Asian style fixture and chairs. Warm color.

Asian styling, purple, warm colors.

Ethnic silver accent, Indian-feel coffee table.

Purple accent, Indian carved panel headboard.

Ethereal art, purple tones.

Purple dining room!

Lots of Asian accents. Art with that pale blue background color again!

So there you have it. Design for a new season. Here are the five trends again:

1. Purple tones: I am seeing lovely shades of purple everywhere, from burgundy to heather, to pale almost grey lavenders.

2. Silver revived: Last year saw people gravitating towards soft gold accents for home. That is still true this year, but we also see silver, especially “ethnic silver” with a lot of detailing, like etching, filagree, and carving.

3. Asian styling: I couldn’t resist a good selection of Asian and Indian-style wooden furniture this season, and I’m not alone. Many interiors are incorporating classic Asian and hand-carved Indian pieces.

4. Green gold and copper tones: Warm colors are experiencing a bit of a revival. The yellows are golden with green undertones and the oranges are burnished and coppery.

5. Ethereal art: I have been seeing artwork painted in light ethereal colors in many magazine spreads. The color has softness and translucent qualities, and often themes of nature.

See more at FURBISH this fall!

A gorgeous and very big hand-painted Indian doorway that could be used as a headboard, table, or actual door.

Just really liked the color palette in this vintage piece of local art. I definitely developed a thing for the Oregon Coast : ).

I really liked these Asian-style chairs and silk tapestry artwork. There are many asian influences in Portland so stylistically they make sense there.

This wooden art deco mantel piece just felt so right to me. In great condition and the finish had a richness to it.

LOVED this lamp made out of a printer roll for a wallpaper pattern!

Want to shop for antiques in Portland? Start here for some pointers. Want to design a beautiful home around one-of-a-kind finds like these? Call us at Furbish Home to learn about our first rate design services.

Today’s post is about the hotels in Portland. I’m writing about them first for a few reasons:

1. I’m obsessed with hotels and their decor
2. Because of this obsession I spent HOURS researching where to stay
3. Many hotels in Portland are really COOL and well decorated!

So let’s get right into it. Michael, Aadi, and I stayed at the Heathman Hotel. It was not my first choice (I spent so long agonizing over which cool place to stay at that most rooms in town were booked by the time I made reservations). But it was a neat choice because it is kind of legendary. Many famous people have stayed there and the hotel displays original artwork throughout the public spaces and even in the rooms. The Heathman also houses one of the best restaurants in town (though it is NOT very veg-friendly). They also offer the city’s most high end high tea (which we skipped because of the 1 year old we had in tow with us : ).

Above is the hotel lobby. It is a SMALL lobby, showing signs of wear and tear, but it also has a certain eclectic flair that I like. The tea/sitting room off of the lobby. Grand stairwell. It is a  dark, heavy kind of space. Moody. More like tea at the Ritz Carlton than at the Plaza.

They upgraded our room to a King Suite, likely because of the crowds in need of a place to sleep. July is high season in Portland and there were several conferences in town too. The suite was small. It felt even more so because of how tightly packed it was with furniture and amenities: tea sets, coffee set ups, mini bar and fridge, multiple television, separate vanity area for the bath, tons of furniture and art. All crammed in. But again, it had a certain flair to it.

What I LOVED was the service. Very gracious and knowledgeable. I also really like the sunrise motif headboards. They are quirky, daring, and signature.

Hotel Modera is a new, affordable hotel with HIGH HIGH style quotient. The rooms are said to be quite small but the lobby and public spaces are really innovative, interesting, and beautiful. Here are some pics:

Apparently at night there are fire pits which you can sit around in this outdoor courtyard. Here is are the room interiors shown on their website:

Next are photos of Hotel Deluxe Portland. Like Modera, it has Hollywood inspired themes but has a lighter, brighter feeling. This is a Lobby shot:

Below is a photo of their restaurant which is pretty much my favorite image among all the pics in this post. This space looks just dreamy:

Hotel Deluxe Portland is on the Conde-Nast Traveller’s Gold List this year and has been written up in the New York Times. It is surprisingly affordable. This is where I was planning to stay until the rooms got all booked!

