Asian furnishings and objets d’art have been in demand by Westerners since Europeans discovered the magical, mysterious East in the 1600s. My personal style has always run toward 18th century European furnishings, with the occasional Asian accessory thrown in. I have resisted becoming committed to a single palette, because I love changing things seasonally. After re-arranging the art in my living room for the holidays to feature paintings with a lot of red, I was about to do my usual “spring switch out” to blues and greens when I stumbled upon a pair of Chinese red antique chairs at at my favorite new shop, Seams to Fit Home, an upscale resale shop, and fell madly in love. Couldn’t stop thinking about them. I kept visiting them every time I took a client to the shop, and finally had to buy them.
The chairs came with a “Certificate of Antique” document from the Sichuan Art & Craft Merchants Association of China, specifying that they were made 150 years ago (late Ching Dynasty) in Shansi, from elm wood. Their shape and color knocked my socks off–so sculptural. My husband pronounced that he liked them (yes!), and asked if I was going to put pads on them so they would be more comfortable. I haven’t decided yet. They seem quite at home across from a Louis XVI-style table and sofa, next to a skirted table holding a French bouillotte lamp.
Purchasing these chairs means that my living room color palette is now firmly fixed in the Oriental style: an emphasis on neutrals, punctuated with one or two of the “five colors”–blue, red, yellow, white and black–that correspond to the “five elements” of wood, fire, earth, metal and water. My red accent color is “most auspicious”, as it represents fire, fame, fortune, joy, festivity, longevity, summer, passion, and protection from bad luck. My home is still an eclectic work-in-progress, but for the moment, my color commitment phobia has been eradicated!
The objects we surround ourselves with speak volumes about us, whether it be our clothing, books, magazines, musical instruments, sporting equipment, or home furnishings. If your interior spaces don’t reflect your true self, please give Emery and Associates a call. We can help you determine your own personal style so you can achieve the look that reflects your unique point of view.
Our client had sold her home and most of her furnishings several years ago, when she first moved to into a one-bedroom apartment in a retirement community. She called me when she had the opportunity to move to a two-bedroom unit so she could have an office space. She wasn’t happy with the furniture she had kept, but she did have some interesting art work and a dynamic personality. When she showed me the new space, I could understand why she liked it–it was larger and had better light, even though the empty space looked a bit challenging on first viewing (see photo of new apartment living room “before”, below, and scroll down to see the “after” view).
New apartment living room, "BEFORE"
This space was definitely an improvement over her previous apartment, and after talking with her at length about her wants and needs, it became apparent to me that this dynamic woman needed a living space that reflected her colorful personality as well. She asked for color on her walls, contemporary furnishings, and an area rug to cover up the boring carpet. More than anything she wanted me to help her figure out how to position the furnishings in her new space. This was a real opportunity for creating a fresh, new look.
Since we always start with a scaled drawing of the floor plan for furniture placement, I did the plan with the furnishings set on the diagonal. It was unorthodox, but I hoped that the client would be open to accepting the idea, because it would provide a dynamic room arrangement, thus drawing people into the space, as well as hiding the large air conditioning unit on the window wall. I also did a concept sketch of the room, showing furnishings that she didn’t yet own, but needed to have:
When I presented the furniture plan and concept sketch, I also presented photographs of all the furnishings I had drawn into the plan, along with fabrics for drapery, upholstery, and pillows. The client was happy with the presentation, and came with me to visit the trade only showroom to see the pieces I had drawn into the sketch. We were very fortunate to be able to purchase the sofa, pair of chairs, and cocktail table directly off the showroom floor–thank you, Nest showroom! The Robert Allen fabrics we used for drapery and pillows also came from Nest. Did I mention that this client loves the color red? Here’s a sample of the linen Chinoiserie print that we selected for draperies:
Within two weeks we had the basics of this room in place, including an area rug we ordered from the same showroom. We had to order the lamps and lamp tables, and it took about 6 weeks before the draperies were finished, but meanwhile we were working on her office space and master bedroom, as well as hanging pictures and installing other accessories. When the final items were installed in the living room, I took the photo below. My client is thrilled with the results, and feels that the space truly reflects her taste and personality.
