Design

We believe interior designers are their best advertisement for themselves and their business of helping the public live in a home they deserve. We consistently encourage interior designers to get a blog and tell us about your projects, share with us the before and after pictures and the problems that were solved. Here's an example of a designer, not local however, who posts an excellent piece about color and comfort. Nicolette Toussaint owns Comfort & Joy Interior Design in San Francisco, CA and here's what she shared: In this post, ( What Color Is Comfort ) I will talk about the emotional impact of color – about what colors make us comfortable in what circumstances – and also about how color influences our perception of space and place. Most of my recent design jobs here in San Francisco have been color consultations, and this post will share some of those experiences. At the end, you should have a pretty good idea of what the color of comfort might be for you. It's...

This dining table from Christopher Guy is described on his website thusly: "Sheer elegance and luxury define this magnificent looking mahogany and veneer dining table, complete with delicate marquetry work, a fine example of a contemporary piece with classic appeal." Ava Living has this video of a furniture fashion show in Paris this year: Bev & Mike Landfair Furniture + Design gallery Follow us on Twitter

Don't forget to sign up for the Green Design Summit to be held June 29–30 via Webcast. The event looks to help architects and designers meet rising demand for environmentally friendly materials and designs. Click here to sign up today! The two-day Green Design Summit, available nationwide and internationally, will offer a host of well-known experts in green construction, architecture, interior design and the ecological impacts and tax benefits of going green. Speakers for the event include: • Ed Begley Jr., actor, environmental activist and HGTV star, presenting "Living With Ed." • Penny Bonda, FASID & LEED AP, green blogger for Interior Design Magazine, presenting "The New LEED Requirements–What You Need to Know." • Leslie Carothers of The Kaleidoscope Partnership, a consultant to the furniture industry, interior designer and blogger for Furniture Today, presenting "Specifying Green Furniture." • Bob Dixson, Mayor of Greensburg, a city that was ...

Jason Ball of Jason Ball Interiors has a great post about shopping for furniture from an interior designer's viewpoint: Interior designers shop for furniture differently than most consumers by focusing on size, style, lines, color and pattern. Many designers "shop" at designer-only showrooms which don't have a large number of options on the floor, but instead have thousands of options in catalogs covering multiple manufacturers. The number of styles and semi-customization are much greater than most retail furniture stores. The real benefit comes in access to hundreds of fabric options and a higher level of customization possible. Take the "walking the floor" situation. In a designer-only showroom, you'll test out different types of cushions to see what's comfortable. You can then select pieces based on their various measurements - seat depth and height, arm height, overall height, etc. And, the piece you select will be built for you! Bev & Mike ...

Faith Sheridan has my husband's favorite colors: Malachite and I call it a cinnamon. Bev & Mike Landfair Furniture + Design gallery Follow us on Twitter

Have you been to Jen West Design's blog, Jentrified ? I was struck by her post about her visit to the Design Center in San Francisco where she encountered Hwang Bishop : Darn, we are not on her blogroll either. Bev & Mike Landfair Furniture + Design gallery Follow us on Twitter

Hey, gang, check out Angela Todd's blog . She has a step-by-step process to get remodeling or redecorating project underway. Another post on her blog has pictures of the Home Builders Association’s Ultimate Open House , which took place on April 18th-19th and 25th-26th. She says it was a tremendous success. The Interior Design Society of Portland worked with several of the home builders to stage and style their homes. This picture just steals my heart. I just love the drama and the striking saturated orange: The only thing missing on her blog is a blogroll and our blog on it. Bev & Mike Landfair Furniture + Design gallery Follow us on Twitter

The Child's Womb Chair from Knoll Kids, shown here with the Stone child's seat in poppy. The adult version of the chair was designed in 1948 by Eero Saarinen, and the seat by Maya Lin in 1998. Kids Today reports KnollStudio, a division of Knoll, Inc., renowned for its collection of classic and enduring designs for the workplace and the home, has launched Knoll Kids, a modern children’s furniture collection. Bev & Mike Landfair Furniture + Design gallery Follow us on Twitter

We've encouraged interior designers in our area to show us their before and after pictures of projects they've completed. We want to give you an idea through their examples why we recommend you use an interior designer. Our latest example is from Marlene Buckner, president elect of ASID Oregon Chapter, and a consummate professional having passed the National Council for Interior Design Qualification Exam (NCIDQ) This 1916 residence in Dunthorpe was designed by famous Portland Architect Wade Hampton Pipes . The kitchen was so small the family ate at the farm table that doubled as a work surface. After Marlene designed an 8 foot addition on the opposite end of the room and developed the kitchen design with the homeowners, a new larger kitchen emerged that included an island and nook with built-in banquette seating (in the old kitchen location). True to the period, painted cabinets with inset doors from Wood-Mode were installed and a satin-etched Mysore Black granite counter wa...

