http://www.mbjessee.com/news/ en julie@mbjessee.com Copyright 2012 2012-01-11T19:12:14+00:00 http://www.mbjessee.com/news/2012-san-francisco-decorator-showcase-house-coming-sooooon http://www.mbjessee.com/news/2012-san-francisco-decorator-showcase-house-coming-sooooon#When:21:39:58Z We are all atwitter here at MB Jessee HQ for the upcoming San Francisco interior design event of the year!!  That's right, it is almost time for the West Coast's premier design event--the San Francisco Decorator Showcase.  MB Jessee has been proud to be involved with the showcase home the last five years running and love the creativity and beauty of the homes in the past.  This year promises to deliver an amazing feast for the eyes as well.   MB Jessee went to tour the home today and were floored by the atmoshere of inventiveness!     Watch this space for more information on the Showcase Home as we get closer to the April 28th opening date!   Want to learn more?  www.http://decoratorshowcase.org/ Company News, 2012-01-30T21:39:58+00:00 http://www.mbjessee.com/news/san-francisco-bay-area-pounded-by-winter-storm http://www.mbjessee.com/news/san-francisco-bay-area-pounded-by-winter-storm#When:20:13:11Z San Francisco Bay Area Pounded by Winter Storm!   Wow!  That was some intense weather!  This past weekend from San Francisco to Piedmont to Alamo, the Bay Area received a sound drenching at the hands of Mother Nature.  The morning newscasts greeted us with tales of power outages, downed trees and mudslides in the Oakland and Berkeley Hills.  Ouch! After the last months of beautiful and decidedly un-winterlike weather, this past weekend came as quite a shock.  Many of us took a look outside come morning and wondered how our homes had weathered the weather.  Though we still have several weeks of winter to go, having MB Jessee come out to inspect your home is a great idea now.  Oftentimes the weather can damage our homes in ways not immediately evident to us—letting MB Jessee do a thorough inspection of your home’s exterior can help reveal these problem spots.  Identifying troublesome issues now can save you time & trouble down the road!. And, as an extra bonus, calling now means you can still take advantage of our 20% off Winter Sale!! So don't wait to protect your home--give MB Jessee a call today! Painting Tips, 2012-01-23T20:13:11+00:00 http://www.mbjessee.com/news/mb-jessee-painting-in-san-franciscos-sea-cliff-neighborhood http://www.mbjessee.com/news/mb-jessee-painting-in-san-franciscos-sea-cliff-neighborhood#When:19:12:14Z San Francisco is renowned for the many beautiful and unique neighborhoods packed into its tiny 7x7 city limits, but the exclusive, affluent area known as Sea Cliff really stands out.  A lovely district tucked into the northwestern corner of the city, Sea Cliff’s meticulously maintained streets are lined with grand mansions that offer views of the Pacific Ocean and Golden Gate Bridge.  MB Jessee recently completed a very exciting project in Sea Cliff.  A spacious home in the Mediterranean Revival style, the home was built in the 1920s and is resplendent with period details.  The home has been undergoing a transformative remodel for some time.  MB Jessee painted the home’s entire interior and its exterior.  The creative homeowners and their interior design team completely reimagined the interior spaces of this older home as a modern showplace.  From the street, the home is, of course, lovely and stately.  But stepping through the threshold to the interior is like walking into another world!   Take a look at these amazing pictures of MB Jessee’s work at our exciting Sea Cliff painting project in San Francisco!  And if you'd like to see still more, please visit  http://blip.tv/redcarpetbayarea/red-carpet-bay-area-episode-13-5921873  to see a wonderful video about this home on the television show, Red Carpet Bay Area. 2012-01-11T19:12:14+00:00 http://www.mbjessee.com/news/mb-jessee-remodels-its-oakland-offices1 http://www.mbjessee.com/news/mb-jessee-remodels-its-oakland-offices1#When:16:25:48Z MB Jessee Remodels its Oakland Offices! What  a way to start off 2012!  A few months ago we had an idea to reimagine the MB Jessee workspace.   Our Oakland location is HQ for MB Jessee Painting—a place where we think, plan, and work—and we wanted to make it more representative of who we are.   And now in this first week of 2012 we are pleased to report we are finished—and it is fabulous! Open, light-filled and fun, the new MBJ HQ features an enormous mural by local Oakland hero, K-Dub Williams.  And, amazing interior designer Rebecca Amato helped us create a plan with an easy flow and broke up the workspaces with Flor carpet tiles and lush greenery.  We choose an invigorating shade of orange for the paint on two our huge walls—which, by the way, is the Pantone color of the year for 2012!  Check out our pics or, better yet, come on by for a cappuccino and a tour! Happy New Year everyone! Want to read more about the paint color we chose? Check out this cool article on ways to use it in your home! http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/main/2012s-color-of-the-year-home-163735 2012-01-06T16:25:48+00:00 http://www.mbjessee.com/news/help-mb-jessee-help-oaklands-kids http://www.mbjessee.com/news/help-mb-jessee-help-oaklands-kids#When:17:19:04Z I want to tell you about this terrific place I’ve discovered.  