Downtown Apartment

What most excited me about my new surroundings after I made the move from Manhattan to Portland was the sheer volume of plant life I saw everywhere I looked. I wanted to draw the abundant gardens into my living room, so I picked a mix of bright colors and filled the space with stick-like furnishings. I complemented these with metal pieces like one might find in an indoor/outdoor potting space. The artwork is all my own, and all  mounted on cork board, so I can pin up sketches as ideas come. I keep it in front of my drafting board, so when I get frustrated with a given project, I can look up and remember I am capable of creating good work. The bedroom, trimmed in Cherokee Red, is quieter.  It's the place where I keep my prized possessions: my grandfather's Stetson fedora, a model ship that used to rest on the mantel of my father's cabin, a football I won in the first grade, autographed by the former Green Bay Packer, Reggie White, and a quilt my mother made me out of my father's dress shirts after he passed away. These things have lived with me wherever I have lived. Finally, I like deep, enticing colors in the kitchen, so I painted this space a bone black, and built a peg board wall, rimmed with a line of olive green, to increase the small room's storage capacity. 

 

Featured in the Fall 2017 issue of Oregon Home Magazine