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The older I get, the more I realize how much joy I find in the simplest things. And the presence required to notice. The...
06/19/2026

The older I get, the more I realize how much joy I find in the simplest things. And the presence required to notice.

The smell of mint growing along a path. The way old books smell in a library. Mountain air through an open window. A hammock in the shade. Kids who can spend hours outside and never once ask for a screen.

For 48 hours this week, Poppy and I escaped to the Gorge with dear friends. We swam, rode the train, made s’mores, watched butterflies, read (ok, smelled) books, and spent more time outside than in.

One of my favorite parts was seeing the world through the eyes of my friend’s five-year-old son. My kindred spirit.

“Sara, smell the mint.”

“This fruit water is the best water ever.”

“These books smell so good.”

I loved that he noticed. I loved that he stopped. I loved that he was delighted by things most of us walk right past.

It reminded me that wonder isn’t something we find. It’s something we practice.

And maybe that’s why these days felt so nourishing. Not because anything extraordinary happened. But because we slowed down enough to notice what was already there.

Seventeen years ago this month, I moved to Portland. At the time, it looked like a completely irrational decision.I was ...
06/12/2026

Seventeen years ago this month, I moved to Portland. At the time, it looked like a completely irrational decision.

I was a recent graduate with an advertising degree from Syracuse. I had done exactly what I thought I was supposed to do. Moved to New York. Started my career. Followed the path.

And yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t where I was meant to be. I remember visiting a friend (hi! ) who had chosen a different path and feeling something open inside me. The realization that there wasn’t just one way to build a life.

On the flight home, I decided to leave New York and move to Portland. Thirty days later, my boxes were on their way west and I was sitting alone in my empty apartment wondering if I had completely lost my mind.

I remember calling my parents in tears. My dad wanted me to come home. My mom said something I’ll never forget:

“The worst thing that happens is you don’t like it and you come home.”

So I went.

What strikes me now isn’t that the decision worked out. It’s that I made it before I had any proof.

Before I knew I would meet my husband here.

Before I knew I would have not one, but two careers.

Before I started my business.

Before I became a mother.

Before my family would slowly find their way here too.

Before I would meet the sacred crew of women who would walk beside me through so many chapters of life.

Before this city would become home.

Looking back, I think that move was one of the first times in my adult life that I truly trusted myself. Not because I was certain, but because I was willing to listen to a knowing I couldn’t explain.

Seventeen years later, that lesson still feels relevant. The most important decisions in my life have rarely been the ones that made the most sense on paper. They’ve been the ones that felt true before they felt logical.

Portland didn’t just give me a new place to live.

It gave me a life I never could have imagined.

And all of it began with a decision that made very little sense on paper, but felt undeniably true in my heart.

Seventeen years later, I have more evidence than I ever could have imagined that I am safe to trust myself.

Here’s to your knowing. ✨

I didn’t plan for yesterday to feel sacred. It just did. came to my home and we hadn’t collaborated together before but ...
06/10/2026

I didn’t plan for yesterday to feel sacred. It just did.

came to my home and we hadn’t collaborated together before but I immediately recognized her as a kindred spirit. We spent the afternoon making images of objects I love, spaces I inhabit, the quiet beauty of everyday life.

At one point she started arranging some of my favorite pieces on our stone coffee table. A small bronze vase. A crystal vessel. A little sculpture. She composed them intuitively, the way brilliant creatives do, without overthinking.

It wasn’t until I looked at what she’d gathered that I felt it.

Every single piece had a bird on it.

Birds are my sign from my mom. The way she lets me know she’s still here.

Three objects chosen by someone who didn’t know. One composition that couldn’t have been planned.

I felt her in the room. In the most ordinary and extraordinary way.

I don’t always know how to talk about grief publicly. But I know that the birds have been one of the ways I’ve stayed connected to her. And yesterday that felt more true than ever.

Shep and Poppy have been back East this week, so the house has been unusually quiet.One of my closest friends came to st...
06/09/2026

Shep and Poppy have been back East this week, so the house has been unusually quiet.

One of my closest friends came to stay this past weekend and we spent two days doing almost nothing.

We slept in.

Read our books.

Walked through the woods.

Cooked nourishing meals.

Sat at the table long after dinner was over.

There was no agenda.

Just time to rest.

Somewhere along the way, I was reminded that a beautiful life is built from surprisingly ordinary things.

A good friend.

A slow morning.

A walk in the woods.

A meal made with care.

Time to exhale.

I’m trying to really take those things in because they nourish my soul.

