R. Wagner Company

We meet some of the most interesting people at the dog park. Some time ago Mike met a woman with a Spinone and the dog's name was Romeo.

A Spinone is a working breed dog, pointer and retriever with hair instead of fur. Romeo has a particularly good disposition. Mike always thought the owner, Nani, sounded like his cousin Ginger when she spoke and wondered if she was from Idaho, where his cousin grew up. Turns out she grew up in Hawaii and has been in Portland for at least the last 20 years.

Today, Mike learned Nani and her husband operate R. Wagner Company.

R. Wagner Company has been providing specialty finish work for the interior design community in Portland, Oregon since 1979. The company is made up of owners Ron Wagner and Nani Waddoups and a core group of artisans, who with years of accumulated experience on varied custom projects, have accumulated a vast repertoire of skills Cand techniques that can be applied to new artistic challenges.

Designers have come to rely on R. Wagner Company’s expertise and design sensibilities to develop finishes for their own projects, both in the technical execution of the work as well as appropriate stylistic decisions. Builders and architects benefit from R. Wagner Company’s designs and services to incorporate details into new construction that set their projects apart from the next

When Mike came home and asked if I knew of R Wagner, I said sure we have been referring customers and clients to them for years. It is a classic place to go for:

Custom Cement & Plaster Fireplace Surrounds
Hand-built rustic “stone” surrounds
Cast “stone” contemporary surrounds

On-site Plaster Finish Work
Burnished Venetian Plaster
Hardcoat Integrated Colored Plaster
Rustic Textured Plaster

Specialty Cement Finishes
Colored Cement Veneer Finishes
Custom Cast Concrete Table Tops
Colored Cement Veneer Floors

Custom Furniture Fabrication & Finishing
Custom Iron & Wood Fabrication
Painted, Stained & Gilded Finishes
Hand-rubbed Finishes
Hand-painted chinoiserie

Custom On-Site Finishes
Specialty Kitchen & Bathroom Cabinetry Finishes
Specialty Painted Wall Treatments
Hand-cut stencil work
Hand-painted Borders & Murals
Gilded Ceilings

R. Wagner Company
2136 N. Flint Avenue
Portland, OR 97227
TELEPHONE: 503.224.7036

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

The Origins Theme

Folowing up on the Origins, back to nature theme in Color Trends of 2006,

Whether it’s an accent table or a bedroom set, consumers can use bamboo furniture to add relaxed, exotic flair to their homes. Following the lifestyle trends of world travel and global awareness, bamboo is sure to appeal to those who appreciate nature—or long for faraway lands.

Hammary, which is carried at Landfair Furniture, offers this example of this trend:

Hammary’s nesting cocktail tables feature crosscut bamboo rings inset into the center of a maple-veneered top. Woven abaca rope around the tables’ legs adds an extra tropical touch.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

Origins theme furniture Hammary

Color Trends for 2006

Our last post was about color and our personality. Furniturestyle has an article about the use of color and trends for 2006.

Homes will evolve to become places where culture, fashion, technology and comfort converge, according to Cinzia Black, Director of Special Projects North America for The Mix-Global Color Research Ltd., a London-based trend forecasting firm.

Consumers’ color choices in 2006 will reflect this synergy, she continued. But while the world’s population explores the future of technology, people also will maintain a firm grip on their roots—an idea that easily translates into home decor.

Black says the top color palettes for 2006 are:
Origins: reflecting

a need to make contact with our roots...the color palette consists of earthy neutrals, such as sophisticated chocolate brown, ox blood and Mother of Pearl shimmer.

Integral:

Dominated by pumpkin, russet and vegetable greens, this palette pays tribute to the intrinsic, productive life on the land.

Intimate:

The luminous range of blues, pastels and peachy cosmetic tones carry strong illusions to healthcare. It is a foundation for a gentler style of what has gone before.

Clarity: The need for human contact and the importance of natural light is demonstrated in the use

neutrals, steel grays and watery green-blues are presented in glossy, automotive finishes to mimic the translucent qualities of mirror and glass.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

Color trends Home decorating Interior design

The Personality of Color

Pure Contemporary is out with an article entitled The Personality of Color

Colors have personalities too. Some of them very strong, strong enough to make you think you're famished or full, sleepy or wide-awake. Some might spark your hospitality, or your love life.

