In the fall, what home cook doesn’t feel a yen to bake? With the cooling weather, we’re eager to fire up the oven, smell the spice of pies, and bite into still-warm cookies. While baking offers the sensory delights of kneading dough and browning crusts, working in an efficient, functional, and attractive kitchen is the real icing on the cake. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

Think back on some memorable moments in your home from the past 10 or so years. Chances are many of them have been in your kitchen. In mine, I’ve not only cooked, eaten, and entertained, I have made my first candles, had pivotal conversations with my daughter, and watched our border collie pup delight in her first Thanksgiving turkey (“Look, Ma, I can reach the counter!”). This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

Our lives should dictate how we use our homes, not the other way around. But living a 21st century life in an early 20th century house can be challenging. Take, for example, the small size of common rooms found in many early 1900s residences. They don’t work for those modern families who cultivate more time together. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

What other room tells the story of our society like the kitchen? From an overheated, cramped outbuilding relegated to servants, it became increasingly civilized, integrating into the home and gaining status as an independent realm ruled by the “little woman.” Today, with celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Anthony Bourdain wielding knives and mallets like knights at a joust, it’s no wonder men are now enthroning themselves in this culinary kingdom. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

A fireplace is more than just a place to warm yourself on a cold day. In any weather, it sets the atmosphere for its surrounding environs. A home with the right fireplace will feel more comfortable, both because of its heat on a winter day and its aesthetics year-round. Likewise, a house with an unharmonious hearth will feel disjointed. If you suspect you’re not getting enough from what should be the centerpiece of your home, you have a few decisions to make before dismantling that mantle. This... more

A custom-designed daybed makes room for sewing and crafts by day and rolls out to provide a queen-size bed by night. The above photo shows the bed closed The under-sized entry into the attic space was moved and incorporated as a cabinet door (far left) into the entertainment center, which now commits the room to a new statement and purpose. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

His own nightmarish experience as a client inspired Wade Freitag to found one of Portland’s most respected design/build firms, Craftsman Design and Renovation. An architectural designer at the time in 1994, Freitag hired a general contractor to restore his 1907 dream “fixer” home but ultimately finished the job himself. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →