houzz interior design ideas

Archive for the "lighting" Category

Let There Be Light!

What better way to start the New Year than with a master bedroom makeover that focuses on light. The client had only three requests: make the room lighter and brighter, replace all the current furnishings, and make sure that everything is durable. We listened. The very first thing we were able to install is the […]

Living in Your Living Room

This inviting seating area in the sunny bay window looks like it has always been here, but truth to tell, it just happened last week. That is, the completion of the room happened last week, but was actually year in the making. Let me back up to show you what the living room of this […]

INTERIOR DECORATING or INTERIOR DESIGN?

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Have you ever wondered what the difference is between interior design and interior decorating?  Using our home library as an example, I will illustrate the difference between these two essential concepts: interior design requires conceptualizing and outlining changes that require construction, whereas interior decorating refers to changes in color, furnishings, window treatments and accessories.  The photo […]

The Doctors’ Decorating Dilemma

When I first met Drs. Lainie and Jon Yarris, both emergency room physicians, they had been raising their three children in this charming Craftsman home for eleven years.  When they weren’t working at their demanding jobs, they were doing activities with their children and with friends, who also have children.  Their dilemma was how to arrange the […]

Subterranean Transmogrification

One expects transformation with a remodel.  The results of this particular basement remodel are so dramatic that I’m calling it “transmogrification.”  The beautiful space below . . . used to look like this: Since I’m not an engineer or an architect, I called upon Wade Freitag at Craftsman Design and Renovation to help with the construction design for this […]

What a Difference a Shade Makes

I want to tell you a story about a lamp–the one pictured above in its “AFTER” incarnation.  Unlike those shows you see on HGTV, most real interior design installations are done in stages.  Furnishings trickle in from various vendors, and eventually everything is in place.  I wasn’t intending to write about the project pictured in […]

I love It When a Plan Comes Together!

The Bauman family recently inherited two magnificent ancestor portraits, which deserve to be prominently displayed in their living room.  Fortunately, when we remodeled their living room four years ago, we added new recessed lighting, even though adding lighting wasn’t on their original list of “must haves.” (See my very first post on this site–put title “Tricks […]

Repurposing Prexy

  Last year I was asked by my alma mater, Reed College, to help with the re-design of the Prexy Building on the college campus.  It was designed in 1914 by the renowned Portland architect, A.E. Doyle, as a home for the college president, hence its name.  The building was subsequently used as a boys’ […]

National Design Magazine Picks Up My Kitchen!

Always Sunny in Portland, Oregon

  Yes, I’m kidding.  But even on  dark and rainy days the mood in this room is sunny and warm, like a day in Provence.  When we first started talking about what kind of changes they wanted in their home, Sue and Bob Van Brocklin let me know their color and style preferences, and we […]

houzz interior design ideas