It's What's on the Inside that Counts

That's who's going to be both inside & outside the new ideabox Fortino coming to the Portland Home & Garden Show in February.

While they haven't released their "official" design package yet, we've seen some of the furnishings the Crate&Barrel design team is thinking about.  It's going to be incredible. Elegant lines, exceptional materials, and a design vocabulary synonymous with the modern lifestyle of ideabox.

We are very excited... you will be too!

The Crate&Barrel design package will be throughout the house. Furniture, decor, housewares. and outdoor furniture too...

Visit the Crate&Barrel Bridgeport Store

Ask to see a sneak preview of what's going to be in the show! 

Tell them ideabox sent you!

idbx in pdx - it's only a month away!

It's Coming Together Now... Seeing will be Believing! 

It's Truly an All Star Lineup at the 2010 Portland H&G Show - February 24 - 28 at the Portland Expo

We are so excited to share our newest house, the fortino, a month seems like almost too far away! The landscape designs surrounding the house are absolutely incredible, they really are. For those who have experienced the Garden Room at the Portland show, you already know how spectacular they can be. And with three of the most talented designers in the city applying their creativity around our house, the concept of what urban living could be will be mind blowing! For us, it's also an exploration in "affordable style." Everything we are doing with this years show is about creative expressions of style that are actually affordable. You can have the house... and the landscape.. it's not out of the realm because all of us have focused on lifestyle solutions you can really have for yourself. The fortino is an incredible assembly of materials and features typically found in higher priced homes. And the same is true with the landscape solutions.

We're All About Urb Appeal - The fortino does just that, and our hope of seeing that vision realized through landscapes is very cool. When asked if we had anything we wanted to see, our answer was do what the design of the house offers. They confirmed our design goals of having a small house that lives well beyond its walls.

It's All About the Lifestyle - Of course, what happens inside is pretty cool too! We are so fortunate and excited to be working with Crate&Barrel and the talented design team from the Bridgeport showroom. We're catching the at the right time, as their new 2010 lineup is hitting their stores... and our house. With an offering that extends beyond just furnishings to just about everything a house could want, it's ideabox lifestyle defined! And consistent with the ideabox philosophy of affordable design, the pricing will delight you!

Speaking of 2010 Lineup's - We have ours too! Coming in the next couple of weeks we will be introducing a new series of houses that reflect new opportunities in design and lifestyle. The 2010 series is very exciting, offering a refreshing new look.

New Energy Stuff Too - With everything going on in the energy and resource efficiency worlds, we called on our years of  "in the industry" experience to assemble an ideabox energy system. A combination of increased thermal shell measures and applied uses of heating & cooling technology, the 2010 line up of houses will use much less energy than current NW ENERGY STAR Home and other utility programs require. We think it's just a smart way to live.

Lots of Stuff Happening at ideabox - We're excited about 2010. Cool new houses, cool new technologies, and it all begins at the Portland Home & Garden Show!!!

idbx@pdx 2010.... it's coming!!!

ideabox fortino is coming to portland - it's going to be incredible!
It's unheard of. Never before in the history of all time has there been such a cooperative creative collaboration. (Okay, maybe just the history of the home show). Five established design entities combining their talents creating one incredible display. The only instructions were to developing solutions that are very cool, truly affordable, and based on an urban sized lot. We want to show how anyone can have an ultimate Northwest lifestyle. It's just about finding the the right house, the right designs, to find the right solutions!

• The anchor of this modern experience is the ideabox fortino, the 1,250 SF 2BR/2BA urban modern "loft-like" living green & energy efficient prefab. The house is beyond compare, and represents a new direction in prefab. See the entire ideabox lineup at http://www.ideabox.us
• The fortino house is being furnished by Crate&Barrel and will featuring furnishings from their modern collection. With their talented designers and an open floor plan, the resulting interiors promise to inspire at prices that will surprise you. Visit http://www.crateandbarrel.com
• The exterior design is led by Schultz & Long and features water collection systems; outdoor fire displays; a series of elevated outdoor "rooms"; walls defined by plates of steel and glass; integrated use of metal and pavers: surrounded by grasses and trees. View examples of their work at http://www.schultzandlong.com

What you will see will amaze you. Imagine a darkened room lit only with rafter mounted projection lamps focusing on key features on the floor below. Imagine lush landscapes with water, outdoor fire features, mature trees and plants. And in the middle of it all find a fully furnished modern house.

The ideabox blog will be featuring more detail as the show approaches. Interviews with the design team, examples of what will be on display, and the newest products from ideabox!

We're excited! We know what is coming! You will be excited too!

The Portland Home & Garden Show is February 24 thru 28 at the Expo!

