EPISODE #135 -
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24, 2012
And so ends another season.
For those who have not heard, Fusion will be taking a 3 month break for
the winter. We tend to lose advertisers during the winter and so we have
to take a break until spring. It has been great bringing you new stories
every week and we look forward to doing it again next year. Keep
checking the Fusion website for updates on the kitchen remodel this
winter.
Terra Casa
Theme Trees
Christmas trees change from year to year.
There are always different styles of trees and different decorations to
choose from. Sometimes the best way to cut through the clutter is by
checking out which themes go well together. To do that we stopped by
Terra Casa
(503-577-8242) and talked to Diana to see what kind of theme trees they
had on display this year. The first tree when you walk in the door is
the owl tree. Owls are big this year and we have seen them everywhere.
This tree had a nice clean look of white and silver ornaments with
sprays of white pearl strands cascading down the sides. It was a very
elegant tree with the owls added for a touch of whimsy. This type of
tree can fit in any décor. Another tree in the store was definitely
Christmas themed with Santa’s and snowmen all over it. It had the
traditional colors of red, green and white. That is another type of
decorating, picking a single theme and trying to carry it throughout
your entire home. Speaking of picking a theme, we moved to a ‘wine’
tree. This was not even a real tree, but a simple wire frame covered in
‘wine’ ornaments. These ornaments included wine bottles, grape clusters,
tiny wine glasses and wine-colored crystal balls. It even had a ribbon
wrapped around it with a grape pattern on it. We saved the best for
last. This was their famous up-side-down tree. This year’s theme for
that tree is winter jewels. It is loaded with some really rich colors.
Deep plums, rich reds, dark blues, bronzes and golds are highlights on
this tree. If you are looking for some ideas for holiday decorating, be
sure to make Terra Casa one of your stops during your shopping
excursions.
Rejuvenation Factory
Finding the right light
fixture when you are remodeling a vintage home can be like finding a
needle in a haystack, and if you are looking for a safe, high quality
fixture it can be even tougher. But did you know that you can get a
hand-made, light fixture right here in Portland? We were invited to tour
the Rejuvenation factory in NW Portland where we had a chance to learn
how they make custom vintage style fixtures for your home. Nicole from
Rejuvenation
(503-238-1900) started our tour back in the research and development
area of their factory. Here is where they receive old fixtures for
refurbishing and sometimes they find one that is really outstanding and
decide to recreate it. They even have a library of catalogs from the
1800’s to help them in designing pieces. The vintage piece is then
disassembled and re-engineered for reproduction. Rejuvenation has to
make sure that it is safe and up to current building and safety codes.
Once this is done the parts are sent away for manufacture. The new parts
are kept in a warehouse where they are catalogued for assembly.
Roots Cookbook
Taggarts
Kitchen Remodel #2 Cabinets
This is week 2 of our kitchen remodel. Last
week, David was in a hurry to tear out the old kitchen, but we first
went to Taggarts
(503-644-1146) to find out how to get started before we ripped out the
old kitchen. Kristin talked to Robin about figuring out your style first
and then working on picking out the large items. Once you have your
‘look’, Kristin talked about focusing on large items like cabinets,
countertops and flooring. This week we decided to pick out cabinets and
to do that we talked to Jeanne Martin from Schrock Cabinetry. This is
one of the areas where people can feel overwhelmed. For Schrock alone,
they have over 100 different style choices. Between different woods,
stains and paint colors, you can get lost fast. What makes the job
easier is when you have someone to help you narrow down the choices,
that is where Taggarts comes in. Going back to your original theme, you
can narrow down your choices to 2-3 different styles. Once those are
chosen you can take samples home to see how they work with the lighting
in your home. You will also want to hold those samples up to the
backsplash, countertop and flooring choices that you make to see how
they all work together. Sometime you can have 2 different colors of
cabinets working together. In the demo kitchen at Taggarts they have a
white kitchen island and dark wood on the walls. It may not seem to
work, but once installed it is gorgeous. You can even go with different
styles of doors in different areas of your kitchen.
1911 Basement Remodel
A couple of weeks ago we
showed you a 1911 home that had been remodeled into a spectacular show
home. This week we met with Rex Buchanan from Team Realty Rex to talk
about how you can make use of the basement space under your home.
Sometimes when you are looking for more room in your home, it is easier
to go down then it is to go up or out. Rex talked about how you can,
with a little expense, add lots of value to your basement. First he
pointed out how they replaced some new steel beams to open the space up.
Then they added some built-in cabinets with a small gas fireplace and
all that was a little over $1,200. The remodel also allowed for the
installation of wiring for surround sound and other electronic
equipment. Another use of a wasted space was under the stairs. Here they
made a small play area with a puppet stage. It is also a great space to
store all those toys that seem to pile up all over. A bedroom was also
added to this space, but because it is below ground level they had to
add a new window and a step to bring it up to code; two simple additions
to make it a usable space. |
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