Michelle & Jeff’s Chic & Playful Blend

Name: Michele, Jeff and daughters Marlowe and Macie, 19 months
Location: Northwest Portland, Oregon
Size: 3,000 square feet
Years lived in: 2 years; owned

Jeff and Michele are both native Portlanders who met at a wedding in 2002. Five years after meeting, the couple bought their first home together, and just days after becoming homeowners, they started their first major renovation project. It doesn’t seem like they have slowed down since: they spent seven years living in (and constantly updating!) their first home, and when the opportunity to buy a gem of a 1954 mid-century home came up, they jumped at the chance.

This Northwest Portland home was in original mid-century condition when they bought it two years ago. Though they were both working full time and expecting twin girls (!), that didn’t stop Jeff from acting as contractor on their full kitchen remodel. Jeff installed cabinets, counter tops, fixtures and more— the only piece of the project he didn’t do was the electrical and plumbing. As an afterthought, the couple decided to remodel the laundry room with the same cabinets and finishes as the kitchen. Household tasks take on a different feel in their luxe utility room!

They have let their home’s era dictate the direction of the interior decor, but Michele’s job as an apparel designer, along with her love of fashion and Scandinavian interiors are also influences.

The majority of the art in the house was gifted to the couple from Jeff’s aunt and uncle. His uncle’s parents lived in Manhattan from the 50s to 80s and spent a lot of their time at NYC auction houses and galleries buying various art and antiquities. His aunt and uncle also caught the collecting bug and pursued African art and minerals over the years. Jeff’s aunt is now downsizing and has been incredibly generous in handing down these pieces for Jeff, Michele and the girls to enjoy in their home.

Our Style: Currently our style is more towards a modern aesthetic as the house lends itself to it, but overall we love blending multiple styles to create a mood that feels right to us. We do tend to favor Scandinavian interiors for its functionalism and simplifications of forms…the designs are always to improve the daily life with nature in mind, which we both appreciate. We also shuffle furniture around often, swapping tables and chairs from different rooms or moving decor around to keep the space feeling fresh.

Inspiration: Pinterest is a great source for inspiration, as well as good interior blogs like Decor8, DesignSponge and Apartment Therapy. Sometimes it just takes looking at something differently to get us inspired. This could be with color, decor or a specific piece of furniture.

Favorite Element: The melding of different woods, metals and decades. The blending of chic and playful… inspired for all ages vibe.

Biggest Challenge: Timing of our remodel. Estimating and completing each project in time for subcontractors to come do their part, then knowing who and when to schedule what. Jeff acted as the contractor on our entire remodel, not an easy task when you’re working and parenting full time and doing the majority of the work himself.

What Friends Say: “Can you come over and decorate?!” It’s the biggest compliment we could receive. And I usually say “Yes, but I don’t have time,” because I would have loved to have a profession in interiors… I may design apparel for a living but designing interiors go hand-in-hand in my opinion.

Biggest Embarrassment: Probably the terrible paint job on the new smooth ceiling. Jeff sprayed the ceiling without proper lighting and didn’t notice how bad it was until the project was complete. Just don’t look up.

Proudest DIY: Salvaging the original hemlock paneling to reconstruct what used to be part of the old pocket door from the main entry to the kitchen. We only had one shot with the available boards to get it right.

Biggest Indulgence: It’s a tie between the kitchen Miele refrigerator, or deciding to continue the cabinets and pulls into the laundry room as an afterthought.

Best Advice: Make an aggressive budget on a remodel…then double it to get to your realistic number.

Dream Sources: Portland is the home to some pretty fantastic MCM furniture restorers so both of us are big fans of following them on social media, as well as popping in storefronts when time allows to pick up those unique pieces. We’re currently looking to expand our dining seating so we may need to widen our sourcing since we’ve been searching for quite some time. Ideas welcomed!

Exterior: Miller Heirloom Grey paint
Interior: Miller Satin White walls, Flat white ceiling paint

Rejuvenation Atlas Starburst Handle and Doorbell

•Lounge: Adrian Pearsall Wave Chaise Rocker
• Vintage Norwegian Chairs purchased at Boise Vintage, reupholstered by Revive
• Couch: Lexmod Engage sofa
• Apophyllite Mineral Cluster
• Bamana Kono Mask
• Art print designed by Michele
• Drapes by West Elm
• West Elm Box Frame Console Table
• Light fixture: Lucent Light Shop
• Antiquities: mid to late dynastic Egyptian
• Coffee table: CB2 Shroom Table

• Table: Vintage Danish Ansagar Mobler purchased at Hawthorne Vintage
• Chairs: Reproduction Organic chair
• Lighting: remote control LED Strip lighting in ceiling tray

• Bed: CB2 Alchemy Shiny Brass
• Wall hanging and nightstands: Target
• Light fixture: Ikea
• Curtains: West Elm

• Dresser and Changing Table: Ikea
• Crib: babyletto Hudson 3-in-1 Convertible Crib
• Wallpaper: Ferm Living Half Moon

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