FEATURE
WWW.BENDSOURCE.COM / APRIL 1, 2021 / BEND’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
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With interior design, there’s a "farm chic" black hole versus a multiverse of design game changers By K.M. Collins Courtesy Hank Hill
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ustic reclaimed wood or industrial super modern? French country or boho beach? With so many out-of-towners descending on Bend, it can be hard to answer the question: Do national home design trends play in the high desert? How long can we tap the farm-chic look before there’s nothing left? With the building and remodeling sector the only industry seeing growth in 2020 in our region (and no end in sight), these are all questions on the minds of designers and developers alike. Time warp Kerri Rossi, co-owner of Element Design Collective and principal designer at KMR Design Firm, is seeing a loosening of what was once a logjam in local interior design trends. Where locals used to be roughly four to five years behind some of the most out-front trends, due to the flood of in-migration and the many “Zoom Town” workers, trends are reaching Bend in more like one to two years, Rossi said. With 25 years in the business, she has plenty of experience to back up that assertion. Jennifer Nelson, of local building staple Nelson Tile and Stone, concurs, saying digital platforms are shrinking timing on trend gaps—not to mention the ever-increasing arrival of city slickers. “As little as three years ago we’d lament how Bend was years behind in trends. Case in point: hardly anyone wanted a white kitchen or bath four years ago, but once that trend hit finally hit here, designers on a national level were saying it was five years old already. Today that timeline between Bend and larger cities seems to have tightened up. This is due to the higher usage of social media sites like Houzz, Pinterest and Instagram showing off design trends and even some of the home improvement TV shows. This has caused locals to get comfortable with new designs, faster,” Nelson said. “The great amounts of people moving from larger cities has also changed that. We often hear
of people wanting to update their homes here with what they had back at their house in L.A. or Seattle.” Regional flair and mixing looks The result of outside influence? Rossi said a current client, who recently relocated to Bend after previously residing in row houses in San Francisco, shared an image of three mangoes to guide the color palette of her remodel—a major shift from farm chic, homestead or anything of the like that has long been popular locally. The client chose a bright-orange kitchen range and an ornate blown-glass, burnt orange and amber light fixture for the dining room—both selections undeniably infused with mid-century modern undertones. Hank Hill, owner/operator and general contractor at Bend Craftsmen Company, sees clients preserving some elements of their ‘80s- and ‘90s-built homes during remodels, while complementing them with new trends. In a recent Sunriver project, much of the original wall and ceiling wood paneling was preserved while a modern media center, reading nook, slatted accent wall and new flooring were installed. With so much mixing of old and new, showrooms become an essential tool for building and supply retailers. Rossi, with partner Jane Wirth, just opened Element Design Collective, a “design delicatessen” located in southeast Bend. Rossi wants to welcome folks into a warm space where they feel at home and can access and experience samples from the best vendors in flooring, interior doors, trim, lighting, cabinet hardware, appliances, bathroom accessories and windows. Believing many of these elements to be the “jewelry” of one’s home, Rossi provides a showroom selection process inspired by that of picking out precious gems. Meanwhile, Nelson Tile and Stone is moving and expanding its longtime staple and popular kitchen-and-bath-focused showroom off Division Street in Bend.
Courtesy Kerri Rossi
Courtesy Hank Hill
