Fascinating loft apartment conversion in Portland

Jessica Helgerson Interior Design brings to us this fabulous loft apartment in Portland’s NW 13th Avenue, one of Portland’s most interesting streets. The loft is located in the recently transformed Pearl District, in an old brick and concrete building that was originally a warehouse and manufacturing facility. It was converted into condos in the 1990s. This particular unit had been divided up so that a long and narrow hall was the first point of entry, with limited storage and a rather jarring color palette of red, green and blue along with yellowish bamboo.

The space was fairly small, only 870 square feet. The clients asked for the designer’s to create a space that was open feeling, with lots of storage, room to entertain large groups, and a warm and sophisticated color palette. In response to this, a layout was designed in which the corridor is eliminated and the experience upon entering the space is open, inviting and more functional for cooking and entertaining. In contrast to the public spaces, the bedroom feels private and calm tucked behind a wall of built-in cabinetry.

The large scale wood dining table and coffee table add earthiness and warmth to the space. Vintage Eames DKW leather, steel, and wood chairs add pattern and interest and pair well with the dark steel and blown-glass chandelier.

The kitchen has glazed brick tiles, honed marble counters, dark cabinets and walnut shelves.

Visual interest and contrast was created by painting the beams a dark earthy grey and the walls a soft yet luminous shade of white. A variety of textiles was then introduced; the hand-stitched felt headboard, the vintage Moroccan rug, the heavy woven fabrics used to upholster the custom sofa and cushions. A series of blown glass pendant lights swag playfully over the sofa.

One of the client’s requests was to find a good home for “Megatron” their big screen television, a member of the family with a personality of his own.  A custom console table was custom designed, made from antique Chinese doors and wrapped in a shiny modern lacquered box. The large scale of the console visually anchors the television while housing the various components.

Photos: Lincoln Barbour

Bright and cheerful turn-of-the-century modern home

This turn of the century modern home was designed for a young family with a very modern aesthetic. Jessica Helgerson Interior Design turned a hundred-year-old Northwest Portland, Oregon house into a fresh current design. The designer completely remodeled the kitchen, opening it to the dining room with two-sided glass cabinets. Also on the ground level, the full bathroom was replaced with a compact powder room, thereby creating a back hallway and vastly improving the flow of the house.

On the second level, excess space was borrowed from an existing bedroom to create a master bathroom, complete with double sinks and a generously sized shower. A cabinet was designed that beautifully conceals a washer, dryer and storage space at the top of the stairs. Finally, the formerly dim attic was transformed into a cheerful, sunny home-office and play area, and the walls and floors were freshened up with a coat of white paint and four large skylights were installed. The house is now fresh, bright, functional, and contemporary, while remaining true to itself.

Other creative surface treatments include laser-cut mirrors, whose organic shapes dance along the entry walls, reflecting surprising snippets of the interior.

A palette of whites and cool grays creates both continuity and contrast throughout the home, particularly through the selection of wall colors, e.g. a light-gray entry that leads to a medium-gray living room and a dramatically dark-gray dining room and library.

Photos: Lincoln Barbour

Hilltop house showcasing modern-rustic elements

A modern industrial retreat in Eugene, Oregon placed amongst the trees at the top of a hilltop overlooking the city below and coastal mountain ranges in the distance. The sloping site and extensive conservation zones were quite challenging. The design and build of this exquisite hilltop house is by Jordan Iverson Signature Homes. The siding on the exterior facade of this contemporary home is a standing seam roofing metal. The interior of this spectacular home is urban modern design that exudes a warm ambiance.

The fabulous living room sofa is called the “Spencer Loft Bi-Sectional” from Gus* Modern. The custom lighting design hanging on the left has been custom designed by the designer, Jordan Iverson, who plans on selling a few of his lighting designs later this year on Etsy. His steel guy fabricated the bar and brackets and he sourced the electrical cord, and metal cage and finished it with a large Edison style bulb.

The High Park Chair is also from Gus* Modern.

Clad on the dining room wall is reclaimed barnwood from a barn that was being taken down in Silverton, Oregon built in the 1920′s. It was purchased through Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage. The wood has been fastened to the wall with standard casing nails. No adhesives were used. The key detail before it was fastened was to paint the entire wall black as there are various knots and imperfections in the reclaimed wood. The wood was not sanded, otherwise it would lose its rugged look.

This rustic modern industrial designed kitchen features metallic glazed porcelain tile backsplash, Caesarstone quartz counters in haze, reclaimed barnwood floating shelves, an island detail, 3-Form Eco-Resin cabinet panel inserts, Rustic Hickory custom built cabinets with a charcoal stain and engineered birch flooring.

The pendants above the kitchen island are Starburst pendants made by ET2 Lighting.

The designer was inspired to blend all the materials together and tie them back into the surrounding rooms in the home. He wanted to create an urban space, but also one that felt comfortable and solid. Materials that are easy maintenance and long lasting were also important.