It is a skate park.  A clean, safe place where kids (and those who are kids at heart) can skate and play.  It allows kids of all ages and races to have fun together, to develop their skills and support each other and a real community has taken root there.   Sounds awesome, right?  This amazing place is right here in West Oakland.  Yes, West Oakland.  These days good news for Oakland is awfully hard to come by.  That’s why I want to share Town Park Skatepark at De Fremery Park with you. I’ve seen this amazing skatepark because I visit there often with my son.  Town Park was developed by Oakland artist and local hero Keith “K-Dub” Williams.  K-Dub hoped to create a facility that would let Oakland kids stay in their own community instead of traveling to other cities to skate.  The skatepark quickly became a destination spot and plays host to contests and other events often.  Many skateboarding pros visit often and skate with and inspire Oakland’s kids.  Town Park truly represents the very best of Oakland. As wonderful as Town Park is, there are still some problems here.  There are areas of the park that need to have work done to make it safe for the kids.   Skateboarding ramp equipment is expensive!  One ramp in particular needs to be resurfaced—to the tune of $10000.  I have been able negotiate the costs down but we are still about $5500 short.  Here’s what I’d like to offer.  For a contribution of $500 you’ll receive an MB Jessee Painter For A Day certificate (a $600 value and redeemable for one full year!), a MB Jessee hat and a limited edition Oaklandish Town Park hoodie.  And every cent of that $500 goes right to the skatepark!  The certificate can be used for yourself or you may give it as a gift to a friend or family member.  So really, it’s a double gift—one for you or a loved one and one for the kids of Oakland! So what do you think?  Will you help the kids of Oakland—while helping yourself to a beautiful paint job!—this holiday season? Thank you in advance for your support and a very Happy Holidays to you! Company News, Community, 2011-12-07T17:19:04+00:00 http://www.mbjessee.com/news/mb-jessee-painting-food-drive-underway http://www.mbjessee.com/news/mb-jessee-painting-food-drive-underway#When:18:24:08Z Did you know?  You can donate to the Annual MB Jessee Painting Food Drive by giving a bag of non-perishable food to any MB Jessee crew member??  Our drive benefits the Alameda County Food Bank and we're hoping to raise 400lbs of food this year!     Thank you in advance for your support! Company News, 2011-11-30T18:24:08+00:00 http://www.mbjessee.com/news/mb-jessee-painting-annual-food-drive http://www.mbjessee.com/news/mb-jessee-painting-annual-food-drive#When:17:47:14Z MB Jessee Painting is at it again!  Every November we begin a food drive at MB Jessee and we encourage our clients to donate non-perishable food items to the Alameda County Food Bank.  You can give a bag of canned goods to your foreman and he'll drop them off at our barrel.  Last year we raised more than 200lbs. This year we are determined to DOUBLE that amount and have two barrels standing by in our offices.  We've already begun to collect quite a bit! Did you know that when you donate online to the Alameda County Food Bank that every dollar turns into five dollars worth of food?  Visit www.vfd-accfb.org and click on Select Your Group then select MB Jessee from the drop down menu.  It's that easy to help those in need in our community! We at MB Jessee thank you for your  support!   Community, 2011-11-04T17:47:14+00:00 http://www.mbjessee.com/news/project-color-2012-our-7th-year http://www.mbjessee.com/news/project-color-2012-our-7th-year#When:16:12:34Z Wow!  I am sitting in my office today leafing through our Project Color file.  It is filled with letters, stories, and pictures of nominees from years gone by.  It is both hard and wonderful to believe that we are about to enter our 7th year of our annual Painting for Charity event, Project Color.  The work we’ve done with Project Color over the years is something that is very close to our hearts at MB Jessee.   These last bumpy economic years have only steeled our determination to keep giving back to our community. That, my friends, is where you come in!  We are looking for a deserving Bay Area family or an outstanding nonprofit that needs painting but simply cannot afford it.  What we want from you is to nominate them!  All you need do is send us their story along with some pictures—help us see and feel why they deserve to win our $10,000 painting makeover!  You can even do it anonymously if you like.  Then MB Jessee Inc as a whole—every one of us!—will meet and vote to choose the winter.  The painting will take place in spring 2012.  