During the past two years, Emery & Associates has done numerous projects for clients who are “in transition.” We’ve done apartments and condos for seniors who are downsizing, as well as for middle-aged clients who are going through divorces or other kinds of traumatic changes, most often moving from large homes to much smaller living spaces. We are able to empathize with the client’s angst during these changes, and at the same time help them sort through their possessions with scaled-out floor plans in hand, so we can show them what will FIT, literally, into the space, as well as what may need to go or be replaced. This post features just one example of the “upside” of downsizing. This delightful client was so open to our ideas and willing to trust our expertise, that her apartment now expresses the ageless verve and charm that she herself embodies. How divine!
Tags: accessories, art, Chinoiserie, color, downsizing, drapery, Emery & Associates, furnishings, interior design, living room, pillows
Less than two weeks to go till Thanksgiving, and I haven’t even done a single post about holiday decorating! I’m talking now about dressing your dining table for Thanksgiving.
If you are as mad about “table top” as I am, you probably own more than one set of dishes and a variety of table linens. I own an entire wardrobe of linens for my sideboard, which is actually a beautiful Asian-style table that is gorgeous, but does not get along with my French country dining table and chairs, so it is always covered by a tailored undercloth and topped with another cloth, changed seasonally. I NEVER use a tablecloth on my table–always place mats, so the beautiful wood and the carving on the apron of my antique dining table will show. That is, until last Thanksgiving, when we were expecting 10 for a sit-down dinner, and place mats just wouldn’t work. After carefully measuring my table, I went searching for the perfect tablecloth, and found it at Justin and Burks Antiques in Sellwood (503-234-6414). Click on the images above and below to see the detail of embroidered squares alternating with lace squares,
sewn into a checkerboard pattern and edged with lace. It came with twelve lace-edged napkins–what a find! The silver candlesticks on the dining table are also from J & B–I highly recommend a visit to this wonderful resource. Since we only have service for eight in our wedding china, I decided to use the Blue Willow pattern I found at a discount store for practically nothing (which explains why I bought 20 plates) because the blue and white looks lovely against the white cloth, and also echoes the blue in the portrait of Lao Tsu, who looks down benevolently on the table as if giving a blessing. The silver is a combination of my mother’s and our wedding silver. I found the vintage glassware, as well as my dining table and chairs, at Europa Antiques when they used to be located in Sellwood. Candles are a must (everybody looks better by candlelight), so be sure to actually light the candles.
Flowers need to be low for a centerpiece, but can be grand for a buffet, or even at the end of the table when it’s “dinner for two.” We surprised clients last year by setting up their dining table as a Thanksgiving dinner for two, using their own china, silver, and glassware, and adding colorful accessories: a table runner, napkins, some gourds, pots, and candlesticks. We found the fall foliage in their garden.
May you have a warm and happy Thanksgiving, filled with friends, family, and good food.
Tags: accessories, art, china, Chinoiserie, color, dining room, Emery & Associates, furnishings, interior design, silver, tabletop
Often we receive referrals from remodeling contractors, for which we are very grateful. The contractor will have just completed doing a beautiful remodel, and the client isn’t sure what to do with the shiny, new empty space. At that point the contractor will refer the clients to Emery and Associates because they know that we can provide furnishings that will enhance the remodeling project–we provide the icing on the cake for the client’s rooms.
Kathia and Ivy search for fabrics at trade-only designer showroom
Craftsman Design and Renovation, a local design/build firm, remodeled a daylight basement room, turning it from a “catch-all” space into a functional family den (see “before” and “after” photos, below), and then referred the clients to Emery and Associates. Our task was to take this space that now had beautiful cherry cabinets and teal colored walls, and turn it into a relaxed and welcoming room that could be used by all members of the family.
