Adopting old Douglas Fir

Back side of Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage - raw material for beautiful ecological furniture.

People often ask where the wood that we use at Portico comes from. We work mainly with old reclaimed Douglas Fir.

The first immigrant Oregonians of a hundred or more years ago had no other choice but to use old growth trees for their construction needs. A lot of old barns in the Oregon country side are now reaching their end of usefull life. If you own one the old barns that is about to collapse, consider calling a business such as Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage. Much more ecological than burning the wood. The folks in Aurora sell this resource to the public. In my opinion a must see place when you go to Aurora Oregon.

Willie Shelf Triplet

A cookbook publicist who arrived in town from New York City finally found the right shelving for his cookbooks. Mr. Mowery apparently also has a good eye for color, and decided on the colors for this Willie triplet that he commisioned. Greg Mowery's cookbook blog is http://www.stovetopreadings.com.

In the upper right side of the picture you can see that the backing is made from sun-bleached recycled fence boards. They required no finishing whatsoever.

Summer is fading away so slow. Take another stroll through your back yard - have one more barbeque. The summer wind left its droppings on the Sunshine outdoor furniture - as you can see in the picture.

We hope to build some more of this wood furniture next year. I trust there will be a new supply of old fence boards available for the next cycle of production.

Thanks to all of you who participated with our custom furniture. You can see more on our website: http://www.porticostyle.com/

Platform Bed

One of my clients recently arrived in town. This is the bed that they commissioned me to build.

I decided that a slightly back-sloping headboard would look more interesting than a vertical one.

The headboard is 5 feet tall. The top of the platform is only 6 inches of the ground. The old recycled Douglas Fir boards received an espresso finish. The horizontal boards in the headboard came from a decommisioned barn in Scio Oregon.

It was a fun project, especially figuring out how to keep the tall headboard together with the low platform. This new modern platform bed design was christened the Dreamboat.

Willie Dog Bookshelf

Our latest addition to the Portico furniture collection. Made from recycled fence boards right here in our design/build studio using kreg jig construction. This particular Willie Dog is 36" x 14.5" x 70" high.

More sizes and finish options available by order.

Willie Dog on the right is displaying work from local artist Hadley Hutton. Beautiful flora and fauna.

New & Improved Sunshine Outdoor furniture!

We have made a few modifications to our line of outdoor furniture- new dimensions and more leg room! But availability of Sunshine outdoor furniture is spring and early summer.

Outdoor furniture

Here are my ( Johan Meijer ) latest efforts. The orange and black shelf is a variation on the Tabor desk. A minor redesign turned the Tabor work table into a shelving unit. The horizontal surfaces are made of new plywood, but at least the frame for this one was made from recycled fence boards.

Since spring has sprung in the northern hemisphere, i started an outdoor line of patio furniture.

Willie, my dog, would not look up for his picture.

I expect this outdoor wood furniture to age nicely in Oregon's wet climate. An outdoor finish will keep the paint looking fresh for the first couple of years, before the elements show their dominance.

Coming up will be an outdoor bench with a back, and also a rectangular table to round out the set.

Pictures of the newest projects will be gathered here on flikr.

Portico's website.

Any of these pieces can easily made in custom sizes.

Greetings, Johan Meijer

Custom Kitchen Island

These kitchen islands are 36 inches tall. The tops have a tight grain, and made from old Douglas Fir building material. They are not meant for the purpose of cutting food directly on the top, but they are dent and scratch resistant. The finish is a food safe eco-friendly oil.

If you want the top to be a chopping block, we can use a maple top.

The base can be painted in any color. Standard with a barn wood shelf.

See more furniture pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36630249@N07/

See our website: http://www.porticostyle.com/

Portlandia Table

One of our customers requested the Portlandia table in a dark brown color.

We were all pleased to see how close the color of the table matched the color of our chairs.

The Portlandia table is made here in Portland, Oregon from old salvaged wood. Call us for details at 503 230-2522.