A Professional Stylist’s Modern Organic Portland Apartment

Name: Jorie Garcia and Trevor Bennett
Location: Southeast Portland, Oregon
Size: 640 square feet
Years lived in: Renting 4 years

For those of you who have had the pleasure of laying eyes on Schoolhouse Electric’s gorgeously styled catalogs, today’s house tour will provide you with a bit of a fan girl or boy moment. If you’ve seen those perfectly imperfect gallery walls, and effortlessly fluffed pillows, then you’re familiar with Jorie Garcia’s work. As the catalog stylist and product developer for the Portland-based furniture and lighting company, her work has long since populated countless interiors-obsessed blogs and Pinterest boards, all while managing to strike a masterful (and somehow still accessible) balance between classic Pacific Northwest style and colorful mid-century modern design.

Jorie and her boyfriend, Trevor Bennett, have furnished their Southeast Portland apartment with pieces they know will last them a lifetime. Inspired by heirlooms passed down from their families, their goal is to live in a home filled with pieces that they treasure when they are old and grey.

With white walls and an earthy, neutral palette, their space is cozy and minimal (in its own sort of way). The breezy, uncomplicated design choices found in each room make for a home that echoes Scandinavian simplicity, mixed with touches throughout that speak of both of their vibrant, creative personalities.

Our Style: Considered Accumulation. The goal is to have a cluttered, love-filled home when we are 80.

Inspiration: Our grandparents, family heirlooms, an undergrad in architecture. To create temporary spaces, surrounded by objects that remind us of certain events.

Favorite Element: The quietness of it all. I am surrounded by color, patterns and choices each day. Home becomes a white canvas for showcasing all the objects that mean the most.

Biggest Challenge: Not being able to dance too loud because of a grouchy downstairs neighbor. Wanting to be more creative but being limited by space. I have two looms hiding in a friend’s basement. Trevor has amps begging to come out to play.

What Friends Say: “It smells nice.” – Maison Louis Marie candle

Biggest Embarrassment: Killing the fiddle leaf fig tree. It was so happy for two years…

Proudest DIY: Woven wall hanging in the dining room. A gracious friend let me use her loom to weave with old jeans. It inspired me to buy yet another loom for larger projects. Coming soon. And the bedframe that my dad and I made when I was 19.

Biggest Indulgence: TV, it took us seven years to decide to buy one.

Best Advice: Keep your eyes open. Don’t get caught up in trends or what you believe rules are. Feel empowered to collect things that you feel connected to and make it your own.

Dream Sources: Red Snapper, Lowell, The Good Mod, Truck Furniture, Schoolhouse Electric, Remodelista for eye candy, Grand Marketplace, Palace, Mjolk, Canoe. Muji, + Leslie Williamson’s Photos

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