A good combination of serene and lively happening here.

The next place I considered was The Nines, the new Starwood 5 star boutique-style hotel. Here is the Lobby with a very Modern Art perspective:

And the rooms are very different from other Portland hotels. So elegant yet modern. There photos below are from the standard rooms! The colors actually feel very FURBISH too : ).

A photo from a high end suite at the Nines:

If you want to consider staying at any of these hotels, check out their reviews on tripadvisor.com. That is not a paid plug. I just love that website.

If you want to use one of these images as inspiration to design your own room, call us at FURBISH!

This is a guest bedroom. I know a lot of the appeal for me here is the rustic architecture (I think the room was in a basement), and also the simplicity. This was featured in the April Elle Decor and is designed by Tristan Auer.

This image has been used a lot around furbish this month. I used it as an example of scale in design, and we have also been using it as an example of how people can use the starburst, which we have a reproduction of in the store currently. The image was in the April Metropolitan Home and decor was by Richard Mishaan.

The most inspiring thing about this image for me is actually the bedside tables. I LOVE them and they have become my dream side table : ). The graphic blooms are cool too, but very stimulating in comparison to how I usually approach bedrooms. This image was in the April Elle Decor and design is by Paolo Moschino.

On apartment therapy there was a post on accessory storage. The photo reminded me of how I store my own baubles and bangles: on pretty venetian glass wall hooks, and in brass artisan bowls on a handed down chest from my mom.

Hi all. This post is a follow up to my newsletter article on earthy sophistication. The assertion: earthy sophistication seems to be a serious thread running through modern interiors. The evidence: some images pulled from recent publications.

These great examples highlight some overall themes:

1. the presence of wood elements
2. white as a key color: I think white helps to denote an earthiness because it indicates purity, or a more natural “undecorated” state, even when the space is very intentional
3. earth tones as accent colors, of course, from deep browns to nutmegs
4. heavy doses of texture, in wall and floor coverings
5. interplay between cultivated and uncultivated

In this image from Elle Decor, textured walls and carpet, deep browns, wooly throw, and white spread make an earthy oasis. Glossy ceramic lamps and geometric print  on the drapes balance it.

I love this room from Domino Magazine. The inclusion of green is a fresh take on the earthy that I’ve been seeing, and so appropriate! The formalism in the arrangement here keeps it sophisticated.

Below, from Elle Decor, taupey white walls have a feeling of texture, dark wood on the floors, antler chair and other wood accents spell out earthy. The traditional table and floor to ceiling windows keep it cultivated.

This room from Country Living magazine definitely feels earthy, as one might expect. It is more elegant than sophisticated, with primarily traditional pieces. The skirted furniture, gilded mirror keeps it from going “lodge.”

This room is more formal than the others with tufted headboard and x-leg benches. But the texture in the carpeting, the appearance of texture in the wall covering, and the sculptural wood pieces are unexpected. Elle Decor again.

The house below, published in Elle Decor, is in the Bahamas, so earthy is perhaps a necessity with all that ocean. The living area has many woody elements from the beams down to the natural fiber rug. The dark floor in herringbone pattern with the all white in the dining area feels organic. In both these rooms clean lines in the architecture, furnishings and layouts are a counterpoint to the earthy elements.

Please feel free to post any thoughts you may have on earthy interiors to the message board!

I can’t believe it has taken this long to negotiate a new lease! It has been months. I never expected to be on the verge of moving without a new address to advertise. But if all goes as planned we WILL be in Millburn, as rumor has it, and open in October.

Many of you have asked why we are moving. The real answer is just a simple one: to grow, in many senses of the word. And growing is both exciting and scary, and takes you places you didn’t expect…like storage facilities. Ah well. MBAs everywhere are in agony at how our growth plan is executing itself. But we are going with the flow!

