The Street of Dreams is a charity event that started in Portland 34 years ago. You get the chance to tour luxury homes & see how the rich people live. The event is usually in the ‘burbs at some development of McMansions & it always seemed horrifying to me. But this year Street Of Dreams is urban for the first time. 9 penthouses in 4 luxury condominium towers are open to tour starting today. The Husband does occasional work as an Associate Designer for his friend's firm- Kimberlee Jaynes Interior Designs Inc, & they were honored to be asked to design a penthouse at The Encore on the Park (it is sorta a big deal to be asked). He & the very lovely Kimberlee have been hard at work for the past 8 weeks. Tomorrow will be the Husband’s first day off in 2 months. The name of their creation is- An Uncommon Life.
The silver wall was silver leafed & hand burnished by our friend Tad, who is a gilder by trade & the wall just glows at night when candles are lit in Quan Yin's cage.
On Thursday night we attended the Black Tie Gala & we got to see all 9 units. I really loved 3 of them, but Kim & the Husband’s penthouse really was the stand out. The Husband had really raided our house of objects & treasures & I was not all that happy about it, but it became a very valuable lesson. When the stuff was out of the house, I really didn’t miss it that much & I realize I can live with a lot less. He used a lot of our books. I collect loving cups, orbs, Rs, & architectural pieces & many of them were used & can be spotted in the pics. I think that Kimberlee & the Husband are world class talents & they seem to really enjoy working together & bringing out the best in each other. On her blog Kim says of the Husband- “we finish each others’ design sentences.” I was able to see the penthouse at each stage of their work & I loved to walk around & pretend I lived there. The Husband’s background is in theatre set design & it has been fun & crazy spending 30 years with his projects & designs in our homes & apartments. Because of his set design experience, he tends to not do the backs of things that are not in the” audience’s view”. He can upholster a couch, but he doesn’t do the back if it is facing a wall. He also tends to do 9/10 of a project & then move on to the next. I have gotten used to it through the decades. I didn’t even complain when he tore down the dining room walls to the bare studs & lathe 3 years ago & then never did anything with it (please note the top picture). I call our style of design Post Apocalyptic Bohemian & it has now become our entire lifestyle.
