Tuesday, June 19, 2012

A Step In The Right Direction


It is often said that your home represents your frame of mind and body. A cluttered mess and disorganized surroundings can represent chaos within. At the same time, a clean and well-organized home can represent more balance, clearer thoughts and a healthier lifestyle.

As you walk through your home, look around at the things you would like to change. Perhaps you’d like to replace your dark, outdated cabinets in the kitchen, or brighten up the hall bathroom for guest. Maybe you’d love to get the garage organized, so you’d finally feel inspired to finish all the small projects that you’ve started. Perhaps you want to have a place where you can entertain guest and celebrate with family, like a back porch, or a deck with a huge BBQ pit and hammock. Very much like standing in front of a mirror and pointing out little things you’d like to change about yourself, all of these home improvements are attainable.

Great, so we have this bucket list of what we’d love to improve around our house. Now what? Well, now we work towards changing what is most important to each of us. Everyone is different. Finally installing hardwood flooring in the living room, may be a priority for one person, while laying new tile in the master bath may be a priority for someone else. The point is, you don’t have to overwhelm yourself, because once you’ve decided what you want to change, Stone Wood Design Center can help you with the rest.

When you walk through our doors, you’ll be greeted by the smiles of our ‘degreed’ Interior Designers. The best part is, that it’s a complimentary service that Stone Wood Design Center offers to all their customers. Do you know what that means? Are you sitting down? It means that you get to work with a real Interior Designer on your project. It’s kind of like deciding you want to lose a few pounds, so you head to the gym, to tackle the treadmill alone. Instead, as you walk through the doors, you are given the opportunity to work with a certified trainer, as a complimentary service offered by the gym. You have to admit, that’s pretty cool.

Our Interior Designers will help walk you through your entire project, which comes in handy when deciding on colors, material and how much product to buy. If you decide to tackle the project yourself, we even have a full time DIY guru, who is available to give you step-by-step instructions. This is just another complimentary service that Stone Wood Design offers.

Before you know it, your home will begin to brighten and look more alive. You’ll feel excited about the changes you’ve made and the encouraging words from friends and family. You might even look back and remember a time when you seriously thought about moving, because you had such a strong urge for change. Yet, with a little creative thought and far less stress, you realize you have built a new home for yourself, by just making some changes here and there, with the help of Stone Wood Design Center.

Somewhere down the road in life, you might even hear it again, how your home represents your frame of mind and body. You’ll smile, realizing that you’re feeling less stress, you have a healthier lifestyle and you’re happier than you’ve been in a long time. Could Stone Wood Design Center really be attributed to such positive changes, inside and outside of your home? We like to think so. 

Monday, April 16, 2012

SWDC Top Sellers: Mosaico+ Perle Tile

At Stone Wood Design Center, it’s our mission to bring Portland tile customers the finest tile products from around the world. That’s why we’re so pleased to tell you about our latest offering, Mosaico+ tile from Italy. Mosaico’s Perle line of jaw-dropping iridescent tile is the subject of this edition of SWDC Top Sellers.

Like proud parents, we love all our tile products equally, but this one really is something special. The base color of the tile is complemented and multiplied by the extraordinary, multicolored iridescent finish, whose colors shift and shimmer with each stray shaft of light they catch.

Because the individual plates that comprise the mosaic are smaller than average — just 15x15mm — they conform to curved surfaces like wet silk, and the tiny tiles also lend a refined, luxurious air to the installation that will turn your guests iridescent green with envy!

We’re proud to bring Portland Mosaico tile flooring all the way from Italy — after, all, when it comes to refined and elegant style, Italian design is hard to beat. It’s no exaggeration to say that what Prada is to couture, or Lamborghini is to autos, Mosaico is to tile.

Mosaico tile flooring from Stone Wood Design Center will surely have your guests green with envy!

