check them out!

More photos from the Portland, CT job we did in 2017.

The manager of this wonderful farm property in Portland, CT contacted me a couple of weeks ago for some information on custom hood lights and he wished we had put some photos up of the work we did there. It's before (2017) we started getting jobs professionally photographed. But here are some views I shot of afters and befores. We combined 2 rooms and removed a staircase between them to make this wide open kitchen, which is gorgeous.

Classic meets modern in this kitchen remodel located in one of our favorite neighborhoods in New Haven. Beautiful work by Michael McCardle

Have a look at some "before and afters" of a project recently completed in Cheshire. Lots of extra planning and engineering went into bringing this dream office to fruition. Office space renovations don't come along quite as often as bathrooms or kitchens, but I must say we hit this one of out the park. Great job by Shaun McCardle.

Did somebody say windows? Natural light pours in and illuminates beautiful moss green cabinets and quartz countertops in this kitchen recently completed by Shaun McCardle.

Feast your eyes on this gorgeous bathroom recently completed by Larry Page. I can't help but feel like I am floating through the ocean looking at the movement in the large shower tile, and the slight variation in the blues on the smaller tiles. Truly stunning. Plus a bonus shot of the same clients' kitchen that we renovated back in 2019. Still looks great!

Michael McCardle did a wonderful job on this kitchen and bathroom - and oh, so much more for clients in New Haven. An amazing kitchen and a wonderful bath!

This kitchen in North Haven features a beautiful curved island countertop with plenty of space for cooking, seating or entertaining. Beautiful job by Eliot Benton.

https://gofund.me/2245aa16 We have more than $5000 of matching funds still to use. Read my update to see what we're doing, but basically, share some music for an inspiring playlist, a small amount of money that we'll match, and I'll share the playlist with everyone who contributes. We're having a great response to this musical interlude!

Tim Keyes has ALS, organized by Cyrus Miller I’m Cy Miller, Owner of Common Vision, a Design/Build Remodeling Company. Tim Keyes has worked for us … Cyrus Miller needs your support for Tim Keyes has ALS

https://gofund.me/6ad54d91

WE HAVE UNUSED MATCHING DOLLARS! WE'LL MATCH YOUR DONATION UP TO A TOTAL OF $20,000!

I was robbed of music on September 11th and stopped listening after our invasion of Iraq. 22 years ago, I turned off the music and turned on the news and became a news ju**ie. A quarter century ago, I was a long-standing folk music aficionado and played it while I was working and much of the day. WPKN was on all the time. On one leg of my 15,000 mile hitch-hiking travels around the country I carried some of my prized vinyl discs on my shoulder in a duffel bag so I would have them when I settled for a half year in Colorado Springs. In a bad stretch, Ferron sang to me "Ain't Life a Brook?" and I recognized that life was like a polished stone. Sometimes we settle in and grow content with the polished nature of our lives. And then a storm comes along and washes us down the brook and bangs us up a bit. She said philosophically, "Life don't clickety-clack down a straight line track, it comes together and it comes apart." Ain't life a brook for Tim and Meg and those of us who love them?

Maybe it was Tim's diagnosis that led me months ago to start listening again to WPKN, my station before the "fall". It was on in the background on Tim's jobs when I arrived, and was the unofficial radio station of Common Vision when I joined in 1995. So a while back I made pledges to the station for me and for Common Vision in Tim's name and started listening again. A couple of weeks ago I was walking along the Shepaug River in Steep Rock (Washington, CT) to see if there was a path to hike with Tim in his wheelchair. I want to take him to the old train tunnel. While I was walking along the river I started thinking about songs with water in them. James Taylor and Pete Seeger sang "The water is wide, I can't cross over," Otis Redding sat on the dock of the bay. Alison Kraus went down to the river to pray. Ringo sat in the rain - under water! - in an octopus's garden. Moon River, Rock Me On the Water (Jackson Browne), rivers of dreams, rivers of tears, rivers of happiness - benevolent and destructive rivers. I stood on the footbridge near the tunnel and imagined the Shepaug River as "Troubled" (Waterbury steals most of it).

