Painting the Town

YOLO_Remember when being kind to the planet was considered sort of edgy? Environmentally responsible paint? Now, that’s just kooky! These days, green products are to home what cardigan sweaters are to fashion; comfortable, boring and ho-hum sensible. That’s why I am so excited to be unexcited about the news that environmentally responsible paints are now carried at Lowe’s.

I sink therefore I am

tuna-sink.jpg

This won’t be pretty. You might want to avert your eyes. But I need to confess: I am in love with a sink. Yes, that’s a little sad. It’s an inanimate object made of porcelain. It cannot love me back. But have you seen the graceful curve of it? The way the white ceramic appears to be swimming through water like an exotic sea creature?

Another KO for NK

Not to turn this into the all-Neil-Kelly-all-the-time place but  .  . just got word worth sharing. The Oregon company recently won two national CotY awards.  Not “Coty” as in fragrance giant, or “COTY” as in the American Fashion Critics’ Award, but C-o-t-capital-Y.  CotY stands for Contractor of the Year and it’s given by NARI or … Read more

Hitting the wall

In the neighborhood where I grew up, all the houses were identical in layout. That made each the perfect blank canvas for the woman of the house to express herself. (The men were busy doing manly things.)  Each woman just happened to express her unique  individuality in a manner almost identical to her neighbor. They painted … Read more

Oregon Garden selected as display garden

 

agalogoThe Oregon Garden was chosen as one of 23 public gardens nationwide to display flowers for the American Garden Award competition this May. Visitors can vote on their favorite flowers right in Silverton.

ANLD Garden Tour

anldThe Association of Northwest Landscape Designers presents their 8th annual Behind-the-scenes Garden Tour, so you can get an inside look at professionally designed gardens in the Portland Metro and Lake Oswego areas. Meet with each landscape designer to see how they come up with their ideas for breathtaking outdoor spaces.

Getting Lit

There are crafty types out there who, with imagination and hot glue gun, can transform a bunch of recyling bin rejects into hip home decor.  I’m not one of them. I wish I were.  Doing old fashion crafts just feels so modern. I want to be that. I love the idea of being crafty so … Read more

Teresa Meier

TERESA-MEIER-OHM-pic-April-2011

Teresa Meier is studying Media Arts and Animation at the Art Institute of Portland with a focus on editorial photography and 3-D computer graphic illustration. She also recently studied under National Geographic photographer, Michael Melford on location in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Teresa’s personal projects include fine art, adventure & travel photography and, of course, being a superhero.

 

Kit and Kaboodle

These are pre-fab houses. Emphasis on “Fab!”

With a kit from Jan Kronke of Oregon TimberWerks you can pop up a basic cabin shell in the woods for about $6,000 and a few days labor. Less than $2,000 buys the goods for a fancy, little playhouse for the kids complete with covered porch and Dutch door.