BEFORE
Usually when the issue of color palette comes to the table, we have several ways of approaching it. We ask clients which colors they love and hate, and then we develop the palette with an object that incorporates the preferred colors: an Oriental rug or a piece of art. If the client doesn’t own one of the aforementioned objects, often we will begin with a fabric search to develop a palette, since interior designers and architects have access to a great variety of unique fabrics through trade-only showrooms, which is what we did on this project. Since the wall color (teal) and millwork stain color (cherry) had been selected prior to our involvement, we used those two colors as a jumping off place when looking for furnishings. The homeowners specifically asked for window treatments, seat cushions for the window seat, a sofa, a desk chair, a lamp, and a comfy chair for reading.
We began with a stylized floral print fabric for the Roman shades that incorporated the wall color as well as the orange tones of the cherry wood, since the clients had specifically asked for a traditional look with country European elements. The French chair in the corner is covered in a brown and cream Ikat fabric, and we’ve thrown in some stripes and textures on the toss pillows along with one animal print on the window seat–bet you didn’t know that leopard is the new neutral! The sofa was custom built to exactly fit the space, and cocoa colored fabric we selected is very family friendly. A small-scaled antique red English Regency-style table with bamboo turnings and a cane top under glass provides a handy place for a book or cup of coffee. The rattan desk chair adds more texture and a casual feeling. Walls and bookshelves display family photos and memorabilia. Now the completed room provides an intimate space for coffee and conversation as well as cozy corners for putting feet up and reading.
Detail of fabrics
On a trip last month to Ashland to visit the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, my husband and I had the opportunity to do a back stage tour of all three theaters: the Elizabethan Stage, the Bowmer, and the New Theater. While we were touring the Bowmer Theater, the stage crew was working on the set for August: Osage County, by Tracy Letts, a homey looking farmhouse, partly cut away, showing various rooms, stairways, and very modest looking furnishings. It was softly and warmly lit, with lots of shadows and a palette of earth tones. I was so fascinated by the stage crew shifting the lighting from one area of the stage to another that it took me about five minutes to realize that we had seen a completely different play the night before in the same theater. The set of the previous night’s play, The Imaginary Invalid, by Moliere, was so dramatically different looking, it took me a few moments to realize I was looking at the same stage. The set for Invalid was one very large room in a sophisticated Paris apartment, with a dramatic black-and-white tiled floor, a large window to the rear of the stage with a view of the Eiffel Tower, floor to ceiling bookshelves on one wall and the others covered with interesting and important looking art. The furnishings were done in vibrant primary colors, and the set was brightly lit. These sets are changed on a daily basis!
This experience made me want to shout to anyone reading this: ”DON’T BE AFRAID OF CHANGE!” Space is plastic, so what may appear to you as a boring little box can be transformed by the magic of paint, furnishings, lighting, and accessories into a Paris apartment, a homey farmhouse, or a modern, minimal loft. Even though you don’t have a stage crew to accomplish these kinds of changes, you deserve to have the kind of home that expresses your personality, values, interests, and experiences. If you are wary about major changes, try making small changes that reflect the season–pillows, throws, candles, and other accessories can make a big impact. I like to change things seasonally at our house (I get a lot of teasing from my husband about this). For spring and summer, the rooms get an infusion of apple green, blue, and yellow (see photo below):
Kathia's living room in Summer
Now that we are officially into the season of Autumn, the palette has become much warmer, so I’ve changed out a few things to reflect that. The Asian screen, with its lovely burnt orange chrysanthemums, came out of storage, and the painting that was there before moved upstairs to my office. New candles in Fall colors, the foliage next to the fireplace, pillows in warm tones, and a scattering of gourds gives the room a fresh look. I like to incorporate smells of the season also, so the candles I purchase for fall usually have spicy scents. It’s almost time to have a fire in the fireplace!
