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Heidi & David’s Downtown Portland Loft

Leela Cyd
Leela Cyd
As a photographer, Leela is looking for the in-between moments, the details and the emotion of places, people or things. She spent over a decade as a stylist so her work is carefully constructed, layered with personality, but always has a feeling of freedom and joy. Growing up around a table of creatives — her father a photographer, mother a writer — Leela is a synthesis of her family. Her abilities are broad — from interiors/architecture, to product, food and lifestyle. When she’s not making pictures or in the studio she’s playing with her two young children dreaming up their next adventure. Leela has also authored and photographed 4 of her own books, "Food with Friends," "Tasting Hygge," "Cooking Up Trouble," and "Styling for Instagram."
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published Jul 5, 2011
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Name: Heidi and David
Location: Downtown — Portland, Oregon
Size: 900 sq ft
Years lived in: 6 months — rented

When Heidi and David relocated to Portland, Oregon from Brooklyn a few months ago, they hoped to find a place in an urban neighborhood, close to the farmer’s market and city life. They found just that in an open live/work loft they share with their cat, Gypsy.

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Heidi, a graphic designer, and David, a painter, love the big town/small city feel of Portland and have been drawn to the place for many years. When Stumptown coffee opened up shop in Brooklyn last year, that was the final nudge to get to the source. Their apartment building houses other artists and galleries, and functions as a prominent fixture in the Portland art scene.

The wonderful aspects of this loft are the incredibly tall ceilings, abundance of natural light and work/live-ability. Both of them work from home, so having a lofted room is invaluable to giving each of them their own space. Heidi sits downstairs, perched near the windows and trees while David paints and does computer work upstairs. They’re avid travelers and their place reflects this love of exploration. They’ve collected dolls, prints and interesting items from all over the world. David’s paintings add lively, bright color and family photos are peppered throughout the apartment. Heidi and David, welcome to Portland!

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Apartment Therapy Survey:

Our Style: We would say we’re crafty, thrifty, fun, and colorful people. We like that to be reflected in everything we do, including the things we surround ourselves with. Our style is a bit eclectic and doesn’t have one main focus, but we try to make it all cohesive in the way it comes together. We would rather spend money on travel than things, so we push our creativity to create a comfortable home that we enjoy living and working in, without feeling like we’re throwing money away.

Inspiration: We both surround ourselves with creativity all day, every day. Mine is typically design based and David’s more contemporary art, so we feel our inspiration constantly changes and evolves, based on what we’re looking at that day.

Favorite Element: What don’t we like? This place is HUGE compared to the apartments we lived in in NYC. It has amazing light, amazing layout, a 2nd floor (HELLO AWESOME) and lovely floors. We are happy little clams right now.

Biggest Embarrassment: The kitchen cupboards. That’s one project we haven’t tackled yet, but they definitely need some love.

Proudest DIY: Our big 8-drawer dresser. We got it on craigslist for $30 and it was in really rough shape. We sanded it down, stained it, painted it, and put some new hardware on it. We love the final piece.

Biggest Indulgence: Ha… I can’t really say we’ve had one. When we moved from the East Coast we didn’t bring any furniture. We’ve gotten LOTS of hand-me-downs from our west coast friends. We’ve found great things at thrift stores and on craigslist and we’ve put the work in to make each piece ours. Nothing in our apartment cost more than $100… nothing (well our computers of course, but those don’t count)! If we could indulge right now, we would be buying art. I am lucky enough to have a wonderful painter for a husband, so I’m so happy to have his work hanging on our walls!

Best Advice: If you can’t find it, make it. If you can’t make it, you probably don’t need it.

Dream Sources: We’d love to just have a big cargo container and travel the world and fill it up with wonderful one-of-a-kind pieces. Is that asking too much?

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Resources of Note:

PAINT & COLORS

    • brand: color
    • Benjamin Moore

LIVING ROOM

    • big red pillows: Place Textiles
    • dresser, desk, couch: Craigslist
    • paintings: David Sloan
    • TV table, mirror: salvaged from Hotel Elliot in Astoria, Oregon (gifts from friends)
    • teapot light: made by a friend
    • tulip light: Target
    • hand for holding keys: Vintage Hardware in Astoria, Oregon

KITCHEN

    • kitchen stools: Target
    • pots and pans: Le Creuset
    • canisters: Bed, Bath and Beyond
    • hand towels: my Mom’s from the 70s.
    • elephant cabinet pulls: Anthropologie

BEDROOM

    • big brown pillows: Place Textiles fabric and were a gift from the fabulous textile designer Kristie Strasen ( I worked there briefly in art school and loved every second of it).
    • bed throw: Cargo
    • lamp base: Good Will, the shade I made from an old skirt!

BATHROOM

    • body parts poster: Cargo
    • fabric magazine holder: Tiny Living in NYC (now closed)
    • arm mirror: Ikea

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Thanks, Heidi and David!

Images: Leela Cyd Ross

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