Concrete Finishes For Loft Living

Loft living in Portland has been on the rise since the late 90s. One of the hip areas to live is an area coined The Pearl District formerly full of old warehouses, industrial buildings and railroad yards, and now is said to be an award-winning, internationally recognized leader in urban renewal. Many that live in the area consider it a great mix of live, work, play. You'll find many new condo/loft buildings, expensive restaurants, art galleries, spas, shopping (including Powell's Books -the greatest bookstore), mass transit, and a few sculpture parks.

Is part of the draw of loft living the concrete posts that exist in so many? I guess it is for some.

Our latest client came to us wanting one bedroom wall to be transformed to match an existing concrete pilaster that was in the middle of the wall. Not only is it in the middle of the wall, but it is off-center - therefore, throwing off the symmetry of the bed.

We did not use concrete, but used a mix of plaster and glazes to mimic the look of the concrete.

In the main living space there are three existing concrete pilasters, so they requested that two walls of drywall be finished in the concrete technique to match.

The design of the loft is not yet complete. The bedroom is transitioning and the palette has yet to be selected. The client is in the decision making process and wants to remove a lot of the mono-toned browns and brighten up the space.

The bed is staying, and obviously the concrete finish on the wall. What colors would you choose to brighten up this space? Turquoise? Orange? Please share! I'm curious.

Bedroom before

Bedroom after

Living space before

Living space after

Living room after (closer look)

Living space after (up-close study)

Real concrete pilaster (our muse)

Melbourne International Arts Festival - Kristy Edmunds

I have the privilege of knowing this astounding human being, Kristy Edmunds.

I met Kristy while working at the Portland Art Museum from 1990 - 1993. Shortly after meeting Kristy we became friends. Several times a week we would wonder over to Coffee People or up to Rich's coffe cart and enjoy a coffee break together. I would sit in the presence of this woman in awe of her talent, wit and intelligence. A talented artist in many mediums, and at that time a curator then director at PAM's ground-breaking 'Art On The Edge' Program, introducing contemporary visual and performance art to Portland. I was membership manager at the time and we would strategize how to build AOTE membership and lower attrition of museum membership by keeping then current members intrigued. Kristy opened my eyes to many amazing artists. I had never been exposed to artists like Diamanda Galas. My Mid-West sensabilities were blown through the roof when I saw this avant-garde performance artist. I'll never forget sitting in the audience of Susie Bright hoping that some of those older museum donors hadn't read the description of this show and were squirming in their seats as we heard some of the best erotic tales to be told. Kristy left the museum soon after I moved back to the Mid-West and launched Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. That's when her career really started to soar.

When I moved back to Portland in 1999 I was able to sneak several hours of her precious time catching up over cocktails. Soon after Kristy's life changed and off she went to Australia. For the last four years Kristy has been Artistic Director for the Melbourne International Arts Festival, and this is her final year before she moves on to Head, VCA Performing Arts in Melbourne – Australia’s premier tertiary training and education institution for the performing and visual arts.



This is a great picture of Kristy with the exception that this image should be in reverse, because this woman goes 100MPH, 24/7 while the world stands still. If you're lucky you catch a glimpse of her. She is one of the brightest stars in our world. If live in Melbourne and have the chance attend this year's festival, you should do so. It seems Kristy has some many wonderful surprises for you. I wish I were there to experience some of them.

Kristy you continue to astound me. Congratulations to you my dear friend. I wish you the best in your new endeavor. Call me when you come back to Portland - I need a Kristy fix!

West Hills Glamour

I'm so excited about this project. I can't show you the dressed room just yet, but I wanted to tease you. Perhaps you'll come back and visit more often which will inspire me to post regularly.

One of my fabulous clients-turned-interior-designer, Garrison Hullinger brought me in on a recent project. A gorgeous home in the West Hills of Portland with some incredible decor. This client has amazing pieces already and is just adding and improving her collection of classic furniture pieces. It's truly my kind of design.

I was brought in to create a glamorous wall finish for this dining room. Here it is before. You can't see it well, but there's painted grass cloth wallpaper on the walls. It was removed.

Isn't that chandelier fabulous? It's been moved to the foyer and being replaced but something far better. I'll keep that a surprise.

This was the board the client selected and Garrison and I agreed happily. This is one of the most popular boards in my portfolio right now.

Here it is applied.


I love the smokey mirror that is going to stay in place as well as the sliding glass door to my right. The plaster has a subtle metallic sheen which you can see reflecting in that mirror. The natural lighting changes quite a bit during the day, as a result the finish will change as the light moves. It's an effect from this product that I love. This finish will be incredible at night with ambient lighting.

Oh, I can't wait for the final staging of this room. It's a treat to work with Garrison. He has impeccable taste! When there's a client involved that has great taste as well, it's even better.

I love my job!

2008 Street of Dreams - Portland

Welcome friends,


Are you ready for Portland's 32nd Annual Street of Dreams? It starts Saturday, August 16th and will be open for a month. Visit the website for more details and information. Hopefully you saved the discount coupon in your NW Natural Gas bill last month. Tickets are $17.50 this year!

I worked on the entry wall in the Lisac Brothers Construction home. You can see a sneak preview of it above. It's a contemporary home and the designers gave me a palette and let me have some fun. Thank you Michelle, Maureen and Sara!

My challenge... because the house was already completed I didn't get a chance to spec out the finish of the drywall. So, I was faced with knockdown texture. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, builders in the NW put texture on walls. Most of them apply orange peel which literally looks like the skin of an orange. Now the trend is to spray on texture and knock it down - a trend I hope doesn't stick around. The photo below is the knockdown before I got my hands on it and plastered away.

The wall doesn't look that big in the first picture, but I did need two tiers of scaffolding to work on it. See my ladder and scaffolding set up? Big fan of the aluminum scaffolding.

While I was working on the project I took a break to enjoy the incredible views of Mt. St Helens and Mt. Adams. I noticed a smoke cloud which turned out to be the Cold Springs Fire in Gifford Pinchot National Forest near Trout Lake due to a lightning strike.


I've been quite busy and hope to post some after pictures of some recent projects. I'll be back to tell you more about the Street of Dreams. Stay tuned.