Saturday, February 13, 2010

getting ready for a show!


And what a show it's becoming!  I know, I know, we've talked a lot about the upcoming Portland Show here and on our website. It's like enough already! And for those who have been by our office or talked with us, we've probably talked a lot about it too! One can only wax poetic so much I guess, but so what. It's our blog. 


But here is my thing about it.... the ideabox experience is really is going to be something special. The "Showcase Gardens" at the Portland Home & Garden Show is one of Portland's best kept secrets. So few people know its there! For many, the show is just another home show. That's what I thought. I didn't know about the Showcase Gardens until we had our home there. And it wasn't until our house was being installed, and until we were watching all the work going on all around us as the entire room was being transformed by these amazing gardens did we realize just how incredible it all was.


These are not just gardens. It's a display hall filled with creatively designed landscape displays that take over a week to build. Concrete trucks, full size trees, cranes, and bobcats running all over the place moving dirt, pavers, all sorts of stuff. As these natural "wonderscapes" come together, lighting scaffolding is being assembled with dozens of lamps of various colors that are raised to the rafters. Perimeter walls of the building are draped with black fabric, suspended with cables that are hardly visible. The entire room is darkened, the walls becoming invisible, and the only light is coming from above. Projection lamps highlight key elements of each garden, making each a theatrical presentation. So much design talent, incredible executions of space and material, resulting in inspired spaces. If you are interested in design of any kind, you want to see the "showcase gardens." 


New News! We've added a fourth landscape designer to the "urb appeal" ideabox display. Now the new fortino home will be completely surrounded with gardens by Portland's leading landscape design talent. The resulting collective gardens will be both breathtaking and demonstrate how a house and landscape together can create a truly magical living experience.


The inside is pretty cool too! As previously noted, Crate & Barrel is staging the ideabox fortino model at the show. Yesterday, we saw more of what they are bringing. Gotta say here that design talent is an amazing thing, and the assembly of furnishings and accessories being put together by the designers at Crate & Barrel will be something to see. It's amazing to me how just the right balance of materials and colors can transform a room. We thought we designed some clever spaces, but wow! It's like a showcase interior garden... 


We're soon to announce the new urban series! Really, we are. And soon too!  For real's. We've had the designs for a little while now, but given we handcraft the design, engineering, and construction of our houses, getting all the details just right is important. And there are some pretty cool details coming - we're making the concept of modern living fun! 



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