And getting a handle on what colors say to you can be a great help when you're choosing paint colors for your home.

Check out the article by Debbie Zimmer, color and decorating expert with the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery
Pure Contemporary color home decor

My Dog Park Friend - Kate Nason

Imagine my surprize when Oregon Home, in the March-April edition, ran a story about N.E. Broadway in [Shop Talk] and there is my friend Kate Nason from the dog park. Almost every day Ralph our Golden plays with Kate's dog, Jackson. If Jackson is not playing with his buddies, he's squeaking his squeaky toy.

Getting back to [Shop Talk], a number of stores from 29th and Broadway to 15th and Broadway, cater to the home. At 2419 NE Broadway is Chairwear, run by Kate Nason.

Meet The Queen of the Slipcover
Then again, her fiefdom encompasses so many other subjects as well: pillows, cushions and window coverings, to name a few.

The woman with the golden thimble is Kate Nason...whom we first met when we needed to commission three slipcovers for a puppy-sixed chair for a three-month old Aussie model to sit in during a Christmas gift guide shoot.

Three years ago, Nason opened a store front on this street, a studiolike space where she has "thousands" of fabric swatches-including a Portland exclusive on the hotter than hot Lulu DK line-and, of course, her trusty sewing machine, where you'll find her putting petal to the medal on most days.

Later, in the magazine, Nason is featured as a designer and problem solver, in "Mom, I think I've outgrown my room!"

The problem: Your daughter's a young lady, not a baby-but she's stuck in a nurserylike room.
[...]
(Sophie Shorten and her mom's) design plan came together when they met Kate Nason, an art historian by training who opened her own slipcovering business, Chairwear, and who's turning her talents to interior design. "We were across the street from Kate's shop...and saw this fabric in the window and Sophie just fell in love with it..."
[...]
"The big idea was to make the room fun-to updateit so that it really fit Sophie's personality, says Nason.
[...]
The next step was incorporating Sophie's beloved fabric into the design. Nason crafted 20 yards of "Discotheque Dot" and "Psychedelic" cotton into dozens of pillows. a duvet cover, curtains for the bed alcove and cushions for the built-in window seat. She also addedfun green fringe to the windowshades and lamp shades, and covered Sophie's large corkboard with bright green denim. "We chose colors that would tie the whole room together, and added things like storage bins to make it function well," says Nason.
[...]
"If you'd come in here before, you'd have thought it was a 2-year old's room, Sophie says. Now I love it!-especially the colors. They're really calming."

Kate Nason - Chairwear - (503)-335-8692

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

Bridget Otto - Spatial equality

Bridget Otto is up this Thursday with an article in The Oregonian's Homes & Gardens section. Her article entitled Spatial equality is about positioning furniture in a room to achieve balance.

The best way to start positioning furniture in a room -- whether it's to achieve balance, a better traffic flow or most efficient use of space and focal points -- is to sketch the room on graph paper, marking dimensions of windows, doors, built-ins, fireplaces, etc. Then, create templates to represent furniture.

Otto interviews three interior designers Carol Cornwell of Colours, Lisa Seung of Portland Home Decorating, and Nancy Zieg of Nancy Zieg Interior Design. (Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery interviewed these three designers in 2005, here, here, and here.)

Otto's recommendations are

PLACEMENT GUIDELINES

Doorways/traffic lanes: Should be 3 feet, but can be a tad narrower in spots that won't get a lot of traffic.

Sofa/cocktail table: At least 18 inches apart; closer makes it difficult to get in and out; farther makes the table hard to reach.

Dining room: There should be at least 3 feet behind the chairs to allow easy movement.

TV viewing: The best views are straight-on, so don't place seating at more than 45 degrees off that line.

CREATE A PAPER ROOM

Sketch your room on graph paper, marking doorways, windows, fireplace, built-ins and any other immovables.

Measure your furniture at its widest points and transfer to paper using the same scale as for the room sketch. Cut the shapes to create templates.