During a particularly happy stretch in the 80s I woke up every morning to begin the day playing Chris Williamson's "Waterfall." It starts adante and melancholic. She sings:
When you open up your life to the living
All things come spilling in on you
And you're flowing like a river
The Changer and the Changed
You've got to spill some over
She finishes with a crescendo of "Ah pah pup! Up, up up!" intermixed with the refrain "Filling up and spilling over, it's an endless waterfall." Her joyous conclusion filled me every morning as I geared up and headed off to work - with joy. The Changer and the changed... I walk into Tim's and Meg's home, and I feel the polished stone. I feel the brook and the rushing tide. Amazingly, I feel the spilling in and spilling over - the Changer, the Changed and JOY. You've read it in Meg's updates and I've seen it with my own eyes.

When I was falling in love my wife gave me a tape of the Bach Cello Suites. Not my Folk Music - something that stirred her and did me as well. I'm listening to it as I write this. Music is ours to help us lament, to celebrate, to wallow in self-pity, to dance to with abandon or sway to languorously. Donny was a little rock and Marie was a little country. You may be a little classical or a little classic rock, an indie aficionado, a lover of Sunday Baroque or of (as one coworker called my playlist) Albanian Goat Music. We listen so we can imagine the feelings of our friends and lovers, or to share our feelings with them; to recall our youth, to empathize with others, to immerse ourselves in the culture of others, to encourage us to acts of heroism.

Speaking of heroism ... many of you have heroically donated multiple times. It's hard to ask for more. It occurs to me, however, that you might be encouraged to take advantage of Common Vision's ongoing, unfulfilled match with a small donation AND the music you would most like to share. I think you have to make at least a $5 donation (which CV will match) in order to leave a comment in which you can share the music you want Tim or Meg or fellow sharers to have. 5, 10 20, 25, 100, 1000 ... We give what we can. But maybe now, music is as important as the money. If there is music in your heart that you want to share, please attach it (musician and title) to a small amount of money and post it in your contribution comments. Common Vision will match your monetary donation - but we'll also make a playlist that we can share with all of you. I can't wait for that!

Tim Keyes has ALS, organized by Cyrus Miller I’m Cy Miller, Owner of Common Vision, a Design/Build Remodeling Company. Tim Keyes has worked for us … Cyrus Miller needs your support for Tim Keyes has ALS

This kitchen renovation in New Haven was completed recently by Shaun McCardle. The bathroom renovation happened a couple years ago by a carpenter who has since left the company, but it still looks amazing even after years of use!

60 people have taken advantage of our match to Tim's fund. We have been able to match $11,270 in 6 days. Thank you all! You truly walk on water in my eyes.

Tim Keyes has ALS, organized by Cyrus Miller I’m Cy Miller, Owner of Common Vision, a Design/Build Remodeling Company. Tim Keyes has worked for us … Cyrus Miller needs your support for Tim Keyes has ALS

https://gofund.me/6679bcb9 Our longtime past client Don Sackheim, neighbor and friend of Tim and Meg, has taken us past the $100K initial goal. And I take the greatest pleasure in singing his praise and thanking him. As my mother would say - "my Cup Overfloweth!"

https://gofund.me/6679bcb9 This week we hold our annual awards party at Common Vision. One of the awards is appropriate for the first donors to take advantage of our match to Tim's fund. You Walk on Water!
Thank you to:
Simone, Bryan, Dave and Maggie, Jake, Liz, Keri-Jo, Cyndi, Keith, Katherine, Leslie, Patty, Donna, Rachel, Sarah, David, Katherine, Elizabeth, Charles, Penny, Martha, Melissa, David, Judy, Danielle, Joan, Toni, Robin, Janice, Paul, Margaret, Annelise, Moira, James, Lily, Joseph, Pamela, Tracey, Kathleen, Mira, Rachel, Brian and Larry.

https://gofund.me/6679bcb9 We're short of our goal of $120,000 to support our employee Tim Keyes as he struggles with ALS. Common Vision will match contributions up to a total of $20,000 - donation by donation - to reach or hopefully exceed that goal.