You will want to be there!

Stay tuned!

it's a brand new year!

It's a Brand New Year!!! In welcoming 2010, I thought I would do something I've been wanting to do all of 2009... which was to find a way to feature some of the amazing talents we are so fortunate to meet here at ideabox.


One of the incredible opportunities we have at ideabox are the people we meet. We've met Hollywood types, (directors, art directors, costume, script writers, ect...), TV people, Ad Agencies (owners, creatives), Architects, Restaurant Owners, Artists, Bakery Owners, Authors, Artists.... and so many more. If we kept a list it would be not only amazing but very humbling. There is so much talent in the world.


Something I've been wanting to do is introduce you to some of these people and share their amazing abilities. At first I thought I could find a place on the ideabox website, but that didn't work so well.  Now we have this blog, and since I get to write it, I think this is a great place to share from!


The graphic above is an example of something pretty cool. It is a painting by Jim Morehead of Morehead Studios in Newberg Oregon. The painting is not on a canvas, but on a piece of wood where the fundamental composition is done by wood-burning, the color added on top of the wood. It's remarkable. We have a couple of Jim's pieces here at ideabox, and featured them in last years Portland Home & Garden Show. Much of Jim's work is "re-working" the masters employing the wood-burning technique. The piece above is an original from a day at the beach watching a fishing boat readying its launch off the shore. Active in the art community, Jim's work can be seen at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, located on the Central Oregon Coast in Lincoln City. Learn more about the gallery and its member artists at coastalartisans.com. Jim can be reached at moreheadstudios@msn.com or by phone 503.332.1329.


What an exciting year 2009 was! Here's to a how incredible 2010 will be!

'tis the season

Just in Time for the Holidays

Looking for a new twist on the whole "home for the holidays" thing? Well twist you will when you see the new design from ideabox. The new ideabox "urban cottage" comes with one bedroom or two and ranges in size from 670 SF to 910 SF. It's the perfect present for under the Christmas tree  - well - actually the tree would probably need to go inside the "present" (ie new house from ideabox).  The fresh new design features cool new materials, more efficient energy efficiency, and a fun new floor plan that takes a small footprint and dynamically expands your lifestyle.


We're adding new efficiency opportunities. We've always been fans of zonal heating, and we're adding mini-split heat pumps for heating and cooling. It's looking at simple, proven efficiency technologies we know deliver comfortable conditioning using minimal energy. Cool new materials offer a clean modern look we're pretty excited about. And true to an ideabox house, natural light comes in from everywhere through another fun combination of windows, (with new glazing technologies making them more efficient than before!)


We're very close to releasing our new little gem, (maybe just in time for Christmas!) 


Happy Holidays! 

the next big thing in small living

It began back in 2005. It was a small decision - well - sort of small but big in what we were deciding. We were putting the concept of what ideabox was going to be together.  We looked at the markets and realized there had to be an end to the mcmansion philosophy of housing. We saw crazy financing of houses by people who couldn't afford them. And we sensed at some point quality of life would become more important than mass consumption.

(For all of our sensing we didn't sense the almost complete erosion of the economy).  But that's okay, because we made a literally small decision that day back in 2005.

Our "small" decision was that ideabox would become "the next big thing in small living."  ideabox would focus on small spaces that are modern, easy, and a delight to be inside and outside  (as we think about how our houses interact on their sites. Outdoor "rooms" are as important to us as the indoor ones!) Every house would be energy efficient and built to green standards. We wanted a simplistic modern lifestyle.

The ideas behind ideabox came from a career ranging from architectural design, energy & resource efficiency, and commercial design and marketing. We were inspired by real, actual energy savings our programs were realizing. We saw opportunities to use resources more efficiently by creatively using cool building materials. And we saw that we could create an identifiable brand that represented our beliefs about design and living more responsibly.

And perhaps most important, we figured out construction methods that allow us to build incredible houses at reasonable costs without compromising quality. It's kind of exciting.

So you can see - ideabox is the next big thing in small living!

Our first house was 400 SF in size.... and you wouldn't know when standing inside. Our houses are the resolution of details coming together.  Blending "the right amount of everything" to create spaces that are truly delightful. Careful use of glazing to cast your eyes beyond the walls. Simple lines that ebb and flow allowing an ideabox to nestle in its surroundings making each home a unique living experience.  Our biggest house is just over 1,200 SF, and it seems huge.

It's practically perfect!

ideabox houses live beyond their walls. Our houses are crafted and real. Each and every one is a unique build, not a product out of inventory or on a lot somewhere. They're not the result of a fad or trying to be like something else. They are the result of a career looking for solutions that better peoples lives.

It's why ideabox is the next big thing in small living!