Move the furniture here and there. If you don't like what you see, make cutouts of furniture from another room -- or of a piece of furniture you'd like to buy.

It's too bad the online article doesn't have the pictures from the article. There are good examples of the good and bad placement of furniture using Nancy Zieg's home furnishings.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

What Makes a Chair or Sofa Comfortable?

Barbara King in the March issue of House Beautiful writes an article entitled Comfort, Inc

What makes a chair great?

There's more to picking a chair or sofa than looks. It has to feel good, too. When it comes to seating, one size-or shape-never fits all. So we paid a visit to Steven Jonas in New York to learn the essentials of comfort, quality, and sitting where you ought to sit. He is president of Jonas, a family of upholsterers who have for three generations have been making custom seating. The Jonas showrooms is the Chanel of upholstery, with 260 styles of armchairs, armless chairs, dining chairs, sofas, love seats, and chaise lingues, all in white muslim like dressmaker's mannequins. As I tried them out, here's what Steven had to say:

How should a person go about finding the most comfortable chair or sofa?
The first thing you've got to do is sit in them. Simple, right? You can't order a sofa online with a guarantee that it's going to be comfortable. It's one of the biggest mistakes people make. It's not all about aesthetics. I mean, aesthetics are very important, but as architects would say, form follows function. Function is paramount. We can build it right; it's just a matter of what's right for you. There's no one particular chair or sofa that suits everybody. It depends on how you like to sit, how tall you are, how big, how young, how old. And what you're using it for.

After 30 years of being in this business, can you look at someone and pretty much size up what will be right for them?
You know what? This is the way I think of furniture when I look at a person. Your legs, your knees, your butt, your back, your neck-these are important factors in finding a piece of furniture.

Explain that, please.
Some people like to sit with their back at an angle. Some people like to sit with their knees parallel, their legs straight. These are different issues you want to think about when you;re sitting on a piece of furniture. Basically it comes down to your center of gravity-where you want the least stress. You buy a chair so you can either be cradled in it or sit on top of it. Like, my mom wants a chair where she's on top of it. Get up, push out. I like a chair where I can sit in a pair of pajamas and feel enveoped. And some people like both.

Do men and women differ in their preferences?
Men generally like deeper. more slouchy chairs. Women like more upright ones that give them better posture.

What did you mean when you said you can build a chair or sofa right?
A good chair, a good sofa, starts with the construction. You've gotto have top-grade wood. We use a maple that's been dried in a kiln, no defects, one solid piece-that way you don't get breakage. We hand-tie the springs with soft cord so they stay springy. We layer and keep layering with burlap, horsehair, cotton, a down pad, muslin. You're never supposed to feel the lumber.

Does that all add up to comfort?
Well, there's more to it than that. Like the pitch of the seat. It should be graduated, 20 percent from front to back. And then there's what you fill it with. Our cushions are 80 percent down, 20 percent feather. The back of the seat is 100 percent down.
Here's a piece of advice, by the way. Don't ever vacuum your down cushions, because vacuums are very powerful these days, and eventually the quills start to poke out. Give the cushions a whack once in a while to get the surface dust off, and once a year, in the spring, put them out in the sun for a few hours. The warnmth will perk up the loft again. Just like it does on a duck.

How does less expensive furniture differ from the top end?
The wood isn't one piece, and it's not always the best quality. You often feel the wood in the platform and the arms. The springs aren't hand-tied and you're not getting a variety of springs. you need various gauges, so they'll move independently and not as a unit. Here, feel the arm of this sofa. See? It moves. It's alive. It has life, a mind of its own. Now check out the back. It's firmer in the lumbar region, where it's supposed to be firmer and softer the rest of the way up. Beautiful, don't you think?

Let's say someone is in a small apartment or doesn't have lots of money to spend on a range of pieces. What would you recommend they buy?
I would go with a deeper sofa, because you can always put a pillow on it and make it upright if you need to. And a comfortable man-size chair. Then probably an open-arm chair of some sort where you can sit straighter-it also adds a lightness to the room.