I'm a weeper. I can cry at the drop of a hat. The other day I stumbled across a movie I'd never seen before called "The Pride of the Yankees." The opening lines called it the "story of a hero of the peaceful paths of every day life." It's the story of the "Iron Man," Lou Gherig, as he learned of and dealt with his diagnosis of ALS.
As I watched the movie, I recognized some of Tim's early struggles. Clutching of hands, the occasional stumble, emerging weaknesses, a little bewilderment. All down-played in an era when certain things couldn't be shown in movies or talked about in public. No weakness, for heaven's sake. Just strength, stoicism and American grit. In the middle of the 2nd World War, other things characteristic of Tim were emphasized. Bravery, humility, honesty, integrity, and thoughts of others before self. That whole - "I consider myself the luckiest man on the earth" thing. The aplomb with which Gherig says "I've been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for."
The comparison of Tim Keyes to Lou Gherig was inescapable to me. Character. Family. Loyalty. The pursuit of excellence - striving to be the best. Friendship. Respect. Love of baseball. Love of life. The "hat" dropped and I cried.

I was 5 years old when I marched up to the man using a backhoe to tear down an old building on our property. I asked him to try to kick the legs out of the building to bring it down faster. Very early on I discovered that I'm a problem-solver. A pretty good one. I remember our plumber laughing at me as I clutched my chest in a panic over some unanticipated problem on a job, terrified that we would disappoint a client in some way. I asked him about it later and he told me that Common Vision and I always figure it out. It wasn't going to be a problem - we would figure it out - and we did.
This past spring when Tim came to me to say that he'd been diagnosed with Lou Gherig's Disease my problem-solving brain kicked into gear. Suppressed panic and a clutch to the heart - "What to do, what to do?" How can we fix it or make it better? I realized very quickly that neither I nor Common Vision can "fix it." Amelioration has to be the order of the day. Talking with Meg "way" back then, she told me JOY was what they wanted to concentrate on. We took that seriously. This summer, by way of JOY, and long before I saw "The Pride of the Yankees," we got Tim seats in a Sky Box at Yankee Stadium for 6 games. Tim's a die-hard Yankees fan, and a long time softball player - we sponsored his team over the years. He took various friends and family to see games and have a GOOD time. With the help of childhood friends we facilitated a trip to Arizona to spend time with family. And we hired Tim’s son Will to join our team and work on their project. Pursuit of JOY in the works.

At the same time, we applied our problem-solving skills to the creation of a first-floor suite for Tim and Meg to live in while the progression of ALS marches steadily on. "THEY HAVE TO MOVE!" a friend with an intimate knowledge of ALS proclaimed to me. "IMPOSSIBLE!" I thought - and we moved in the direction of staying at home. Now they can stay there. Already family and friends are coming to visit and stay with them for new bouts of JOY in the home they built together.
A fortuitous connection to a board member of the Steve Gleason Foundation resulted in the much-heralded appearance of a space-age wheel chair. I hated seeing that chair. The chair signaled one more step along the unnamed, unmentionable road. It was hard for me to see the joy in that. But Tim embraced it and started to become its master and put it through its paces. The chair transported Tim and his new grandson Teddy down the street with laughter and JOY and tangled limbs of connection and love. It's not a necessary accoutrement yet, but a source of wonder for Teddy and a vehicle that they enjoy together. Soon, it will become necessary. It's one of the practical but unromantic things that will contribute to the pursuit of JOY.

Other necessities will emerge in that pursuit. Ramps and other practicalities, but also opportunities to live and love and be joyful. In the end, it will come down to money. It's not in my nature, and so hard to say - but it's reality. Money will be ameliorative and allow for quickly diminishing opportunities for JOY. Please share this campaign with others. We'll match your contributions and those of the people you share with. For those of you who have contributed, you've already done so much - but please, if you can - please contribute more - and share this with your friends and family who may feel a connection. We will double your contribution and share the burden.

I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to share this when it happened. I'm still trying to get with the flow on social networking, The Peer Networking group Common Vision is a member of made a special effort to recognize the way we do things here.

