Adi’s Glamorous Apartment in the Sky

Name: Adi Edlen
Location: South Waterfront; Portland, Oregon
Size: 1,597 square feet
Years lived in: 2 years

Adi’s condo, located high above South Waterfront in Portland, Oregon, is as chic and glamorous as it gets. It combines soft, beautiful colors, a killer view, an ever expanding collection of artwork, and good old fashioned DIY projects. One moment Adi’s hosting a small, sophisticated party, and the next she’s chasing a toddler who’s running out of the nursery. But at all times her home is a charming refuge, with just the right blend of vintage and modern styles.

As you enter the home, the master bedroom is off the entry hall, complete with walk-in closet and luxurious master bath. A short hallway leads to an open area, with the kitchen, dining room and living room all working together, and framed by amazing views of the Williamette River. The toddler’s room is off the living room, and is as sophisticated as the rest of the home.

Each space has an eclectic mix of pieces that speak to Adi’s love of design, and her husband’s artistic leanings. The dining room, for example, features a piano, which Adi’s husband often plays. The deer head over the table was a DIY project that Adi took on — she spray painted the head, stenciled the wall, and created a lovely frame for it. The artwork on the adjacent wall is inspired by Graffiti art, and showcases their love of bike culture. It’s part of a collection of artwork that peppers the home. The white chairs were display items that she nabbed from Nordies, and the ghost chairs were Christmas gifts from her husband – she loved them so much that she cried when she opened them!

You can just feel Adi’s passion for design, and for creating a wonderful home for herself and her family. With another little one on the way, the couple is looking for a larger place. If this home is any indication, their new place will exude an equal amount of charm and grace.

My Style: Eclectic Glam/Vintage Modern.

Inspiration: I’m inspired by the challenge of creating exciting and beautiful spaces with a small budget and a lot of patience.

Favorite Element: I love my toddler’s bedroom – it almost feels more like his office rather than his bedroom because of the couch and modern art mixed with vintage accessories. I wanted to avoid a cheesy nursery feel, so I decorated his room as I would decorate for a teenager, allowing the books and toys to mix in and add some whimsy.

Biggest Challenge: It was difficult to define separate spaces since it’s such an open floor plan. I achieved this by facing the couch away from the dining room and putting a credenza between the living and dining room. Because the living room, kitchen, and dining room can all be viewed together, every design choice I made for each area had to “get along” with the overall space. It was fun and rewarding to see each area have its own personality while coming together as cohesive space.

What Friends Say: My friends always ask how I keep the place looking this way with a toddler. It was my mission to make the living areas appear kid-free since everything is so out in the open, so with a little diligence and the luck of having a toddler who doesn’t break things, I’ve been able to keep things looking pretty. We’ll see how long I can keep that up when there are two little ones running around, though!

Biggest Embarrassment: The kitchen countertops. I hate the color – they don’t go very well with the cool tones of the rest of the space, but I’m just not an earth tone kind of person, so I refused to let the kitchen colors dictate the rest of my decorating. In a perfect world the countertops would be Carrara marble, but it just didn’t make financial sense for us to change them out.

Proudest DIY: The deer head turned out better than I could have imagined. I spray painted the frame from gold to white and used a stencil to paint the geometric pattern onto the wall instead of using a canvas, so it turned out to be an interesting mix of layers and textures and really made the room. I wrote about the process on my blog.

Biggest Indulgence: I would say the daybed in the living room, but that was a housewarming gift, so really our biggest indulgence was the dining room table. My husband wanted something sturdy, and I wanted a more high-end look with a lacquer finish, so we decided to invest a little more on the table.

Best Advice: Don’t be afraid to change your mind on what your style is — you can always add layers to the overall look and feel of your décor. I started out wanting everything to be super modern, but my style felt more purposeful and fun when I loosened up and added a few different styles to the mix.

Dream Sources: Anthropologie and Restoration Hardware.

Thanks, Adi!

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