Editors comments:

Here at Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery I agree with most of what Jonas says. When you are looking for a sofa or chair, sit on it. We try to have examples of the various types of seating available in our showroom. There are many variables such as a tight back, cushion or pillow back. Then there is seat height and seat depth. A woman 5 foot three will want a different seat height than a man of 6 feet.

Jonas offers cushions that are 80 percent down and 20 percent feather. The Sherrill line we carry exemplifies the range of cushion options.

There is "spring down", It is the most expensive, but has the best sit. It has Marshall springs surrounded by down, always comes back to its original shape and has low maintenance.

There is "comfort down" which is all down. I don't recommend it for a sofa. Down needs a lot of maintenance. It needs to be whacked when you get up from sitting on it. If you choose this type of cushion for a sofa, your sofa can start to look lopsided.

There is "fiber down" which mimics down, but is not quite as soft. It is great for people who are allergic to down or have a limited budget.

Finally, there is "standard UD", the least expensive and tends to have a higher crown.

While it is true "you get what you pay for", it is more important to choose a chair or sofa that is right for the space you have. You don't need the same quality of chair or sofa in a low traffic area or that will get little use. Use that same kind of chair or sofa in a heavy use area and it is liable to break down in a year. Choose a chair or sofa that is the right size for the area and leave room for a place for lighting and a table for beverages.


As Edith Ann would say, "That's the truth, phlllllppp!"

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

NOTE: Edith Ann's Rocking Chair - On the comedy variety series ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN/NBC/1968-73 comedian Lily Tomlin played a devilish five and a half year old little girl named Edith Ann. Ms. Tomlin in her role of Edith sat on a jumbo-sized rocking chair that made her adult-sized body look like a little girl's. Rocking her chair Edith Ann would tell childish stories about her family and her dog Buster. When she concluded a point she said "And that's the truth" and sputtered her tongue as she gave the audience the raspberry.

Are you taking your Manganese?

If you are like me, you take your vitamins daily and try to get your husband to do the same. Good luck with that!



I read that magnesium is a trace mineral that our bodies need in order to maintain normal muscle and nerve function. It also keeps our hearts' rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, ensures the integrity of our arteries by controlling blood pressure, and helps to maintain strong bones. Plus, it works to regulate blood sugar and is involved in energy metabolism.

Early to Rise in Message #1670, has an item today on the difference between Magnesium and Magnesium Oxide.

Magnesium oxide is a more economical form of magnesium that is widely used by supplement manufacturers. In his health report, Nutritional Supplements That Don't Work, Bill Sardi writes: "Only 4% of magnesium oxide is absorbed. So a person taking 400 milligrams of magnesium oxide would effectively absorb only 16 milligrams."

I take Kirkland's Daily Multi Vitamins and Minerals and it has Magnesium as one of the ingredients. Only, it has 100 mg or 25% of a RDA. (Some experts suggest the optimal intake is closer to 800 mg.)

The article also, indicates many excellent food sources of magnesium include green vegetables, salmon, nuts, seeds, and beans. See, honey, I may be full of beans, but I'm not "full of beans" when it comes to taking my "dailies".

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

Kimberlee Jaynes Uses Color

Yesterday, we posted here, about the article in Pure Contemporary written by Caroline Kooshoian entitled Choosing the Right Colors for Your Home and Yourself.
Today, we want to direct your attention to Kimberlee Jaynes web site. Jaynes is an interior designer and her site has some great examples of the use of color. She writes

Color is the first element the eye registers. Color is the least-expensive change a homeowner can make to enhance that all-important first impression.

[...]

I was raised to believe that style has nothing to do with money. I was taught that simplicity, color, perfect proportion and interesting textures gives even the humblest of environments a sense of harmony and style.

Kimberlee Jaynes has many examples of before and after photos. There are many examples of her work with clients and before and after home staging. This is one of her home staging examples and demonstrates how the use of color dramatically makes the home more desirable.

Take some time to browse her site. You may gasp at many of the "after" pictures.

Kimberlee Jaynes Interior Designs, Inc.
(503) 407-9525

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

Choosing the "Right" Colors

From Pure Contemporary, Caroline Kooshoian has written an article Choosing the Right Colors for Your Home and Yourself
that is an excellent start to the use of color in your home.

