Modern Luxe
Our long-time clients, Susan and Bruce Winthrop, recently downsized from a large suburban home to a condo on the top floor of Atwater Place in the South Waterfront. They no longer wanted to deal with the upkeep of a house and large yard, and they wanted to be nearer the city center where many of their favorite […]
Vintage Charm for New Construction
When the homeowner asked Emery & Associates to help her choose finish materials for the new home she was building, we found ourselves ensconced in a treasure trove of antique French furnishings, accessories and art work. After listening carefully to her stated preferences, we created a palette around her favorites colors, plum and green. The […]
Beyond 50 Shades of Gray
Did you ever go shopping to find sheets or towels in your favorite colors and discover they don’t exist? At the moment there are LOTS of gray items, as gray is really hot right now. But try finding sage green or plum bedding or decorative pillows in a retail store. It’s practically impossible! Since Emery […]
Room Service
This year we changed up our master bedroom. It went from earthy, Tuscan colors–sage, gold, and red–to spa blue with crisp white linens to echo the white trim, now more prominent than ever with the draperies removed. Never mind that the bedroom in its previous incarnation had been published in a magazine in 2007 […]
Bathed in Style
As we began our relationship, I asked my client what kind of mood and feeling she wanted in the new house she was building. She told me that the antique French furniture she had inherited from her beloved grandmother were the most important possessions she owned, and wanted them to be featured in every […]
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 […]
Allegorical Art Celebrates the Feminine
When Carol’s daughter grew up and left home, she wanted her daughter’s room to be done over as a guest room that her daughter would still want to enjoy when she came home to visit. She asked her daughter to choose a new headboard, and when it was in place, Carol felt stymied about […]
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’ […]
Chew on This!
It’s not often that I design a room around a dog, but Samoa is a very special dog. She’s a Bernese Mountain Dog, and it was her chewing behavior as a young dog that prompted her owners, Sue and Bob Van Brocklin, to ask Emery & Associates to redecorate their family room. Eventually we worked […]