Some of our past Project Color winners include Berkeley’s North County Women’s Shelter and Women’s Cancer Resource Center, San Francisco’s Tenderloin Children’s Center and Mission Neighborhood Health Center, Claremont Middle School in Oakland, and Concord’s Wee Care for Children. So please, won’t you take a moment to nominate a family or nonprofit organization that you know deserves our help?  Ring our phones off the hook and flood our email inboxes!  You may send stories and pictures by email or USPS:  julie@mbjessee.com or MB Jessee Inc 1552 Beach Street Suite G, Oakland CA 94608.  For more information or flyers, please call 510.655.7000. The deadline for submissions is Friday December 16th, 2011. Thank you in advance for your help in our efforts!   Sincerely,   Julie Arcino Operations Manager MB Jessee Inc Community, 2011-10-20T16:12:34+00:00 http://www.mbjessee.com/news/mb-jessee-painting-fully-invested-in-our-community http://www.mbjessee.com/news/mb-jessee-painting-fully-invested-in-our-community#When:20:09:11Z MB Jessee prides itself on our involvement in our community.  We have participated in and sponsored numerous charity events over the years and help out whenever—and wherever—we can.  In addition to our annual Project Color painting for charity project we also donate Painter For A Day certificates (the services of one of our foreman painters for an 8 hour period, a $600 value) to schools throughout the Bay Area to assist in their fundraising efforts dozens of times over every school year.  A listing of our work in our community is below. Painter For A Day certificates and other financial assistance is provided to too many local Bay Area schools and institutions to count!  To name just a few: Crocker Highlands Elementary, Berkeley Arts Magnet, French American International School, Head Royce, Park Day School, Piedmont High School sports, Oakland Museum of California, the Parents Association of Piedmont, The Wheelchair Foundation, City of Oakland Defremery Skate Park, St. Elizabeth Elementary, and George Mark Children’s House.  MB Jessee also sponsors a yearly Toys For Tots holiday drive and a benefit for the Alameda County Food Bank.  Many of our employees participate in a Team MB Jessee AIDS Walk and donate blood together to the Oakland Red Cross.  We are also involved with the Children’s Support League’s Heart of the Home tour in Piedmont, an annual event that raises hundreds of thousands dollars for the CSL’s work on behalf of underprivileged children.  MB Jessee underwrites many of the tour’s expenses every year and supplies a grand prize of approximately $3000 in painting services for the fundraising raffle.  Earlier this year we were pleased to be able to paint the exterior of Berkeley’s A Better Way, a social service agency devoted to the mental health needs of foster children.  A Better Way entered our Project Color drawing and came in second place to this year’s winner, Berkeley’s North County Women’s Shelter, in our voting.  We were so touched by their work there, that we were determined to reach out to them to find a way to help.  We painted the building at cost.  We are incredibly proud of Project Color.  Starting with a first year budget of just $5000, our financial commitment has increased every year to a now $15,000 yearly outlay as we start our seventh year.  Project Color is happy to have  the participation of every MB Jessee employee in our efforts every year.  Our past Project Color recipients are: Wee Care Children’s Center, Concord. Claremont Middle School, Oakland.  Women’s Cancer Resource Center, Oakland. Mission Neighborhood Health Center, San Francisco. Compass Community Services Tenderloin Children’s Center, San Francisco. Berkeley Food & Housing Project’s North County Women’s Shelter, Berkeley.  As we begin our seventh year of Project Color, we’re more invested than ever in helping our community! Community, 2011-10-06T20:09:11+00:00 http://www.mbjessee.com/news/mb-jessee-harbor-point-tennis-swim-club-project http://www.mbjessee.com/news/mb-jessee-harbor-point-tennis-swim-club-project#When:00:04:31Z For some months now, MB Jessee painters have been hard at work on a fun and interesting project in Mill Valley.  In conjunction with general contractor Plath & Company, MB Jessee has been working on an extensive makeover of the Harbor Point Tennis & Swim Club.  The project has involved more than a thousand hours of preparation, painting and staining work and had a very specific end date.  This weekend, September 24th and 25th, is the annual Tennis Classic, held on the grounds of the Club.  This meant that no matter what, the deadline had to be met. It was hard work and at times the task even felt daunting.  A project of this size had many trades involved and keeping everyone coodinated and on track was no easy feat.   But seeing the end result--the beautiful Harbor Point Tennis & Swim club open and ready for the Classic and its guests--was worth every bit of effort!  It was a pleasure to work at the Club and with Plath & Company.  We'll see you on the courts! To learn more about The Club please visit http://harbor-point.com/  or about the Tennis Class http://www.tennisclassic.org/ Projects, 2011-09-24T00:04:31+00:00