Got your heart set on building the dinosaur-shaped headboard of your dreams for your bookworm of a boy’s bed? Feel like a hip mama because you’re letting your 4-year-old pick which of 34 colors she wants her spendy maple bedroom furniture to be stained in? Oregon Home asked design mavens for pointers for decorating a kid’s room with style.
First, B.L.T. yourself, and then continue on your S.E. Division St. trek to Old Portland Hardware & Architectural, Urban Flora, Langlitz Leathers, Tropical Salvage and Fleur de Lis.
From hand-designed furniture to TOHO seed beads and a stained-glass creation, continue your S.E. Division expedition in style with Ease, Beads at Dusti Creek, Longfellow’s Books & Periodicals, Larry’s Lighting Repair and David Schlicker Stained Glass Studio.
Feel like adding a little grit to your holiday shopping experience? Head for the anti-’burbs, inner Southeast Portland, and shop S.E. Division St. from S.E. 11th Ave. out to S.E. 50th Ave. There you can satiate your fancy whether that means ordering an Edwardian-styled handmade suit or scoring a vintage Czechoslovakian glass necklace. Wait. Is that a Red Tailed Boa on your list for your favorite boy? This main drag has that—and Bearded Dragons—too!
The quaint Oregon town of Aurora was one of the West Coast’s only Christian communal colonies. Founded in 1856 by German families, today Aurora includes many antiques shops and specialty boutiques as well as simple clapboard houses built in the late 19th century. During the OLD AURORA COLONY MUSEUM CANDLELIGHT TOUR, you’ll travel back in time to the Aurora Colony of 150 years ago. Tour participants view the Old Aurora Colony Museum and watch vignettes of Colony families re-enacting history. Light refreshments will be served. The museum and town will be decorated for the holidays. To get a start in your holiday shopping, before taking the tour, check out the town’s unique stores.
Mid-century lighting includes everything from flying saucer-shaped pulldowns to wagon-wheel chandeliers. Still popular today, home lighting from that era ranges from kitschy to modernistic. During “MID-CENTURY MODERN LIGHTING EYE CANDY FOR THE 'JOLLY ROGERS'” presentation, Rejuvenation designer and historian Bo Sullivan will entertain while he explains this décor.
Take several beautifully-decorated homes in the Eastmoreland neighborhood in Southeast Portland. Throw in some fun gift shopping while raising money for a good cause. What do you have? The 30th ANNUAL DUNIWAY HOLIDAY HOME TOUR. The tour includes a ride on an historic trolley as it rolls down the tree-lined streets of Eastmoreland, stopping at each home on the holiday tour and the tour’s boutique. The event raises funds that will benefit Duniway Elementary School, as does the boutique, with items by local artists and merchants. During the LA GRANDE ROTARY HOLIDAY HOME TOUR, eight houses or businesses in the La Grande area will be dressed up for the holidays. A variety of architectural styles will be represented on the self-guided car tour.
Do strands and strands of Christmas lights give you a warm and fuzzy feeling? Head for PEACOCK LANE, a street in Southeast Portland renowned for the homeowners who live on it, who spend hours and hours gussying up their houses each holiday season for drivers-by and passersby alike to enjoy. The houses, mostly English Tudors, are adorned with sparkling lights and the front yards are filled with nativity scenes, rotating Christmas trees and replicas of Santa and Frosty. A popular event (expect happy crowds), the decorations are best enjoyed on foot.
Home décor, arts and crafts, gourmet food, unique gift items, wines to taste, elegant holiday displays, Santa and a festive atmosphere are just some of what you’ll find at the ANNUAL HOLIDAY FOOD AND GIFT FESTIVALS. The fests will be held in Portland, Eugene, and Redmond.
Curated by former ID magazine editor Steven Skov Holt and art historian Mara Holt Skov, the exhibit MANUF®ACTURED: THE CONSPICUOUS TRANSFORMATION OF EVERYDAY OBJECTS includes new works made from mass-produced objects and materials, including a dress made from one continuous zipper and towers crafted from polystyrene. This is a great opportunity to think about the more serious issues of overabundance, appropriation and reuse. Some of the artists’ work will be for sale.
