Bridget Otto Thursday

What a nice way to begin the day. Open The Oregonian and see a picture of Beverly Landfair gracing the pages of HGNW.

Photos by Marv Bondarowicz THE OREGONIAN
Moving to the Pearl Design Center allowed Bev Landfair to more than double the space for her store, Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery.

It's an article by Bridget A. Otto on the Pearl Design Center.

In early 2007, the question was asked, "Why doesn't Portland have a Design Center like San Francisco and Seattle?"

Debbie Madden, whose husband, Mark, is a principal in the development company Stark Group LLC, had spent an entire day crisscrossing the greater metropolitan area to look at fabrics and furnishings. After cruising nearly every county -- and enduring a car accident to boot -- she lamented Portland's lack of a design district where a person could see all these things at once -- hopefully without incident.

So, in classic Portland fashion, Stark Group bought a city block under the trusses of the Fremont Bridge and transformed buildings that once housed Quimby Welding into the Pearl Design Center.

Photos by Marv Bondarowicz THE OREGONIAN
Studios and storefronts now occupy the Pearl Design Center. The space used to be Quimby Welding.

Set between Northwest 14th and 15th avenues and Northwest Raleigh and Savier streets, the approximately 34,000-square-foot showroom and studio space opened last spring and is about 60 percent full, says Tami Wood of Stark Group.

Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery, a showroom of furniture, fabrics and accessories, is its largest tenant. A handful of other businesses -- Architectural Elegance, Quince Flowers & Events, Studio Olivine, Northwest Framing Commercial, Progress Construction, Intrinsic Design and WDC Properties (which manages Stark Group) -- are scattered about the complex.

Bev is excited about the opportunities to be part of a Portland Design Center and is enthusiastic about the coming housing planned for the Pearl.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

Read More...

[Source: Landfair Furniture (Blog)]

Wholesale Furniture Brokers Offers New Lines of Contemporary and Modern Furniture by Furniture FX

Wholesale Furniture Brokers just released a new press release introducing the contemporary and modern styles of Furniture FX. "Their sustainable practices, high quality construction, and the straight, geometric designs will give our shoppers another great reason to buy contemporary and modern furniture on our websites," said Wholesale Furniture Brokers Marketing Manager, Matt Holmes.


Seville Platform Bedroom Set

The new Furniture FX collections of contemporary and modern living room, dining room, media, occasional, and bedroom furniture are currently being added to Wholesale Furniture Brokers. The new Furniture FX products are available to order in the US and Canada. If you are shopping in the US, you can view the new Furniture FX page to browse all of the available collections from one page.

Read More...

[Source: Furniture Store Updates from GoWFB]

Copy Successful Designers

Nika Stewart has an email that echoes some of the thoughts of KP in The Luxury Consumer Part 2: Interview With Kathie Pozarich

Stewart, Designer' Success Coach, tells us "if you want to run a successful design business, copy what successful designers are doing, and you'll achieve the same success." So, what are successful designers doing? How do they work, think, act? Here are Stewart's three traits that are common to successful designers:

Successful designers have systems
What do you do when a call comes in? When you measure a room? When you hire a contractor? Do you have specific steps to follow for every part of your business? Or do you wing it? I used to! But I learned that "winging it" leads to chaos and confusion, and you certainly can't grow from there. Successful designers handle each part of their business the same way every time. They follow a system for everything. Systems lead to consistency, organization, and effectiveness.

Successful designers study marketing
Unfortunately, being a terrific designer doesn't necessarily make you successful. In order to succeed in business, we need to be super marketers. Successful designers are either great at marketing, or they hire people who are. The most lucrative design firms actually spend more time and energy on marketing than they do on studying design.

Successful designers are detail- oriented
This may seem obvious, but are you doing it? Successful designers take care with every detail of the business - from all aspects of office work to each element of design projects. This doesn't mean they do it all themselves (in fact, profitable design companies delegate a lot of the details.), but they always make sure that every part of their business - down to the smallest details - supports their exceptional image.

Lots of great advice!

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

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[Source: Landfair Furniture (Blog)]

Modern Corner Office Desk

CREATIVE CORNERS WITH STYLE IN MIND. Just because it is a home office, that does not mean it does not deserve to be stylish. The Modern Corner Office Desk, designed by Rstyle, features four different finishes. The durable construction allows for frequent use, as well as long lasting appeal. There is vertical cord management in [...]

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[Source: PadStyle | Modern Furniture Blog]

Black Leather Love Chaise

SMOOTH, SLEEK, AND STYLISH. Those are just a few of the s words (among many other adjectives) that could best describe the sophisticated Black Leather Love Chaise designed by Global USA. Available in both black and white top quality leather coupled with polished metal legs, there is no question how durable, timeless, and long lasting [...]

