Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

It's a guilty pleasure to some, a fact-finding mission for others, but wandering around someone else's newly upgraded home does draw a crowd.

Here's your chance to check out 10 polished, recently remodeled homes -- some with over-the-top features -- at the 16th annualTour of Remodeled Homes in Portland, Lake Oswego, Wilsonville and Tigard from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, and Sunday, March 15. Tickets, $22 for both days, are available at remodeltourportland.com; 503-684-1880.

Would you live here?

Mountainwood Homes improved a 1980s house with an efficient floor plan and expansive backyard in Northwest Portland's Bethany neighborhood by upgrading and reconfiguring the kitchen and master bathroom. An oversize tub was removed to make room for a spacious shower stall and closet.

The large kitchen had dated, white tile countertops, oak cabinetry, wallpaper and an claustrophobic layout. The island cook top was relocated to the back wall to create a focal point for a professional Wolf range. The refrigerator and microwave now break up a long wall of cabinets. Custom, painted Shaker cabinets brighten up the space and offer ample storage near granite countertops.

In the master bathroom, a built-in makeup vanity has pull-out drawers to store bath and beauty products. The countertop looks like Carrara marble but is low-maintenance quartz accented with a glass tile backsplash. Planked tile flooring resembles wood.

-- Janet Eastman

jeastman@oregonian.com 503-799-8739 @janeteastman

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Would you live here? In this 1980s makeover, gray takes over white tile countertops and oak cabinetry

Madonna and her pointy accouterments at the Grammys. Keep. The rest of the over-the-top 1980s can be tossed out with mountainous shoulder pads, eerie Talking Alf stuffed aliens and inflation that almost doubled the average cost of a new house (from $69,000 in 1980 to $120,00 by the end of the decade).

Erasing the '80s from your wardrobe and music collection is easy. Eradicating the strike-it-rich, "Dallas" decade from your home is harder.

Houses built with distinction in the fussy, exaggerated '80s may be looking a little dated, like the power ties women once wore to the office. Sunken living rooms, hand-textured walls and glass blocks are not yet vintage, kitschy or retrending. They shout: Remember when tall ceilings had out-of-reach plant shelves?

Recently, Portlandinterior designer Angela Todd faced the past with a clients' Northwest Portland house built in the 1980s. Her clients wanted to add a clean-lined, contemporary design to a custom house with characteristics of the mirrored-closets decade.

The floor plan in the couple's house still works, but not the telltale signs of the '80s like 4x4 white tiles on low countertops above carpeted floor.

When her clients had their home built, they added upgrades like a large shower and a walk-in closet that were ahead of their time, says Todd of Angela Todd Designs.

"They made good decisions you started to see as standards in the 1990s and that we still use today," she praises.

Still, there have been improvements in the last 35 years, especially in the master bathroom. Early recessed lighting cans had "eyeballs" that called attention to the ceiling. Those are now gone. Todd also replaced a low-to-the ground, inefficient toilet with a highly efficient, wall-mount toilet set at a comfortable sitting height.

She updated the master bath by also replacing a blocky-framed glass shower with a frameless shower and an ordinary tub built into the surrounding tile with a freestanding vessel.

"The old surround tubs that made Jacuzzi a household name take up so much space, the older style jets are hard to keep clean and the plastic turns yellow over time," says Todd.

More:
Erasing the inflated '80s home decor: Glass blocks, low cabinets, 'eyeball' recessed lights

Funny Turtle Grew a Chair
Miss T loves to explore, sometimes a little to much. First ever turtle interior decorator!

By: Brandon Burgess

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Funny Turtle Grew a Chair - Video

Elegant Home Design Ideas For Small Spaces
interior design, interior decorating, interior designer, interior decorator, interior design ideas, interior designs, home design, design ideas, interior design trends, home interior ideas,...

By: Home Interior Design

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Elegant Home Design Ideas For Small Spaces - Video

Best Luxury Home Builders
interior design, interior decorating, interior designer, interior decorator, interior design ideas, interior designs, home design, design ideas, interior design trends, home interior ideas,...