The Kraus modern farmhouse style sink was selected to tie in with other industrial modern elements in the kitchen and throughout the home. The designer wanted the exposed stainless farmhouse style sink to be one of the main focal points of the space.

These porcelain floor tiles are called “Modern Limestone” in a steel grey color. A matte finish was used on the floor and a polished finish for the tub and backsplash.

The majority of the light fixtures throughout the home came from ET2 Lighting, including these fabulous fixtures above the bathroom vanity. The countertop material is quartz, made by Pental Quartz and the color is Sparkling Grey. According to the designer, the countertop looks amazing in person with the flecks of metal sparkling from the lighting.

Stunning family home off the Oregon Coast

This gorgeous beach home is situated on a beautiful stretch of the Oregon Coast, furnished by Jessica Helgerson Interiors for a large family that will be spending lots of time there. The house is divided into three levels, each with its own common living space as well as adjacent bedrooms. The designer wanted to give each level its own special feeling.

The upper level is light and elegant with a 16-foot-long sofa that curves gracefully on thin walnut legs, a handcrafted walnut lamp that curves to match the sofa, and a chandelier that reflects the ocean in hundreds of slightly irregular hand-blown glass drops.

The mid-level is comfortable and warm with colorful rugs and cozy wing back chairs upholstered in linen and cowhide. The game table was designed by Jessica Helgerson who had vintage chairs upholstered to match it.

The lower level is playful and casual with a big sectional clad in reclaimed barn wood and a boat transformed into a day bed that hangs from the ceiling.

With very few exceptions nearly all the furniture is either the design of Jessica Helgerson, built in Portland, or vintage.

The home theater has inviting velvet chairs, funny Mexican movie posters and pillows made from vintage silk scarves.

Photos: Lincoln Barbour

Stunning Mediterranean style remodel in Portland

This project designed by Jessica Helgerson Interior Design was a kitchen remodel, and new furnishings for a Mediterranean style house, built in the 1920s of white clay bricks, which was an unusual housing type for Portland, Oregon.

New furniture includes vintage chairs in the dining room, reupholstered in brightly colored felt, a 10′ long vintage bench upholstered in an antique morrocan rug, a JHID-designed coffee table made of walnut ‘bricks’ an echo of the brick architecture. The curtains in the living room are hemp, with a border made from antique suzani tapestries. A painting in the living room is from Portland artist Alison O’Donoghue.

The kitchen was originally divided into a breakfast room and kitchen, and the kitchen was further encumbered by an island with less than 30″ of clearance on either side of it. The kitchen was closed off from the dining room by a narrow doorway. It had probably been remodeled in the 60s or 70s and had unattractive oak cabinets mounted onto a dropped soffit that lowered the perceived height of the kitchen, and closed it in.

The clients wanted to open the space up, while retaining the ability to eat in the kitchen, and give it a fresh feeling more in keeping with the architecture of the house. The island was removed and the wall between the kitchen and breakfast room.

A dynamic material palette of encaustic concrete tiles was selected for the floor and locally hand-made ceramic tiles for the walls. A built-in window seat plus two stools allows the family of four to comfortably eat in the kitchen.

A whole wall of cabinetry was designed around the refrigerator, which provided enough storage to forgo upper cabinets at the sink and range.

Painted, rough-sawn beams create visual interest on the ceiling. The counters are solid, thick walnut slabs from locally felled trees. The reclaimed iron bases were found at a local salvage yard and a slab of marble was cut to serve as a tall table and additional counter space.

An adjacent back entry was reconfigured to create a useful little mudroom, and in the space between the two designed a thick arched opening with shelves for cookbooks and a pull-out broom closet.

The hand made ceramic pendant lights are the same shade of cool, slightly purple-grey as the concrete floors.

The designer opened up a large arched opening between the kitchen and dining room to better link the two spaces.

Photos: Lincoln Barbour

Uniquely renovated loft houses three generations

Intergenerational loft was built for a family of three generations designed by Dangermond Keane Architecture in Portland, Oregon. A perfect mix of modern design and original construction, this renovation connects a much needed 1,200 square feet of new living space to an existing loft via a small elevator. The new level contains two bedrooms, a full bathroom, a library/office space, a loft for storage and play and a small kitchen. Designed primarily for a young girl and her grandmother, the project expands their living space and relocates them a floor below the main living area where the parents live. Playful yet refined, the design seeks to meet each of their individual needs while maintaining the intimacy of their relationship.

Photos: Lincoln Barbour

Small home with a clever layout on Sauvie Island

This little house is where interior designer Jessica Helgerson and her family have been living for the last several years. It sits on a five-acre property on Sauvie Island, an agricultural island on the Columbia River 15 minutes north of Portland, Oregon. The house is an interesting experiment in reduction and reuse not only because it is only 540 square feet or because it was remodeled using nearly exclusively reclaimed materials, but because the building itself is now being recycled for the fourth time. It was first built in the early 1940s as part of Vanport Village; a quickly erected development built to house shipyard workers. When Vanport Village flooded in 1948 this particular little house was floated down the river to Sauvie Island, where it became the goose-check station. Years later it was remodeled to become a rental house.