Kathia's living room in the Fall
When the Christmas holiday season comes around, the palette changes to traditional reds and greens. A painting that lives in the library during most of the year moves to center stage over the fireplace, and out come the red candles and pillows, along with seasonal greenery and ribbons, to give the room a festive feeling. I love having fires in the fireplace, and seeing the pops of red throughout the house during the cold month of December. Fragrant candles are lit every day, since nothing gives a soft romantic glow like candlelight. Once the New Year is upon us, however, I’m ready to shift into a more subtle, wintry palette, so the red candles and pillows go away, along with the wreaths and their red bows, and I introduce brown, grey, and silver.
Kathia's living room decorated for Christmas
As one of my favorite relatives keeps telling me: ”It’s YOUR MOVIE!” That’s his way of saying “YOU are responsible for creating your own life.” If your home doesn’t feel or look like the beautiful backdrop (set) you want for your life, why not start making some changes? And since not every film director can be his own art director, should you need help with the “set decoration”, Emery and Associates would be happy to help you transform your personal stage.
Over the years I’ve fallen madly, madly in love with Carrara marble–it’s so classic, timeless, and beautiful. I’d seen the gorgeous marble counters that my stone fabricator, Conrad Stonecutter, had done for kitchens, libraries, laundry rooms, and other spaces in Street of Dreams houses. I had specified it for clients’ bathroom counters, floors and walls. I wanted it in my kitchen! After talking at length with Charlie Conrad about the care and feeding of Carrara, I finally decided against using it for my countertops because I cook every day, my counters get lots of wear and tear, and I knew I’d hate myself in about a month. Instead, I chose a granite called “Mysore Black” from OTM for the countertops, because its highly textured, leathered matte finish gives the kitchen an old world feeling.
Mitch and Joe, from Conrad Stonecutter, did a masterful job of setting the sink (a Blanco metalic gray Silgranit super single bowl undermount) and installing the countertops. What you can’t get from these photos is the amount of grunting that happens while these massively heavy, unwieldy slabs are brought into position. Since there wasn’t a slab big enough to create the large “L” that spans the window and range walls, Charlie Conrad had quizzed me prior to fabrication about where, exactly, I wanted the seam. He gave me three choices: diagonally, from the right-hand corner to the inside corner of the “L”, where the cabinets come together; straight, from the window to the front edge of the counter, parallel to the edge of the sink; or centered on the sink. I chose the latter, since I thought it would be the least obvious.
Because I had worked with Conrad Stonecutter in the past, I knew what to expect: fine craftsmanship. What I did NOT realize was that they had a good working relationship with my new (to me) tile setters: Campbell’s Tile Concepts (see previous post on FLOORS), which meant that Conrad fabricated items that would be installed by Campbell’s (thresholds from a slab of Cararra). Conversely, during our preliminary meetings Chris Campbell made the suggestion that we use a slab of Cararra, fabricated by Conrad Stonecutter, behind the new Viking gas range in order to avoid grout lines. The tile setters would tile up to the slab behind the range, making it a feature, since it projects forward about a quarter of an inch.
Once the countertops were in place, my general contractor, Jay Grimstad, of Winter Hill Construction Inc., could install the appliances, and the tile setters could come back and install the full height tile backsplash. The last piece was having Tim from the cabinet company, Kitchens and More, come back to install the panels on the new dishwasher and refrigerator, so we have the look of seamless cabinetry. He also laid down painted quarter round throughout the kitchen to connect the base molding to the marble floor. And we’re DONE!!
FINISHED KITCHEN--View to dining room
FINISHED KITCHEN--View of new peninsula and cabinet wall
Bon appetit!