A few days ago my bonus mom sent me a text while she was traveling in Europe. It said: “Now that I’ve spent quality time...
06/02/2026

A few days ago my bonus mom sent me a text while she was traveling in Europe.

It said: “Now that I’ve spent quality time looking at beauty in Paris, I think I understand you better.”

I laughed when I read it, but honestly, I’ve never felt so seen. Because she is right. I’ve always had a relationship with beauty that feels deeper than just liking pretty things.

It’s why I can get lost staring at my garden or a sunset.

It’s why I care about how a room feels when you walk into it.

It’s why I get emotional about old trees and beautifully worn wood tables and a perfectly ripe strawberry.

I can just hear Poppy saying, “Mom, stop talking about how beautiful the strawberries are!”

Beauty is my love language.
It’s how I care for people.
It’s how I create a sense of welcome.
It’s how I tell people, “I see you and you matter to me.”
Maybe that’s why home has always meant so much to me.
Not because I care about things.
But because I care about how people feel.
And beauty has always been one of the ways I help create that feeling of love and belonging.

This week I traveled to Vashon Island to photograph a home we completed last year in partnership with my talented friend...
05/30/2026

This week I traveled to Vashon Island to photograph a home we completed last year in partnership with my talented friends .

Now that I’m home, I’ve found myself reflecting on how much the best projects depend on alignment.

Wonderful clients who trust the process.

Collaborators who share a vision.

A home with good bones and a strong point of view.

And a team of people all working toward the same goal.

While we’re typically involved in both the interior architecture and furnishings, this project was such a beautiful reminder that furnishings play an essential role in shaping how a home feels.

The architecture creates the framework.

The furnishings help tell the story of the people who live there.

They soften, add warmth and personality, and ultimately bring a home into its fullest expression.

But perhaps what stayed with me most was the joy of creating something beautiful alongside people I genuinely admire.

From Sol and Adam , to .enriquez behind the camera, to adding that beautiful finishing layer, this project was a reminder of why I love this work in the first place.

Not just the finished spaces, but the experience of creating them with your wildly talented friends.

Feeling deeply grateful for this project, these clients, this magical place, and the community of people who helped bring it to life.

One of the things we love most about this home isn’t a material or a finish … it’s the way it feels to move through it.F...
05/27/2026

One of the things we love most about this home isn’t a material or a finish … it’s the way it feels to move through it.

From the moment you enter, sight lines carry your eye through the home toward light, landscape and ultimately the river beyond. There is a quiet connection to nature woven throughout the experience, creating a sense of calm no matter where you are.

Beyond beauty, this home was designed for life … for slow mornings in the kitchen, gathering around the table with family and friends, kids moving freely between indoors and out, and the small rituals that shape our days.

The intention for this home is simple: to create a place where family life unfolds with ease … connected to nature, designed for gathering, and shaped around the daily rituals that become our memories.

There’s a concept in architecture called compression and release. A narrower, quieter space… that opens into something l...
05/20/2026

There’s a concept in architecture called compression and release. A narrower, quieter space… that opens into something lighter, brighter, more expansive.

But what’s interesting is that this contrast doesn’t just create a moment of openness… it actually changes how we experience the space that follows.

When you move from something more contained into something open, the larger space doesn’t just feel different.
It feels bigger than it actually is.

More expansive.
More alive.
Our perception shifts.
We notice the light more.
The volume.
The sense of air and movement.

Without that contrast, we lose that experience. Everything just feels… the same. This is something we consider often in our work—not just how a home looks, but how it unfolds.

Because that rhythm—of grounding and release—is what allows a space to feel both calm and expansive at the same time.

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We’ll always choose a smaller, more intentional home over a larger one without clarity.Because at the end of the day—it’...
05/14/2026

We’ll always choose a smaller, more intentional home over a larger one without clarity.

Because at the end of the day—it’s not the square footage you feel. It’s the thought behind it.

The way rooms connect.

The way light moves.

The way a space holds you.

More isn’t better. Better is better.

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We don’t believe a better home comes from more square footage.We believe it comes from how that space is considered.Some...
05/11/2026

We don’t believe a better home comes from more square footage.

We believe it comes from how that space is considered.

Some of the homes that feel the most expansive… aren’t the largest.

They’re the most intentional.

This is something we think about often in our work—what it means to create a home that feels grounding, while still allowing for openness and ease.

It’s a quieter kind of luxury. One that has very little to do with size.

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Lake Oswego, OR
97034–97035

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