A favorite scene from the original furbish.

In the meantime, our phone lines will be up and running. I will still be carrying on the interior design business. And I will be planning amazing, fun, and beautiful things for the furbish redux. The blog will be active, and the first source of information about what is happening.

Here is some of what you can expect:

1. Design-wise I’m going back to my roots. I’ll be carrying several Indian-inspired pieces and new Indian-styled textile lines. And there might be just a touch of french rococo accents woven into our look. I really do feel that ornamentation styles from around the globe are coming back in bits and pieces and I couldn’t be more excited about it.

2. We will be offering a regular roster of events for you, as well as seminars and design tours. Yay!

3. We are bringing in a new line of upholstered seating that will provide you with 100s of new sofa and chair frames to select from. Yes, more options. But don’t worry because I will also be paring all of the new choices down with a list of “UMA’s PICKS for the SEASON.” This will be a select offering of fabrics, sofa and chair styles, accent pieces, and gift items that I believe are both classic and of the moment.

So this is just a preview. Stay tuned! I hope to announce a new address in the coming days and will be telling you more about the exciting new directions we are moving in! Be well.

Opening night in the original furbish. Now another one awaits!

Celebration on Grandma's patio with requisite french table linens in place. We used paper plates, but with real silver.

I cannot say enough about Grandma Stewart. She always makes me feel like her real grand-daughter. She is a gracious, elegant woman with old-world class, sensibility, manners, and charm. At the age of 90 she is always impeccably dressed in a blazer with skirt. Meals at home require any one of her excellent collection of batik print tablecloths picked up on yearly trips to France, and, yes, good silver. To this day she insists on the things that bring her pleasure and joy, regardless of how impractical they may be for everyone else involved. 

I want to share some photos of Grandma’s home because this is the home of someone who knows what they enjoy and places no limits on that. Just about every room in the house is done in signature blue or green, with vintage floral or damask wallpapers. Little vases and knick-knacks from travels and friends sit along every window ledge and shelf, each with a story. Framed art abounds in every corner, many pieces painted by Grandma herself. Visiting Grandma Stewart’s home is an experience. She will part with nothing, and so the home is packed with mementos, catalogs, photos, you name it, spanning the decades. It is a child’s dream, full of color and objects, rooms, closets, basement, all filled with things to discover and marvel at. 

The photos below are from the living room where the family convenes after dinner, or where friends who drop by are invited to sit for pleasant conversation. The folding card table is generally always in place, with spare chairs nearby for post-supper card games. The game is always rummy and Grandma ALWAYS wins, usually by a margin of a 100 points or so.

A spare sitting room sits between the living room and the dining room for spill over during larger gatherings, plus more space for all of grandma’s treasured things. This sofa is often a quiet place to sit when one needs respite from the boisterous family gatherings.

The dining room is so very important. This is the place where everyone reliably gathers for grace and a good meal. Table settings are a chance for creativity and enjoying newness in a familiar place. Grandma continues to sit at the head of the table.

An upstairs bedroom goes softer and paler with creamy moldings, dreamy paper, and french chair in yellow quilted fabric. Waking up in this room is like waking up in a spring garden. Something about the wallpaper is mesmerizing to me. I never tired of gazing at it.

What I realized is that Grandma posseses the heart of an artist. As we sat outside on a beautiful cloudless day she said, “The sky is so bright that if you put that color on a canvas it would look gaudy. I know because I’ve tried.” Her approach to life is immediate and sensory and sensitive. She continues to put energy into what to wear to lunch or how the table is set, because to her that is as essential to her definition of life as breathing.

1. we both have interior designer mothers (let’s not consider the fact that everyone does)

2. we both have fathers who are engineers

3. we both wore Garanimals when we were young! This was a formative experience for me and it seems it was for her too, since she wrote about it in her book, no?

Now I just need to design something as stunning as this:

look as stunning as this:

and maybe Michael can buy me a boutique hotel?