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Best Luxury Home Builders - Video

VIEW GALLERY

This stunning four-bedroom home in Ormesbys Dew Lane is packed with design features and luxurious touches just perfect for contemporary family living.

At its heart is a dining kitchen and family room that overlooks the garden and there are four bedrooms, all with en suites.

Eco friendly additions include underfloor heating, solar power, a wood burning stove and rainwater storage - and theres a spacious garden which boasts its own arctic cabin that has seating around a central barbecue pit. The home also has a town meets country location close to Ormesby Hall.

Compton House is the market for offers over 695,000. Contact Thirlwells estate agents, Middlesbrough for more information on 01642 245796.

Location: Dew Lane, Ormesby

Bedrooms: Four, all with en suites

Reception rooms: Two

Bathrooms: Four

Gardens and outside space: The home has a secluded rear garden with an arctic cabin, a lawned area and established trees, a vegetable patch and terraced areas

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Dream Home: 695,000 Ormesby home boasts own arctic cabin and eco friendly features

Cicero As the list of needed repairs at the towns facilities grows, the Cicero Town Board approved $1,275 in emergency snow and ice removal from the roof of the highway department at its Feb. 11 meeting.

This is a chronic problem that we had to take care of, explained Supervisor Jessica Zambrano.

At the Jan. 28 board meeting, the board heard the Buildings Advisory Committees safety concerns regarding the highway garage. Snow and ice have been building up on the garages eaves and falling off, causing a hazard to town employees and the public alike.

Committee member Don Snyder presented the board with a laundry list of other problems the committee has identified at the towns facilities, including roof leaks, poor and molding insulation, inadequate GFIs (ground fault interrupters, which protect against electric shock) and insufficient office space and vehicle parking, to name a few.

If we [addressed] all those things, we would still end up with a building that doesnt meet our needs, Snyder said.

The Buildings Advisory Committee also examined the police station, which Snyder said is a maze because of the many additions that have been tacked on over the years. Snyder said water was leaking in an investigators office, which Town Clerk Tracy Cosilmon had taken it upon herself to fix in order to avoid spending money on repairs.

Snyder said the committee will do a space review to determine what kind of building the police department would require in order to function more efficiently. He said the police building, which is an offshoot of the highway garage, has the same issues with snow and ice removal.

Its a residential building that were using as a commercial building. There really isnt any security there, he said.

Snyder said the parks and highway departments share a portion of a building for storage, repairs and employee breaks. He said the building lacks proper insulation and heating.

Excerpt from:
Ciceros building woes

LAKE BUENA VISTA --

Downtown Disney is rockin' a new "glow."

The fresh vibe is already apparent as the entertainment district transitions into Disney Springs - expanding from 75 to more than 150 shopping, dining and entertainment venues.

The complete transformation won't be done until next summer, but guests are already trying out the new amenities.

We got to chat with the vice president of Downtown Disney, Keith Bradford, in the new Exposition Park:

ALLISON WALKER: Everyone's dying to know about present and future milestones.

KEITH BRADFORD: We're actually standing in Exposition Park, one of our newest additions to Downtown Disney. It's all about food trucks in this park... Four food trucks, each themed after one of our theme parks. [Namaste Caf with flavors from Disneys Animal Kingdom (think butter chicken and Tandoori spiced shrimp); Superstar Catering with favorites from Disneys Hollywood Studios like a Margarita Flatbread; Fantasy Fare with Magic Kingdom Park goodies like the corn dog, and World Showcase of Flavors with Epcot tastes from grass-fed beef sliders to Pierogies]. We're actually on our 3rd revision of the menu. So it's constantly changing and responding to what guests are asking for. In addition to that, we have nightly entertainment in the park. Guests are loving it.

AW: What about the restaurants? Where can we eat next?