Congratulations to Common Vision for winning the November 2022 Heart of R.A. award! Cyrus and his team set up and raised over 50,000 dollars for a long-time employee, Tim Keyes. We want to thank everyone at Common Vision for the work they do and will continue to do! If you are interested in donating to the cause, go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/tim-keyes-has-als?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer

During the fall after the Pandemic struck, Tim Keyes added the accent wall, the plank ceiling and beams and the banquette to this Westport kitchen we did a few years ago. We're starting our 2nd addition here and had the photos done yesterday. Meanwhile, Meg's brother and sister-in-law just spent 9 days in Tim's and Meg's new space. Here's a GoFundMe update from Meg:

Today
by Meg Birmingham
We just had an incredible nine-day visit from my brother, Tom and his wife, Erin. Tim and Tom have been friends since high school. Some of my favorite memories of their friendship are of them laughing and cooking together in the kitchen, wherever we were. Erin has an inner well of creative energy which she loves to share. Everyone cooked. Erin baked bread daily. Tom carried in wood. We visited with our younger generation(s) We took a sunny walk on the path at Silver Sands. When sand made it impassable by chair, Tim crossed on foot and Tom carried the 44 pound power chair. We had plenty of time to enjoy food and conversation. They left for their trip back to Big Sur on Saturday. Erin just sent this message from the road:

Last week, Tom and I had the chance to visit with Tim and Meg in their New Haven home. It was just two weeks since the team from Common Vision had wrapped up principal work on the accessibility renovation. The sawdust had all been swept up, the visqueen removed, the workers on to their next project.
The alterations to the first floor of the house have made it possible for Tim to navigate many of his activities much more easily, from a new and accessible bathroom to the expansion of a small sunny room into a proper bedroom. Walls have gone down to open up spaces. There seems to be more room and more light, overall. The transformation was simple - and astonishing.
Tim greeted us with a radiant smile, cooking us a delicious meal and cracking jokes. He and Meg toured us through the house with genuine delight and warmth, pointing out each detail with gratitude to all who had helped make these important modifications possible. Their high spirits calmed our fears and set us to ease.
I’ve known Tim and Meg for almost forty years. In the early days of Tom’s and my marriage, Tim and Meg offered us a temporary landing place, feeding, housing, and caring for us as we navigated our own early and sometimes perilous journey. I am grateful that we can in some small measure support them on their journey now.
The outpouring of donations to this GoFund Me campaign has allowed so much good work to be done, and so quickly. It has given all of us who know and love Tim and Meg and their family a way to offer material support that truly makes a difference in their daily lives.
There is still a way to go to meet the goal.
Today we are adding a second donation of $500 to the GoFund Me campaign, and asking you to join us, if you can, however you can. https://gofund.me/2245aa16

We've started having our jobs professionally photographed. Tim is still waiting for furniture and has things in the dining room and living room that will move upstairs to the old bedroom - that will become Meg's office. Plaster repairs, painting and floor finishing are happening there this week, so these photos are not truly "final photos." A work in progress, but these are the final spaces....

Meg's update to the GoFundMe Campaign
Today
by Meg Birmingham, Team Member
In a dream I found out I’d misunderstood the name of Common Vision. It turned out it was Common Miracle. As our daughter-in-law, Kat pointed out when I told her the dream, you don’t have to look for the hidden meaning in that.

The recent transformation of our home has been nothing less than a miracle. We’ve been sleeping in our first floor bedroom for the past ten nights. I still can’t figure out how the reshaped space feels so much bigger than the space before the work began. The bedroom is bright and tranquil, and I’m surprised every time I step inside.

Tim told me he sometimes dreams he’s moving around easily in his body from the past. In one dream, he was playing softball, making a play, his body free, fluid, and strong. He felt so good. If you ever saw him play softball, you know why this image sticks in my chest.

We recently got a power chair, funded by the Gleason Foundation. Tim practiced every night for a few weeks, moving around our first floor when it was still totally a job site, maneuvering around tools and supplies. This weekend, we took it out for the first time. Our grandson, Teddy, who loves anything with wheels has no preconceived idea about a rolling chair. Tim is unselfconscious about it and has a thirst for life and the outdoors. We’re looking forward to some longer rambles, and now that the work is mostly finished, we’re ready to plan an adventure.

In spite of the challenges, we don’t forget how grateful we are. We talk about it every day. Common miracles.
https://gofund.me/6ad54d91 Please Donate if you can.