Bridget Otto

What a nice way to begin the day. Open The Oregonian and see a picture of Beverly Landfair gracing the pages of HGNW.

Photos by Marv Bondarowicz THE OREGONIAN
Moving to the Pearl Design Center allowed Bev Landfair to more than double the space for her store, Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery.

It's an article by Bridget A. Otto on the Pearl Design Center.

In early 2007, the question was asked, "Why doesn't Portland have a Design Center like San Francisco and Seattle?"

Debbie Madden, whose husband, Mark, is a principal in the development company Stark Group LLC, had spent an entire day crisscrossing the greater metropolitan area to look at fabrics and furnishings. After cruising nearly every county -- and enduring a car accident to boot -- she lamented Portland's lack of a design district where a person could see all these things at once -- hopefully without incident.

So, in classic Portland fashion, Stark Group bought a city block under the trusses of the Fremont Bridge and transformed buildings that once housed Quimby Welding into the Pearl Design Center.

Photos by Marv Bondarowicz THE OREGONIAN
Studios and storefronts now occupy the Pearl Design Center. The space used to be Quimby Welding.

Set between Northwest 14th and 15th avenues and Northwest Raleigh and Savier streets, the approximately 34,000-square-foot showroom and studio space opened last spring and is about 60 percent full, says Tami Wood of Stark Group.

Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery, a showroom of furniture, fabrics and accessories, is its largest tenant. A handful of other businesses -- Architectural Elegance, Quince Flowers & Events, Studio Olivine, Northwest Framing Commercial, Progress Construction, Intrinsic Design and WDC Properties (which manages Stark Group) -- are scattered about the complex.

Bev is excited about the opportunities to be part of a Portland Design Center and is enthusiastic about the coming housing planned for the Pearl.

Portland Coffee Tables

The Oregonian's HGNW has an article today written by Nanine Alexander entitled A Table For Your Coffee, And More. The article has pictures of eight coffee tables that offer "...a place to set items you want within easy reach, a drink, a magazine, the remote control." Alexander doesn't mention my main reason for a coffee table, a place to rest my feet in front of the TV.

The article pictures all the coffee tables that are in the Portland area! Remember that old Johnny Carson routine. Johnny's sidekick, Ed McMahon, would repeat that remark: "All the coffee tables that are in the Portland area!" Johnny would say, "Wrong horses' breath!" So here are a few more that you can find on our showroom floor:

Global Views 8.80818 Surfboard Cocktail Table 60"L x 28"W x 19.5"H Retail Price $1,050.00

Sherrill CTH 310-822 Small Oval Cocktail Table Wooden Occasional Tables W28 x D20 x H21 Retail Price $920.00

Hammary Opus Collection Round Cocktail Table W38 D38 H19 Retail Price $599.00

Moondance 2 x 2 Cocktail Table 2 cushions with Bellagio Crosta leather 44 1/2"W x 44 1/2"D x 15 1/2"H
MSRP: $1,199.00

Hudson Street Warm Cocoa Oval Cocktail Table One stationary shelf 46"W x 28"D x 19"H
MSRP: $929.00

Alexander lists a few things to consider when you buy a coffee or cocktail table. My main hint: If you are going to prop your feet on the table, make sure it doesn't have a raised lip. Otherwise, it will be very uncomfortable on the backs of your feet.

Curb Side Furniture

Have you ever driven around the city and seen furniture sitting on the parking or next to the street with a sign that says, "FREE". My husband does all the time from his big yellow bus. So many times it rains, then the furniture is of no use to anybody.

We recently donated a sleeper sofa to Oregon Community Warehouse. It was still in good shape, but we wanted a change in the den and with our remodel of the lower level, just didn't see the need for the sofa in the den.

We were interested to learn that the Community Warehouse has a need for lots of furniture and it's a shame to see it sit outside in the rain when there are so many in need.

I called Sharon and found out they don't need more sofas. They need beds and dresser drawers, and tables and chairs. They may drive by with one of their trucks and pick up your used items if you call. They may even take your sofa if you have additional furniture items items.

Won't you pick up the phone and call Sharon at 503-235-8786 or the other volunteers about your gently used items before putting it on the curb.

Their web site says

Clients include women escaping domestic violence, individuals and families who have been homeless, elderly persons on limited incomes, people with mental and physical disabilities, refugee families from all over the world, youth and adults recovering from substance abuse, and the working poor.

Community Warehouse
2267 N. Interstate Ave.
Portland, OR 97227

Attic Gallery Hosts Judith Cunningham

Mike has been attracted to Judith Cunningham's paintings ever since her saw her painting of this place, Dead Horse Point . He was traveling in Utah a number of years ago when he met some people in Moab, Utah who invited him on a picnic at the point. I don't know if he has been the same since. He wrote this poem about the experience:

Dead Horse Point, Utah

At Dead Horse Point, great canyons stretch before me.
The setting sun backlights the scudding clouds.
A gentle breeze, wafts Junipers and whispers
of the desert to the south. The shawl of evening cloaks
the sandstone boulders.
Under the stars of Orion a red fox yips in the dying light.
I traveled much of a lifetime to this place to see a sunset.

Judith Cunningham captured the light and his feelings for that place. Now she captures the loneliness and majesty of the high plains in Wasco County


Canyon Shadows

She will be at the Attic Gallery tonight, 206 SW First Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204 beginning at 6:00 showing her latest creations and they will be on display tomorrow without her. She makes her home in Hood River.Dead Horse Point, Utah

At Dead Horse Point, great canyons stretch before me.
The setting sun backlights the scudding clouds.
A gentle breeze, wafts Junipers and whispers
of the desert to the south. The shawl of evening cloaks
the sandstone boulders.
Under the stars of Orion a red fox yips in the dying light.
I traveled much of a lifetime to this place to see a sunset.

Judith Cunningham captured the light and his feelings for that place. Now she captures the loneliness and majesty of the high plains in Wasco County


Canyon Shadows

She will be at the Attic Gallery tonight, 206 SW First Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204 beginning at 6:00 showing her latest creations and they will be on display tomorrow without her. She makes her home in Hood River.

Norwalk Update

Click on picture for a larger view.

Mike has an update on the situation at Norwalk at Home Accents Today entitled Norwalk Is On Knife's Edge