Frankly, photos can’t do justice to this shimmering and exotic tile flooring product — you simply must see it in person. Stop by one of our three conveniently-located Portland tile showrooms to see this must-have product with your own eyes!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Stone Wood Design Center Resources: Tile Term Dictionary

In keeping with our long-standing goal of being your first and best place to go when it comes to Portland tile flooring, we at Stone Wood Design Center would like to tell you about a resource that’s sure to make any tile flooring project easier. We’re talking, of course, about our Tile Term Dictionary.

Portland tile flooring

This handy glossary of commonly-used terms in the tile flooring industry will help you understand your options no matter what phase of a project you’re in — whether you’re just beginning to consult Portland interior design professionals or in the final phases of a ceramic tile installation.

For example, you may be surprised to learn that “crazing” isn’t what happens to your brain after poring over sample books for a few hours, it’s the cracking in certain kiln-fired glazes. And while you might suppose that a “tile cutter” is a certain tradesman and a “tile nipper” his young son, our guide will assure you that both refer to specific tools used in the trade.

All levity aside, we’re proud of our Tile Term Dictionary, and we hope that you find it useful. It’s just one of the ways we make the extra effort to be the Portland tile flooring leaders. Visit one of our three Portland-area locations to view our entire tile selection and talk shop with our experienced flooring professionals.

Monday, April 2, 2012

SWDC Top Sellers: Tigerwood Decking

Welcome once again to Stone Wood Design Center Top Sellers, the blog series that’s dedicated to making you the best-informed consumer in the Portland hardwood decking market.

In the last installment, we told you about a great interior product, Grand Mesa Laminate Flooring. This time, in honor of the nice weather that we hope is just around the corner, we’re going outdoors with an eye-catching exterior hardwood decking option: Tigerwood Hardwood Decking.

Tigerwood Hardwood Decking is a beautiful and durable hardwood that gets its name from its striped appearance: each plank shows a pattern of black stripes interspersed with golden and umber tones. This pattern in integral to the wood itself; it’s not a staining or antiquing effect.

Left untreated, tigerwood hardwood decking will gradually age to a mellow silver-grey glow, but this medium-density hardwood also takes oils and stains quite well. Many homeowners choose this option to bring out the wood’s natural beauty, finishing their Tigerwood hardwood decking so as to retain its rich, dramatic russet-brown tones.

In spite of a lustrous beauty that you might associate more with fine cabinetry than with exterior hardwood decking, Tigerwood is neither fragile nor delicate. This tough, kiln-dried material is noted for its resistance to both fungi and termites. Moreover, it resists these blights without harsh chemicals, meaning it can be used for installations near water without fear of contamination.

Learn more about Tigerwood Hardwood Decking with a call or visit to the Portland hardwood decking professionals at Stone Wood Design Center. We’re happy to help!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Meet Our Team, Part 3: NE 122nd Store

Welcome to the third and final installment of the Stone Wood blog’s latest series, “Meet Our Team.” In this feature, we share a little info about the installation and design experts who you’ll be working with when you visit one of our Portland design stores.

This time, we’ll meet the Portland interior design professionals of our NE 122nd Avenue location.

Nancy

First up is Nancy, who comes to the Portland interior design community by way of Oregon State University, where she earned a degree in Interior Design. She brings six years’ experience in design and remodels to the job, and specializes both in Craftsman-style and ultra-modern installations. Nancy is an award-winning interior designer and holds a certification from the National Kitchen and Bath Association.

Alisha

Next we have another degreed interior designer, Alisha, who earned her sheepskin at Washington State. She brings broad experience to Stone Wood’s Portland design stores, having designed residential, commercial and urban projects. Alisha has a passion for bringing a contemporary touch to classic designs, often with a European flair that reflects her old-world heritage.

Justin

Justin’s 15 years of experience in the design and building industries makes him the seasoned veteran of the group. His hands-on experience in the Portland interior design scene helps him find the perfect materials suppliers, and his breadth of knowledge gives him a steady hand when it comes to guiding clients through even the most challenging projects.