Thanks to the "Artisans"

If it were not for the "artisans" of this world, designers would be up a creek. I can have many great ideas in my head but if there is no one who is trained and talented enough to create them I can't continue to dream & to design. I know there are many talented "artisans that I have not yet met. If you are out there, let me know who you are and what you do. I would like to add you to my "artisan" list & give you a mention in my blog.

Currently I have the pleasure of working with several "artisans" that I just have to brag on. One is my son, Jason Swarthout who since he was 12 years old has been creating fabulous wood products beginning with wood toys & graduating to fabulous furniture, cabinets & exquisite finish carpentry. He builds custom doors & windows & & turns pieces of raw wood into whatever I need. He also does a fine job of installing tile & tile projects. His crew including Jeremy Haynes of Salem, OR are the wood workers of choice when I have a project that requires the best in detail, workmanship & custom finishes. He also works on projects for many other fine builders. He is currently building a custom home for his family in Mexico (near Cabo San Lucas.) It will have his beautiful hand made doors, windows & custom tiled tubs & showers. I want him to finish it soon so I can go to visit. He can be reached by email. miniblanco@hotmail.com if you have a project you would like to talk to him about. He "commutes".


Another fine artisan is John Pepples of Bend, OR. He serves as our foreman for Artisan Homes and Design in Bend and does all our stone work in addition to his other duties. He installs tile & is a very good artisan. He accepts outside projects when time permits. You can reach him at 503-932-4891.

I will let you in on some more of my favorite artisans in the future. In the mean time, I used to know an artisan in the Bend area who did antique copper counters & back splashes as well as metal relief work for kitchen vent hoods etc. I don't think he does that type of work anymore so if you know of someone who does that, be sure to let me know. I want to have that person in my "artisan" list for future projects.

Saying Goodbye

Hi Readers,

I just finished a really great project & it is time to say "good bye" to it. Along with their builder, Don Denning of Artisan Homes (my husband) I helped a couple to create the retirement home of their dreams. I so enjoyed working with these clients. We spent a lot of time together creating their vision of "home". It began about a year ago. Since the couple would be sharing their home with their two large dogs, many of the surface selections & design details were selected with the dogs in mind. Starting with the travertine floors that could handle doggy paws & ending with the dog head knobs for the laundry room, it was definitely an animal friendly home. We had a great time researching fans & lights & cabinet knobs & took many trips to see granite slabs. The clients found the "perfect" redwood burls for the fireplace mantle. We labored over the right art pieces & the right bedding & shopped till we dropped for the pieces needed to add to their already existing furnishings. We had a lot of fun doing it. I want to thank them for being such great people to work with.

Many of their friends & neighbors as well as hundreds of complete strangers were invited to visit their home as it was on the annual home builders tour. I guess that people really liked it because many came back for a 2nd visit & brought their friends back to see it. The home also received 4 nice awards from the Home Builders judges. In our price group we won "Best Architecture, Best Kitchen, Best Value & Best of Show. The most valuable reward though was the clients pleasure in their new home.

When working with people on a project like this, they become more than clients, they become friends. Although I am saying goodbye to this project I plan to keep in touch with my new friends. I hope they have many happy years in their new home & that they will invite me to a dinner prepared in their fabulous kitchen . It is a kitchen of dreams.

I will also post all the other pictures on my website later this week so check back. I wish the pics had turned out better. We tried a different way of doing the lighting & it just didn't work out as I had hoped.