The Design District

Posted By Rachel DeSchepper on 01/14/2008

Welcome: the first official post of The Design District. We have high hopes for this blog – it’s Portland Spaces space for the best of Portland design. Feel free to think of me as the editor about town who fills you in on the new shops, products and interior design trends for the Portland lifestyle. Mostly, I want this to be YOUR space. Tell me about what’s going on. Have design questions? Let me know – I’ll chat with Portland’s design experts for advice. See a new shop that’s carrying great new products? Tell me. Are you throwing an event, lecture or exhibit you want people to know about? Are you a Portland artist building furniture, throwing pots, re-habbing vintage furniture or creating artwork and you want someone to tell? Send me a note at designdistrict AT portlandspaces DOT net.

I figured the best introduction to this blog would be to give you a small taste of what I’m currently coveting … the furniture, books and accessories from around Portland and beyond that I’d love to have in my apartment.

Saturday I checked out Hermitage, a new shop on NW 19th and Lovejoy. Jennifer June, the owner, is a delight and her small little shop is equally as lovely. Some of Hermitage’s best offerings are the unusual, beautiful and custom wallpapers available to order, including one of my favorites, Nama Rococo. And Jennifer shows off what I want to do on a naked wall behind my bed for a great custom headboard: wallpapering a small square and framing with crown molding.

Jennifer has an art and book-making background, so she has a great love for paper and tactile design (a girl after my own heart.) Here are some of my favorite Hermitage finds:

A solid observation:

Relish in the Pearl is carrying wine tags, coasters and placemats from Modern Twist—some are designed by Portland’s own Amy Ruppel. A great bit of whimsy, don’t you think?

I also met Molly Quan at Life+Limb shortly before the holidays. This is maybe the best new product I’ve seen in a long time—a welcome mat shaped as a hippo.

I can’t wait to buy Charley Harper: An Illustrated History, edited by Todd Oldham. I love Charley Harper’s whimsical illustrations, and you can flip through this tome of a book for hours.

Another great new shop (well, kind of new—it opened in August) is Olio United. Co-owner Korinne James told me they’re going to try to carry more house wares in the near future (great news!) and I can’t wait to see how they expand. When I stopped in, I was struck by the mural behind the counter, by artist Meagan Geer.

Olio carries her artwork, too (the light boxes are great) so check them out.

I have a deep-seeded love of the printed word and I’ve always loved great stationery. So I feel right at home in a city that has so many great letterpress studios:

Egg Press

Satsuma Press

Oblation Papers & Press

Hammerpress (from Kansas City, my hometown. Yes, I’m a Midwesterner.)

If you love letterpress like me, check out Design*Sponge. Grace has a great guide to letterpress in Portland.

That love of printed word also makes me a self-confessed magazine junkie. The Offie Magazine Table from Hive Modern which would help me stave off the ridiculous unorganized piles of magazines that infest my apartment (the one problem of being a magazine-ophile).

Another great design philosophy, I think, is mixing old and new. I’ll always have a great vintage find sitting on my mid-century modern coffee table. And, as long as my budget can afford, I’m a collector. So this Letterpress table from a great vintage (and some new stuff) online shop, Three Potato Four would force me to have a place to put my collection of letterpress letters.

I could really go on forever, but I’ll stop here. Trust me, there will be much much more in the future.

Most importantly, be sure to pick up a copy of Spaces, on newsstands today! We had a great launch party on Thursday; our house party (yes, with sod and all) was a great kick-off to what we hope will be an informative, intelligent and inspirational magazine.

I hope to hear from you a lot, and I can’t wait to start a great Portland design dialogue. Welcome to The Design District!

-Rachel DeSchepper