The article is for those "do it yourselfers" or DIYs. So why is Landfair Furniture, which caters to the design trade, featuring such an article?

First of all, every time you turn around there is a show or article about design.

Target is democratizing design, women’s magazines break from runways to run issues dedicated solely to interior fashions, and clichés of paint brush wielding, HGTV watching moms have replaced the soap opera viewing, bonbon eating set of the 1980s.

One of the new popular shows on HGTV features Candice Olson who may be the new "Martha Stewart".

Caroline says

The country is in the throes of a collective lust for design. And while we don’t all want to actually do it ourselves, we do want our homes to reflect ourselves. We want people to walk in and have a sense of who we are and what we’re about. And the easiest way to impart these ideas is the one we seem to have the biggest problem with: color. (emphasis added)

Designers need to know what the public is seeing and learning. It helps a designer connect with a client faster. A good interior designer can communicate more effectively with an educated client and if there are misconceptions, knowing about those, can help the designer more fully educate a client.

The article also offers some new tools that are available.

Trends get in the way of what we know we like, and trying to fit colors in with existing furniture, cabinetry, floors or wood work makes it all worse.

Pittsburgh Paints launched the Voice of Color “Color Sense Game”. One of the things it does is create an individual color identity based on that person’s psychological and behavioral make-up. Maybe the "orange" we see featured, does not fit well with your psychological profile. That is information that is a great time saver when using an interior designer, that of blending what you like with what you have.

For me, one of the most interesting parts of the article tells us that "Colors Lie"!

In most relationships, lying is right up there with cheating, not so in a love affair with color. Use the lies colors tell to cover up architectural oddities or highlight gorgeous attractions.

Caroline has some very nice illustrations of ways to paint a room to alter the appearence of a room. This part can help a client see in black and white the effect of various paint jobs on a room.

One last thing, if you are an interior designer and love to use contemporary furniture, Pure Contempory is looking for designers to answer design question from its readers. What a great way to market yourself!

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

The New Reds!

From Casual Living, Red Unraveled by Courtney Mueller

Reds have been toned down lately. Instead of the bright, eye-catching reds seen over the last few years, this year's red shades are more subdued and rustic. From kaleidoscope and paprika to crimson and mandarin, many of the new shades incorporate hints of orange. Again, geometric and tropical patterns are noticed.

Sunbrella by Glen Raven; Bamboo Mandarin
100% SUNBRELLA ACRYLIC. Designed by Richard Frinier, Bamboo Mandarin has an Asian appeal with a soft bamboo pattern featuring a ground weave in an all-over texture.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

Ottomans in the Home

In case you missed it, Nanine Alexander in the Homes & Gardens section of The Oregonian on Feb. 16th writes about ottomans:

Ottomans, no longer content with supporting roles as footstools, are edging coffee tables offstage in Northwest living rooms. In fact, their fans are giving them the run of the entire house -- from living room to bedroom, foyer to dressing room.

Alexander offers Five Shopping Tips for Ottomans

Size matters. An ottoman paired with a chair should be no wider than the chair. An ottoman paired with a sofa should be no wider than the seating area.

Use butcher paper or newspaper to lay out the size of an ottoman's footprint on your floor so you can see how much space it will take up. Adjust your aspirations accordingly.

Upholstery. Fabric is better suited to ottomans used chiefly as seating. If you plan to use it as a coffee table or to rest your feet, look for fabric that resists spills and soils or have the fabric treated.

Leather is a good choice for durability. Leather that is dark, distressed or in a pebbled texture stands up especially well to wear, resists spill stains and ages well.

Tufts and buttons. Not the best choice if you have pets or children; the sunken buttons attract animal hair and cracker crumbs and can be close to impossible to clean. Buttons also can pull loose and are difficult to reattach.

Storage. Look for sturdy hinges and lids that are easy to lift.

In our home we recently switched from a two foot long ottoman for our feet and magazines to a transitional design, Sam Moore leather ottoman that is 42" X 28" and 18" high.

It is perfect for our feet, is big enough for a tray that can be used for hors dourves or magazines. We also trained Ralph the dog to stay off of it.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery