Interior

1st Place Winner

Project:

Ranchel Remodel

Firm:

Arciform LLC

503.493.7344

http://www.oldhomesnewlife.com

Size:

2,400 sf

Budget:

$500,000

Designer:

Anne De Wolf, Arciform LLC

Contractor:

Arciform LLC

Comment: “Vibrant, original, coherent, eccentric.” —Chuck Miller

Determined to incorporate the greenest design principles possible, Anne DeWolf spent six years gathering antique fixtures, re-cycled materials, and green building products to produce a vibrantly offbeat residential remodel of a 1978 two-story home. Each room showcases surprising uses for salvaged goods: Wooden pickle-barrel slats stretch across the living-room floor; a molded piece of wrought-iron fence is reincarnated as a bathroom towel bar; antique glass doorknobs adorn the retractable attic staircase. A herringbone pattern on the high ceiling, made of Kirei board and bamboo planks, visually links the lofted upstairs bedroom to the main living space.

The master bedroom’s highlight is a custom-built circular bed, perfectly fitted above a bamboo lazy susan for shoe storage. Clothing hangs on S-hooks fashioned from antique socket wrenches, which partially conceal the room’s wall of open shelving. Warm leather tiles, culled primarily from landfill-bound BMW automobile seats, cover the floor.

The staircase risers’ mosaics include glass marbles from DeWolf’s childhood. Saw blades, old metal treads, and tin ceiling parts, all found in junkyards, were welded together to make the railing, which is topped with a hand-carved cherry handrail. A few of the salvaged items retain charming remnants of their past lives: A door from the 1900s has both its original layers of paint and a mail slot; a rubber wall protector made of reused tires still has rocks wedged between its treads. The final effect exemplifies DeWolf’s tireless attention to detail and her ability to transform heaps of recycled materials into a funky yet cohesive aesthetic.

- Xylia Buros