Finding the perfect house is a dream and people need space to explore what this looks like for them. The reality is there is no perfect house, but gaining clarity about what you want by visualizing your ideal place is an essential part of the home buying process. I pride myself on helping clients create space for this inquiry because when we dream, we can act in service to our deepest values.

Prioritizing the features in a home that matter most and are unchangeable helps us create a roadmap to finding the right house within the budget, instead of chasing a unicorn. Plans and needs change and so can your house. When you select your home with your core needs in mind, there is a greater likelihood that your home can adapt alongside you.

I have inhabited many different eras of homes in my own house journey, which started in north Portland with a 1920s Piedmont bungalow. I was in my early 20s with my husband and a newborn. We spent 4 years on renovations and moved on right after they were complete. From there, we enjoyed the ease of new construction in Scappoose with our two kiddos until we returned to Portland to renovate a 1940s home. This time, we had more experience and renovated in an order that allowed us to enjoy the paradise we were creating in Roseway, but life changed and we picked up and moved to a quieter pace in the land of mid-century homes on large lots — Milwaukie. We knew this was the house we planned to stay in long term and we thought our years of renovating were over, so we bought a nicely remodeled 1960s ranch in the Oakridge Neighborhood. But renovation is in our blood; turning that off is very hard. When I tour homes, I instantly see the roadblocks and the possibilities and start looking at how to solve or improve them. 

We found the house knowing we would need to recreate the backyard oasis we had created in Roseway, but this desire blossomed into so much more. This project quickly became one we knew would be too large for my husband and I to take on ourselves. My husband Greg has remodeled every one of our projects – man, did he deserve a break – time, bandwidth, and willingness were depleted. This project was the first one that involved an addition to the house, so for the first time, we looked into hiring a designer and having the work professionally done. I learned so much along the way, adding one more layer of knowledge to help clients. The project kept growing, and we endured delays and surprises as you do in any project, but the stress was low because we trusted our contractor at the highest level and knew we were in great hands. This project was so different from past ones because we knew this was the home we planned to grow old in and pass on to the kids. Knowing this, I allowed myself to dream and made design choices with more self-expression than in past homes where we knew we would eventually move on. Searching for the right products and tweaking options to create the best space we felt was possible became an obsession. I reactivated a more creative side of myself lost through the years. This creative side I allowed myself to have, combined with my knowledge of homes and design, was a perfect recipe to create our dream space.