When Jessica and Yianni bought the property in late 2008, they decided to remodel it without adding to the existing footprint. Their first step was to redesign the interior for maximum space efficiency. A ‘great room’ houses the kitchen, dining room and living room with large, comfortable, built in sofas that double as twin beds for guests. Drawers under the sofas hold children’s toys and a wall of shelves houses books and more. The ceiling was opened up in the main space, but the bathroom and bedroom have lower ceilings to accommodate the parent’s sleeping loft above, accessible by a walnut ladder. The children’s room has two bunk beds as well as a full bed for guests. A pull-out closet makes maximum use of the narrow space near the bunk beds.

New high-efficiency windows come right down to the sofas and offer a fun way for kids and cats to enter and exit the house. The walls were insulated, then faced in reclaimed wood siding, most of which was found on site in one of the barns. The new floors are local Oregon white oak, and the dining table was made from locally salvaged walnut. The range is a vintage Craigslist find, and the tub was a salvaged from a friend’s demolition site. A wood-burning stove easily and efficiently heats the small house.

As part of the remodel, the worn out roof was replaced with a green roof, planted with moss and ferns gathered along the Columbia River Gorge. The green roof offers insulation as well as a playful visual counterpoint to the traditional white cottage. Despite its size, the house is welcoming and comfortable and nearly every weekend it is full of family and friends coming from Portland to enjoy a day in the countryside. In addition to living in a small footprint, Yianni and Jessica have been working towards food self-sufficiency. Their first year on the property they built a 1200-square-foot green house, planted vegetable gardens, rows of berries, and fruit trees. They are also raising chickens for meat and eggs, keeping bees, and making cheese from the milk of a neighbor’s cow. Via

Photos: Lincoln Barbour

Striking modern residence on the Oregon coast

This coastal residence has been designed by Boora Architects as an exploration in erasing boundaries between indoors and out. Sited on the bay side of a peninsula on the Oregon Coast, the 2,865 square-foot home opens to the natural landscape with 180-degree views. The design employs a duality of openness and expansive views with spaces that are private and quiet. The residence is organized in three parts, joined in U-shape formation around a central courtyard fronting the view. The upper floor in the larger of the two buildings is extensively glass-walled. Windows crescendo from 8 to 15-feet tall at the most outward facing point.

A large covered deck extends the indoor footprint by nearly an additional 1/3, joining the massing of the residence, framing an outdoor invisible wall. The lower level is more private, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a flex room–a space that converts open living area into a guest bedroom by pulling two eight-foot sliding hemlock accordion pocket panels to form walls. Native Shore Pines with a dwarfed growth habit shelter the lower level with privacy. On the upper level, the experience is one of suspension as one’s feet are just slightly above the treeline. The second building combines a 295 square-foot office and bathroom with a garage below. A hybrid copper rooftop, formed by cross-pollinating the typology of a shed and dormer roof, forms an origami-joined ceiling in the office area. Via

Visit the website of Boora Architects here.

Photos:Â Jon Jensen

The ultimate floating house

This unique home was designed by architect Robert Oshatz, who had it constructed off site and brought in by a barge to dock at its mooring site. The neighboring houses along the Willamette River of Portland, Oregon are in close proximity to the home, so the style of the house was contrived to allow for privacy. The 2,364 square foot home was designed as an open floor plan with a second story loft, allowing the homeowners a minimalistic style and the ability to move freely throughput the space. The curvilinear ceiling is constructed of Douglas fir and the roof is finished with copper tiles. To keep the home afloat, the foundation of the home was made up of 34 by 80-foot locally sourced Douglas fir logs, with rigid foam cubes placed under the logs to keep the home level. Cedar shingles decorate the home’s exterior surfaces. The living space features a floor to ceiling glass panel that slides open to allow uninterrupted views of the river.

Visit the website of Robert Oshatz here.

The large expanse of sliding glass windows, with curved glass above, allows unobtrusive views of the river.

Brazilian cherry wood floors and stairs radiate warmth throughout the interior spaces.

The master retreat and bath are the only rooms located on the second floor loft to allow for privacy.

In keeping with the minimalistic style of the home, built-in cabinets and storage were created.

Photos: Cameron Neilson

Stunning glass farmhouse

Located in Northeast Oregon, this small house was conceived by Olson Kundig Architects as a contemporary glass box that floats atop the surrounding wheat fields. The design of the house and the accompanying wood-frame barn responds to the local vernacular of barns and farmhouses in the Pacific Northwest while responding to the client’s deep interest in the design of Philip Johnson’s Glass House.

Facing south towards the distant mountains, the house adapts well to the cold, snowy winters and hot, dry summers. In the winter, the orientation takes advantage of passive solar heat gain from the low-angled winter sun; in the summer, roof overhangs and a light shelf block the high hot summer sun from entering. Large, operable windows of high-efficiency glass provide cross-ventilation cooling, lessening the house’s need for air-conditioning.

Photos: Tim Bies