2017 Street of Dreams inspirations, trends, and lessons

2017 Street of Dreams inspirations, trends, and lessons

• 8.11.2017

One of my favorite events of the summer is Portland's Street of Dreams!! The past few years Jason and I have gone as a date night and each year/set of homes we've had different experiences and gained something unique from it.

Here are my posts from 2015 and 2016. In 2015 there were 8 or 9 homes and one really special one that was a remodel, one or two really modern ones, and the rest sort of standard over-the-top mansions. In 2016, I noticed quite a few common elements in almost all of the 6 houses (see my 2016 post for the list). Like seriously, we almost stopped noticing barn doors and washer/dryer sets in master closets; they were just everywhere.

This year there were only 5 homes, but each one was completely memorable and different. We actually thought 5 was the perfect number since we could keep them all straight and really take them in.

We toured them out of order, and we gave them our own names, so you'll have to forgive me through this list. (You can read the official order and names/builders/designers here under Show Homes.)

Street of Dreams 2017 Homes

The first we toured was house #3, which we called the "Mature Magnolia" home. Their design inspirations were clear, but the style was not quite ours. I also noticed a lot of different types of flooring in this (and actually a few of the other) homes... given that I have just put a lot of effort into having consistent flooring throughout my home, I wondered about this!!

My favorite thing about this home was the master bath. Actually every single home this year had a freestanding tub, but I liked this shape the best.

I also started a series of selfies in (mostly master) bathrooms. You can see my expression in this one is "Are you serious? Who needs this much floor area in a bathroom?"

The next home we visited was the trendy/modern one. In general this home wasn't to our tastes, either, but I did find a few spaces I really liked.

The outdoor furniture at this one was excellent.

Okay, and this bathroom is just too special not to share. What a countertop!!

I also noticed a mix of high and low this year. I spotted some several-years-old IKEA art, and this IKEA mirror. And, the designers used a mix of $12,000 art pieces and Crate + Barrel and City Home pieces.

The third house we saw was designed by a Japanese architect and meant to blur the lines between indoor and outdoor spaces.

The slat treatment was used inside, too, in the hallways and on the stairs.

The upstairs was a cool loft spaces with this meditation pillow corner.

The fourth house was my favorite, and Jason liked it, too. "The Black and White House," as we called it, which was also pretty Fixer Upper-inspired but more like the more recent season. The very modern farmhouse look. Metal roof, black windows, yum-yum-yum-yum-yum.

One trend we noticed that's different from last year is instead of offices off the main foyers, we saw a lot of cocktail/hangout spaces.

Me: "Ooh, I love that dining room light fixture!" Jason: "Yeah, it's a lot like ours." Oh.

This kitchen. Just, wow.

Widest couch ever?

The loft on this one was very cool!

The outdoor space on this one was great, too, and it had a second garage that was set up with a basketball court inside and a bar outside. And another full bathroom. Lots of outdoor conversation areas, fire pit, etc. and pool, of course.

Finally, Jason's favorite, the "Modern Winterfell" house. Sort of Joanna Gaines, sort of Game of Thrones.

Double chandeliers and a simple concrete fireplace. Drama!

I was not about the rest of this kitchen so here's the slice that I liked.

How about those booties? And outdoor chairs, love those!

Actually two of the homes at the show had these chairs this year! And the vendor had some info at a kiosk. Bet they sold a few of those!

Coolest mirror!

How cool is this bathroom?! One of our favorite coffee shops has a floor and bar treatment like this with the sort of ombre large hex tiles and we love it. See in the mirror, it's in the shower, too.

I loved this powder room--dark green, cool pendant, black/white ceramic tiles.

And the final master bathroom selfie. I actually took two in here cause there were two separate master sink areas.

So the main take-aways this year?? Well...

1. Fixing up the Stanley 90's Reno has taught us SO DANG MUCH about homes, design and decor included. We noticed details like tiles meant to look like mosaics, not laid quite flat or with perfect spacing... that we wouldn't have noticed had we not recently tiled 3 bathroom floors!
2. We like what we like. It's clear that some of the homes are not meant for our demographic, and that's okay. I used to think all expensive homes would be nice, or... if it's fancy, it must be good. But, no, I now feel pretty secure in saying, no, that ultra-modern look or French country look is just not for me.
3. We did a REALLY good job on our reno! So many of the things I liked in the show homes were choices we've made here on our scale as well. The black/white tiles, black light fixtures, pale or dark cabinets... patting myself on the back big-time. It has been a TON of work picking out and installing things here at our place but wow, I think I have gotten pretty good at it. Phew!!

Street of Dreams is going on in Happy Valley through August 27! It's a super fun outing and a great way to get inspired!

Thanks to Street of Dreams for the media passes. I didn't receive any monetary compensation for this post; just sharing cause it's fun!