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[Source: PadStyle | Modern Furniture Blog]

Golf Outdoor Stacking Set

THIS IS THE COOLEST OUTDOOR SEATING SET IVE EVER SEEN! Check it out not only does it look like a sculptural piece when it is stacked, but it also boasts modern and contemporary twists when taken apart. This unique seating arrangement, featuring three rattan finish options (cool gray, black brown, and antique brown) and [...]

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[Source: PadStyle | Modern Furniture Blog]

Bridget A. Otto Thursday

Bridget Otto shows how two professionals, Jon and Julie Nordby, owners of Nordby Design Studio, solved the design problems of a house bought by ex-Minnesotans Keith Halasy and Erin Tripp. They loved the view through the large windows and the acreage.

Unfortunately, he says, the execution of the design was not very good. Take the relationship -- or lack of it -- between the living room and adjoining TV/office space, which was accessed from a hall around the corner from the living room.

I love to read about the design process and the problem resolution. The clients are happy and have handed out NORDBY DESIGN STUDIO cards to all their friends.

NORDBY DESIGN STUDIO
The team: Jon and Julie Nordby
Years in business: Jon has been an architect for 20 years. Julie has been an interior designer for five.
Specialty: The ability to bring the perspectives of both an interior designer and an architect to the job.
Contact: 9900 S.W. Greenburg Road, Suite 285; 503-968-8906; nordbydesignstudio.com

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

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[Source: Landfair Furniture (Blog)]

Good Friends

I consider myself fortunate to have so many close friends. These three women have been my close friends since the eighties (Gail on the left), since the seventies (Sandy on the right), and Marsha in the middle since first grade. That's me in the yellow coat.

The four of us have been in a book club for too many years and recently, Gail moved to Boise. Do we replace her? We decided no, we will just all fly to Boise once a quarter and have our meeting there.

It's not all work. Here, we visited a winery and posed in the sun.

The book club has been wonderful. We've each read books we might not ever picked up, both fiction and non-fiction, our friendship has deepened, and we are the richer for it.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

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[Source: Landfair Furniture (Blog)]

New Traditional and Modern Bedroom, Living Room, and Dining Room Furniture Added

GoWFB.com has just added some new leather home theater seating by True Contemporary, an elegant dining table set and bedroom sets by Liberty Furniture, and modern bedroom furniture by ESF Furniture. The Benicarlo sets are the first two bedroom sets available by ESF Furniture on Wholesale Furniture Brokers. Check out these new furniture sets by clicking on the images below.


Showtime Black Leather Home Theater Seating
$1549.00

Showtime Brown Leather Home Theater Seating
$1549.00

Sturbridge Pedestal Dining Table Set
$1249.00

Castile Low Poster Bedroom Set
$1999.00

Victorian Manor Panel Bedroom Set
$3199.00

Benicarlo 112 Series Platform Bedroom Set
$3299.00

Benicarlo 110 Series Platform Bedroom Set
$3849.00

Read More...

[Source: Furniture Store Updates from GoWFB]

New Traditional and Modern Bedroom, Living Room, and Dining Room Furniture Added

GoWFB.com has just added some new leather home theater seating by True Contemporary, an elegant dining table set and bedroom sets by Liberty Furniture, and modern bedroom furniture by ESF Furniture. The Benicarlo sets are the first two bedroom sets available by ESF Furniture on Wholesale Furniture Brokers. Check out these new furniture sets by clicking on the images below.


Showtime Black Leather Home Theater Seating
$1549.00

Showtime Brown Leather Home Theater Seating
$1549.00

Sturbridge Pedestal Dining Table Set
$1249.00

Castile Low Poster Bedroom Set
$1999.00

Victorian Manor Panel Bedroom Set
$3199.00

Benicarlo 112 Series Platform Bedroom Set
$3299.00

Benicarlo 110 Series Platform Bedroom Set
$3849.00

Read More...

[Source: Furniture Store Updates from GoWFB]

New Modern Bedroom Furniture by Furniture FX Added

New bedroom furniture that will add a modern flair to your bedroom is now available at Wholesale Furniture Brokers. The clean lines and low profile designs make this modern bedroom furniture perfect for todays home. Check them out by clicking on the images below.


Florence Platform Bed
$679.00

Florence Platform Bedroom Set
$1749.00

Somi Platform Bedroom Set
$1749.00

Seville Platform Bed
$629.00

Read More...

[Source: Furniture Store Updates from GoWFB]

New Home Theater Seating by True Contemporary Added

GoWFB.com has just added new leather home theater recliners. Both of the home theater recliners feature plush polyurethane foam cushions, hardwood construction, top grain leather upholstery, and Legget and Platt reclining mechanisms. Its time to put your feet up and relax with one of the Showtime home theater recliners.


Showtime Brown Home Theater Seating
$999.00

Showtime Burgundy Home Theater Seating
$999.00

Read More...

[Source: Furniture Store Updates from GoWFB]