When it comes to flooring, I’ve always known that I wanted black and white marble tile, set “on point.” Maybe it was all those years of classical piano training on the black-and-white keyboard. Maybe it was seeing the flooring on trips to Europe, most recently on our trip to Greece, but previously with my cousin, Judi, in an old apartment in Aix en Provence. I knew I couldn’t do wood, because it wouldn’t match the old wood in my dining room, living room and hallways. I tried Marmoleum when I did the “spacelift” 6 years ago, and it did NOT hold up well, probably because I used tiles rather than sheet goods. That, and the fact that there are TWO outside doors and two inside doors opening into this room guaranteed that the Marmoleum tiles were trashed in about 4 years. I figured that stone floors would last forever, and even if they got scratched up, they would still be beautiful.
INSPIRATION: Apartment floor in Aix en Provence, 2004
INSPIRATION: Synagogue floor in Canea on the island of Crete, circa 1400s
So, after visiting OTM, I selected Carrara White select from Italy, and New Negro Marquina from Spain, and after the cabinets were set, the tile contractor could begin. I had not worked with this particular company before, but was very impressed by how meticulous their three tilesetters were. Before they started, they carefully covered all of the brand new cabinets with heavy paper to protect the finish. The lead tilesetter from Campbell’s Tile Concepts, Bush, laid out a dozen tiles for me to approve the starting point and layout.
Once the tiles were lined up the way I wanted them, he started to fix them to the sub-floor. I was intrigued by how carefully Bush and his co-workers continually laid down a level to make sure that all the pieces were even.
When they finished, we couldn’t believe how gorgeous the floor looked. I can’t say enough good things about Bush, Ivan, and Raoul. They are all superb craftsmen.
I’m skipping over showing pictures of our terrific contractor, Jay Grimstad, at Winter Hill Construction, moving our back door so that it lines up with the French doors opposite, giving us space to put an additional counter. I’m also skipping over the sheetrocking portion of the remodel, mainly because the sheet rock guys sealed off the doors that feed from the kitchen to our dining room and hallway, making picture taking impossible. We wanted to keep the same wall color as before (“Pumpkin” from the Historic Colour Collection by Miller Paint ), so after the sheetrock went in, the walls and ceilings were painted.
The big TA-DA! was having the cabinets delivered and installed. Here are photos of the guys from Kitchens and More figuring out what goes where:
Now it’s starting to look like a kitchen again! In the old kitchen, the base cabinets were painted black, so there wasn’t as much light reflected. The new cabinets are gorgeous, and having them all painted white really makes the room feel brighter. It’s not apparent from the photos above, but the lighting has not been installed yet. Here it comes!
The order of things dictates that cabinets must be installed prior to lighting, which is obvious when you think about it. The first photo above shows our electrician, John Kelso, from Omni Electric, installing Xenon under-cabinet lighting. The next photo shows him installing switches. He also added eleven recessed cans in the ceiling for task lighting. Both the under-cabinet and ceiling lights are on dimmer switches for maximum flexibility. What a contrast to the single center fixture in the ceiling that was the sole source of light in the kitchen when we moved in six years ago. Oh, wait. I forgot about the tube fluorescents that were under some of the upper cabinets. I’m sure they were the latest thing back in 1959.
With the cabinets and lighting in, the new space is finally beginning to feel like a real kitchen. Since we are still lacking floors, countertops, and appliances, we obviously can’t cook here yet. So I’m doing my best in our “auxiliary kitchen” in the basement. Here’s tonight’s dinner–a grilled steak salad with Gorgonzola dressing:
Bon appetit!
We’re ready, set . . . time to go! Demolition on our old kitchen began on June 15 by our general contractor, Jay Grimstad, Winter Hill Construction Inc.. Jay brought his son, Caleb, along to assist. My beautiful bas relief of Aphrodite and Cupid must move to a guest bedroom–probably a better location for her anyway (goodbye, Aphrodite . . . sniff!).
After the table, lamp, and bas relief were moved, the kitchen nook looked empty:
The next step was to take all the cabinet hardware off, remove the cabinets and have the Rebuilding Center pick up the appliances. I was impressed with the very cool power drill/screwdriver that Caleb is using which has it’s own built-in light (notice the bright spot on the door). How handy would this be in many applications?
