Thursday, October 27, 2011

Monday, October 3, 2011

Meanwhile back at the Ranch...


I recently had the opportunity to go to the musical, OKLAHOMA,at the Gerding Theatre in Portland, Oregon.http://www.pcs.org/  It inspired me to blog about the guest house design project for my longtime client in the west hills above Skyline. This last spring, photographer Adrienne http://www.adriennesview.blogspot.com/  had a chance to photograph it finally. She was intrigued by the beauty of the property. It is truly a special home. The guest house is kind of special also. It was fun seeing her take photos. I remember her running down to gently greet the horses that were out in the fields. It was nice to see her joy in capturing these images.She is a delightful professional. I hope to work with her again.
   At the end of the summer my client had a huge barn dance. It was an event  that was truly the highlight  of the summer.
The Over scaled Hounds tooth chenille on the wall mounted headboard is from Glant Textiles.See link below. Available through johnthompsondesigner@gmail.com The wool blankets are from http://www.pendleton-usa.com/
http://www.glant.com/


http://www.kravet.com/
The Silver and turquoise bolo add a sense of humour to the skirt of this chair covered in a fabric from kravet.


Settle in for a crisp Autumn evening in front of this fireplace mantle.




http://www.clarencehouse.com/
Relax on this sofa covered in Clarence House fabric. While sipping a glass of wine enjoying the view of the duck pond and the main house a couple hundred yards away.

The crewel work pillow is also a fabric from Clarence House.


Back side of the pillow covered in the crewel is from Mark  Pollack. 
 http://www.pollackassociates.com/


Oh what a beautiful morning to wake up in this guest house above the stables. To see more of my work, please go to the links at the top of this page. To make an appointment for your unique design project give me a call at 503-367-0920 or email me at johnthompsondesigner@gmail.com


sincerely,

John

Monday, August 22, 2011

A Year in the Making: A Modern Family Lodge




























St.James Chair from Donghia














http://www.pendleton-usa.com/  modern solid wool blankets from Pendelton Wool.
    A vision is born from the conception of the wellspring of ideas that flood into the mind  of your client. What is a modern family lodge? It could not be anything but perfect. Only a slight ode to the idea of camping but never escaping from the clear vision of peace, harmony, the mountains or the mountain home. The structure and the feel of the space revealed itself as to what it was to become. Simple, warm, with the heart beat of the American family welcoming to visitors familiar to the heritage. Placing objects of sentiment into the space along with found objects and  blending with new found favourites.
    The birth pains of  the deliveries began.Bulldozers, cranes, trucks,   lumber, stone and steel. Workmen hustling to put a roof on before the snows arrive.  When it snows it is five maybe more foot of it.  Every moment my phone rang, new ideas and creative solutions were solved. As My client drove to the job site practically everyday to supervise what I could not. She catalogued everything from her i phone emailed it to me and we discussed every detail of tile, wood finishes, wood species. wall colour, window covering and textile for furniture existing and new.
   Our business relationship was built on trust and communication. When we seemed to boxed  in by a canyon  with no resolution, we   creatively tripped over an idea which  actually became the revelation. It was better than the original idea.
   The excitement of the walls taking shape, furniture being ordered, Galvanized steel wainscoting surrounding the outside of the lodge for when the snows arrive early in October or November . What was once sketches from an architect's  drawing pad became  the working drawings.  The PDFs were  sent via email to me, the interior designer in Portland, Oregon the vision was molded into the reality of a family vacation home in the Northern Lake Tahoe area of California.

By phone call, text, email and trust and a great team a house was built. Through trust, communication, sticking with the goals , the vision becomes clear and the house becomes a home. . Another satisfied client becomes a long time friend offering referral after referrals. national magazines have scouted it out and get ready to photograph it.The vision becomes a masterpiece.
 Thank you to all that were there for me during this wonderful time of recreating my life and helping to set my goals.Thank you all who helped shape my clients vision into their wonderful piece of art known as theirModern Family Lodge.

 
 I know that I have been transformed by this experience and look forward to many more.
sincerely,

John A. Thompson
johnthompsondesigner@gmail.com
 503-367-0920
Associate Member of the Interior Design Society