KB: The first one of those is the Boathouse... That'll be opening up in the April time frame. [We're] very, very excited about this restaurant... That restaurant is all about boats and our love for the water, right? So it's seafoods, steaks, chops, raw oyster bar. Later this year, a couple more restaurants will be coming online. STK - which is a fascinating steakhouse. What I really like about [it] is that it's going to have a rooftop bar overlooking the springs. So it's a first one of those. In addition to that is [our first Pan-Asian restaurant] Morimoto Asia. It's been a thrill to work with Morimoto as he designs and looks at the menu offerings. I think our guests are really going to enjoy that. All of that is going to be in the heart of Downtown Disney.

AW: I see that huge, 4,000 space parking garage on the west side. Is that open?

The rest is here:
Inside Downtown Disney's transformation to Disney Springs

Karolyn Williams went looking for a Craftsman-style bungalow in the Quad-Cities and ended up buying a 1920s carpenter's shop in Walcott with bare-stud walls and nofurnace.

But theCalifornia native, who runsan antique store in Rock Island, has vision and experience at turning derelict buildings into valuable properties.

With the help of carpenter Andy Richmond of Davenport, she transformed the buildingover the course of 20 monthsinto a comfortable living space with a kitchen-living room-office-great room on the first floor and a spacious master suite upstairs.

Thefaded cedar shake shingles that cover the outside still looka little rough, but step inside and it's a whole different place from when Williams bought it in February 2013.

Thewalls have been finished with drywall, the floor sanded and refinished, and a kitchen has been built on one end withhickory cabinets made by Amish craftsmen, topped with green granite countertops.

In the middle of the kitchen there'sa largeisland 8 feet long and about 3 feet wide with a sink, microwave and dishwasher, plus an overhang that provides Williams' main dining area.

Complementing the contemporary additions are pieces of the past: multicolored California pottery dishes from the 1940sin a glass-fronted cabinet and a1950 O'Keefe & Merritt white enamel stove.

"My parents had a stove like this," Williams says. "Every time I build a house, I put one in."

A door leads to thetwo-car garage she had built into an existing addition, aset of new sliding glass doors opens to a newscreened-in front porch andanother door reveals what had been the carpenter's finished office. Williams uses the former office as a pantry. One wall is decoratedwith a collection ofwhisk brooms.

The other end of the house is her living area, warmed by a new gas-burning fireplace and all manner of interesting accessories and furniture: a Morris chair reupholstered in animal hide, paintings, mirrors and rugs.

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Old Walcott carpenter shop becomes a comfy new home

60 Minutes' Anderson Cooper with Lumber Liquidators founder Tom Sullivan. Source: 60 Minutes.

Back in late 2013, flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators was the classic American success story. Founder and Chairman Tom Sullivan had taken the business from one location and turned it into the country's largest retailer of wood and wood laminate flooring in about 20 years. Investors who bought shares after the IPO in late 2007 saw 10-fold returns by November of that year:

LL data by YCharts.

Since then the company has faced a Department of Justice investigation into illegal wood sourcing activity, a weak housing market that has seriously affected sales, and now a report from 60 Minutes , in which Anderson Cooper accuses the company of selling laminate flooring that is not only illegal in California but could put people's health at risk.

Denny Larson & Richard Drury are suing Lumber Liquidators. Short-sellers are funding their efforts. Source: 60 Minutes broadcast.

The story came to 60 Minutes by way of hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson, a well-known investor with a short position in Lumber Liquidators stock. Furthermore, as was disclosed in the story, short-sellers are funding at least one lawsuit against the company.

Since the peak in 2013, Lumber Liquidators stock has been hammered by almost 70% as of this writing, and many recent investors are paying a heavy price in losses. The question on many investors' minds today: Who's right? Is the company sourcing and selling an illegal product -- and, maybe more important, a potentially dangerous one?

This is a worthy and important question, but there's one that's just as important: How much is the company exposed right now? Furthermore, what's the actual risk that this creates for the company? Let's take a deeper dive into the allegations and, more specifically, into just how big a part of Lumber Liquidators' business is driven by the products alleged to be illegal and potentially harmful to consumers.

Continued here:
What To Make Of Lumber Liquidators -- Should We Believe Anderson Cooper and Whitney Tilson?