I’ve Been Secretly Decorating My Best Friends House – Living Room Reveal Today!

People use the word “thrilled” far too often when it should be reserved for me in moments like this. When it comes to this house I’m like a proud grandpa shoving wallet photos of my grandkids into strangers faces. Expect pride + bragging, with a big dose of personal bias. This is one of my best friend’s homes in Portland and I weaseled my way into decorating it because I wanted my hands on this house (and I needed a solid excuse to hang out with them frequently). It wasn’t a secret, but it was a project I did on the weekends so I haven’t really shown it to you. Nicole and Curtis are two creative executives who are very cool, have great taste, and really appreciate good design. They are willing (and able) to invest in awesome pieces because they value good craftsmanship, and are even willing to sacrifice a bit of function for more style (YAY!!!!!!). And yet with two tween girls and very busy lives, it had to really work for them. This house is really traditional (A colonial from the 30s) so the goal was to, of course, work with the home’s style, but in an edgier, more youthful way. Think “Soho House” as their designers do such an incredible job of taking risks within the style they are leaning into. Now, when I joined the project the paint and wallpaper were done (they did this before they moved in) so I inherited these elements that were a bit risky and frankly not what I would have chosen, but I LOVED THEM and I was really excited that these risks were taken. They have worked with Max Humphrey so I believe he weighed in on some of these decisions, but he was super busy working on another project of theirs so I took over. I pulled together a plan for all the furniture, rugs, and decor (and Max did the window treatments, bundling them with the other project). Basically, I got to do the fun stuff, and they had an assistant who handled all the minutia and labor (unpacking, booking electricians, returns, etc). We did it over a year and I knew that someday we’d shoot it, but it really was more for fun (nothing was sponsored or gifted…at least not for this project). So yes, it took about a year, meeting on weekends here and there, and me badgering them with mood boards or links for stuff for them to buy on Saturday mornings. It was 100% fun and I consider it a true gift that I get to use my job and talents to hang out with my best friends in the name of “work”. I suppose these are the perks of being best friends for 30 years Read More