I love my house. I do not love housework. Sweeping floors, wiping down countertops and erasing fridge door smears makes me cranky. I’ve tried to practice mindfulness with the moping. Tried to get Zen with window washing. I really want to embrace an Oprah-like gratefulness for being lucky enough to own a house that needs vacuuming but I have never quite managed to convince myself.
My dog needs subtitles. We want to know what is going on inside that doggy noggin. Like the time he ran behind the stereo speakers to see where the voices were coming from. And the night he barked fiercely at the horses galloping across the television screen. Or when he did one of those … Read more
I’ve ditched chairs with no regrets. I once separated from a wool rug just because I wanted to see something else. And when a vintage dinette set — so charming during our first five years together — began to bore me, I threw it in the back of the station wagon, drove out to a … Read more
The five friends behind Remodelista.com launched the Remodelista Local Market series which hits Portland this Saturday. They call their dot com a “sourcebook for the considered home,” and the local market is a bit like a 3-D version of the same with “curated” goods for the home.
As compact fluorescent light bulbs increase in popularity, their environmental impact — namely the mercury released when the rarely recycled bulbs are dumped in a landfill — has some rethinking the old-fashioned incandescents.
Before the first course, I knew that we were in for a rare dinner party. For one thing, when the host took his seat at the head of the formal dining table, he was flanked on either side by his miniature dogs. They sat in fancy high chairs. They ate off fine china. … Read more
Hot trends, cool stuff, big ideas, little wonders.
Aurora Glass near Eugene produces home products made entirely of recycled window glass.
Good design looks effortless. It rarely is. Ask anyone who has tried to create a cool mid-century look only to end up with a hot mess of mishmash. Getting the right color, texture, lighting and proportions within four walls is a balancing act. The Hotel Modera lobby in downtown Portland strikes that balance with a look that is pulled together without being too matchy-matchy.
A new study conducted at OSU compared the impact furniture has on our emotions. Two rooms contained angular furniture. Two contained rounded furniture. The virtual rooms appeared gray to avoid color and texture influences, and both the angular and curvy furniture was arranged in the same pattern. Students declared all the sparse rooms boring. But they rated the two rooms with curvy furniture significantly higher for pleasure and approachability.