Remember the January post titled Facundo Poj Design ? Argentinian Facundo who now makes his home in Miami, has just released a video on the whole process of the aztec stool & wine rack from concept to prototype in just over 3 minutes. Naturally, the design is facilitated with a nice bottle of red wine and a cigarette. Bev & Mike Landfair Furniture + Design gallery Follow us on Twitter

When it comes to modern style apartments, the furniture pieces are the all-important focal points of your retreat. Therefore, it is absolutely essential to feature your modern décor in the best way, even at night. When nighttime approaches, the lighting of your home should not only highlight the beauty of your modern furniture, but it should also encompass the overall modern theme of your room’s décor. Whether you are in the office working or in the living room relaxing, modern lighting can create the ambiance that enhances optimal enjoyment of your residence. The versatility of modern lighting lies in the unparalleled ability to work in all different kinds of settings for many different purposes. Here are some tips on how to spruce up your décor with contemporary lighting solutions. What can Pendant lighting do for you? Watch your head, pendant lights are now all the rage in the modern design world (but don’t worry, you can always adjust the height to accommodate tall people)....

Beverly gives a tour of Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery in Portland's Pearl. Bev & Mike Landfair Furniture + Design gallery Follow us on Twitter

Kara Pierce, Senior Design Consultant at The Sofa Company, has written an article titled How to Test My Sofa’s Upholstery Fabric Durability and Strength . How exactly is a fabric’s durability measured? Most fabrics go by one of two test methods, known as Wyzenbeek and Martindale, to give the fabric an “abrasion” or “double rub” rating. Essentially, the fabric is pulled tight and rubbed in two directions by a standard weight fabric; if two yarn breaks occur, or if noticeable wear is observed, at that point the number of rubs is recorded as the abrasion rating. 30,000 double rubs is considered minimum durability for commercial use; hotels, conference rooms, etc. Between 30,000 and 100,000 is considered heavy duty. Although these tests are only used as tools for predicting wear, it can help when looking at fabrics, to know that the higher the abrasion rating number is, the better it performed on the durability test. At Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery you will notice that most of the S...

The Washington Post , today, carries an article about Nick Olsen , interior designer and writer for defunct Domino mag, about first-time design mistakes. He lists six: Being afraid to paint. - "If you're not willing to paint, you're really not willing to do much in terms of decorating. Being safe will get in the way of good design." Hanging one print or mirror in the center of a wall - I once knew a bachelor that had mustard, catsup, fuzzy ice cubes in his freezer and a small print exactly centered on his eight by forty foot wall. Hanging rectangular mirrors on the horizontal. - "I think it brings the eye down and makes any room low and stumpy." Oh my God! I have that going on in our dining room (but the room is small and longer than its wide). Buying area rugs that are too small. - We should all know by now that no part of a dining room table and chairs should fall outside the dimensions of the rug. Not taking care with lighting choices. - "Chint...

In this viseo shot at Landfair Furniture + Design gallery, the owner Beverly Landfair explains the "sit" in a sofa and what to look for when shopping for a sofa: Bev & Mike Landfair Furniture + Design gallery Follow us on Twitter

While surfing the web, I came across Retro To Go. They had a post about Carl Malmsten Samsas sofa and easy chair . The style "originated in the 1920s when Malmsten was working on furniture for the then newly constructed Stockholm Concert Hall." There is still a company that makes Malmsten sofas. Retro To Go writes, His design style was routed in his Swedish background and traditions – he worked a lot with the blond woods that are now so closely associated with Scandinavian style – and he wanted his furniture to inspire a warmth feeling. This certainly is reflected in this pleasing curving design. One of Malmsten's main achievements was to found two schools of design and also to establish co-operative furniture making workshops. It's these that continue to produce the furniture manufactured under his name today. No fashion goes out of style. Good design just gets put away and then brought back at a later date. Bev & Mike Landfair Furniture + Design gallery Fo...

Playing house for the first time ? Set priorities and get started with a few essential pieces says article at Home & Garden - Ledger-Enquirer.com Shared via AddThis There's some great advice Bev & Mike Landfair Furniture + Design gallery Follow us on Twitter

We at Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery are very pleased to be named to Home Accents Today's 2009 50 Retail Stars . Joining us from Portland is Bravado. Wow! Two Portland furniture store in the "top 50". What a treat. Bev & Mike Landfair Furniture + Design gallery Follow us on Twitter

Hollandia International and world-renowned furniture designer Karim Rashid have once again taken the interior design world by storm. Created exclusively for Hollandia International , Karim Rashid’s Glow and Shell bed offer a modern, sophisticated look into the future of furniture design. Thanks to its unique, shell-shaped headboard design, the Shell bed imparts a protective, cocoon-like feeling for the consumer lying inside the bed and offers a high-end glossy finish for elegant style. Making others green with envy, the futuristic Glow is a compact, neon design featuring drawers for storage under the bed and in the headboard. Additionally, the bed is manufactured with an iPod docking station and cabinet doors that swing out to create side tables. Last but not least, the Elite bed is truly the most luxurious and indulgent sleep system available. Hollandia International, which encourages their consumers to “have fun in bed,” designed the Elite with a state-of-the-art Sony Bravia® The...

Mike has just posted an article about Fathead Wall Graphics at Home Accents Today's The Landfair Retail Focus titled Fathead Wall Graphics Are Big! Bev & Mike Landfair Furniture + Design gallery Follow us on Twitter