This looks like a completely demolished kitchen, right? But wait! There’s more! They still had to remove the lath and plaster from ceiling and walls:
It took Jay and Caleb two days to demo the kitchen–a VERY long time for such a tiny space, and most of that time was taken up with removing the lath and plaster. Even though we’ve lived in this lovely old house for six years, I never really understood why it’s so hard to pound a nail into a lath and plaster wall, but now I do. The plaster is like cement! Previously, I’d assumed it was, well, like plaster. Jay and Caleb very carefully removed the lath from the plaster so they could recycle the wood lath. NOW we were down to the studs.
We returned from a wonderful trip to Greece at the beginning of May, and our kitchen remodel was scheduled to start in a month. My husband and I are both mad about Greek food, and were attempting to reproduce many of the wonderful things we sampled on our trip (spanakopita, moussaka, tzatsiki) in our tiny, non-functional, two-fanny kitchen. Just after move-in in 2005, we had done a minimal “space-lift,” which involved changing out the flooring, painting the walls and cabinets, and adding lighting. Those changes improved the look but not the function of the kitchen, so this full-scale remodel was LONG overdue.
Husband Jim’s first caveat: must have alternative kitchen area for duration of remodel prior to starting construction. I was in complete agreement. We both knew we didn’t want to eat in restaurants every night for 2+ months. If you entertain frequently and are thinking about a kitchen remodel, you probably already have an auxiliary refrigerator in your garage or basement. We had one in our basement laundry room, which was the space we decided to use for our interim kitchen. There already was a concrete laundry sink, circa 1939, with running water, so it was easy to envision that area as a dishwashing station. For a minimal amount of money, we purchased an inexpensive kitchen sink base, stainless sink, and new faucet, and had our contractor and plumber re-route the plumbing and switch out the old for the new. Then we brought in a folding table as our “prep” area, took the doors off the old cabinets in this space and filled them with the things we thought we’d need on a daily basis, set up our card table to hold the microwave, and put a two-burner hot plate on a table that came from the kitchen nook. Our barbecue was on our back terrace, just outside the door to this room, so we were in great shape. It wasn’t pretty, but it was definitely workable.
Jim and Kathia's basement interim kitchen.
We were fortunate to have refrigeration and running water in one space, but if you aren’t so lucky, it would be worthwhile to save your old fridge and microwave, put them into your dining or family room, and use disposable plates, cups, and flatware during the construction. We purposely timed the remodel for summer so that we could use the barbecue for most cooking, so all we lacked was an oven. When our toaster died three weeks into the remodel, we replaced it with a toaster oven, so now we can prepare just about anything.
Food prep in auxiliary kitchen
Prior to purchasing the toaster oven, anything that needed to be baked was done on our barbecue, which was quite an interesting experiment. Below is a photo I took of some Mediterranean chicken quesadillas ready to be popped onto the grill–yum!
Mediterranean chicken quesadillas ready for baking
Even though my husband and I experienced some trepidation about launching into a kitchen remodel, we have not felt deprived during this process because we have clearly defined places for food storage, food prep, and clean up. In fact, we are turning out meals that are almost as good as what we were doing in our old kitchen! What a luxury it will be to have the new kitchen up and running, and on the same floor as the dining room.
The chairs came with a “Certificate of Antique” document from the Sichuan Art & Craft Merchants Association of China, specifying that they were made 150 years ago (late Ching Dynasty) in Shansi, from elm wood. Their shape and color knocked my socks off–so sculptural. My husband pronounced that he liked them (yes!), and asked if I was going to put pads on them so they would be more comfortable. I haven’t decided yet. They seem quite at home across from a Louis XVI-style table and sofa, next to a skirted table holding a French bouillotte lamp.
Kathia Emery
Kathia with Ivy Crouse,