Design With Refinement

Spaces sourced with intention. Designed for the life you’re actually living.

Full-Service Design, Designer for a Day, Mini Design Sessions, and Small Business Design — every service guided by the same philosophy: quality over quantity, personal over generic, and built to last.

Explore our services at designwithrefinement.com. Link in bio.

Design With Refinement is a boutique interior design studio based in Portland, Oregon.

Trade sourced. Thoughtfully found. Built for the life you’re actually living. We serve homeowners and small businesses
throughout the greater Portland area and Pacific Northwest — from first consultation to final install.

Link in bio to learn more.

Design With Refinement is a boutique interior design studio based in Portland, Oregon.

Trade sourced. Thoughtfully found. Built for the life you’re actually living. We serve homeowners and small businesses throughout the greater Portland area and Pacific Northwest — from first consultation to final install.

Link in bio to learn more.

Every project starts the same way, with a conversation.

Not sure which service is right for you? That’s exactly what the Discovery Call is for.

Book a Discovery Call, Mini Session, or Designer for a Day at designwithrefinement.com — link in bio.

Spaces sourced with intention. Designed for the life you’re actually living.

Full-Service Design, Designer for a Day, Mini Design Sessions, and Small Business Design — every service guided by the same philosophy: quality over quantity, personal over generic, and built to last.

Explore our services at designwithrefinement.com . Link in bio.

Before + after and the story behind the colors.

Our Oregon City clients knew something felt off
about their home's exterior but couldn't pinpoint
why. When I looked, the answer was clear with cool
tones and warm tones competing with each
other, and the brick was adding a third element
of color.

The solution: lean into the architecture instead
of fighting it.

We went two-tone. Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze
on the accents and garage which was an immediate yes the moment we pulled it. Sherwin Williams White Duck
as the primary. Warm, grounded, and completely
cohesive.

A few things worth knowing about exterior paint
in the PNW:

Color reads differently here than it does on a
paint chip or in a sunnier climate. Our gray
light flattens some tones and intensifies others.
LRV matters (a lot) as colors with the wrong light
reflectance value will either wash out or absorb
heat in ways you won't see coming. Getting it
wrong on an exterior isn't a quick fix.

The before and after speak for themselves but
the color theory behind it is the real story.

Questions about your exterior? Contact me!

Off the mood board

I grew up in a yurt.

No electricity. No running water. Nine of us - my parents, six brothers, and me - all in a circular structure on a commune in Washington State. Kerosene lamps for light. An outhouse. A camping cooler for a fridge.

It was amazing.

We ran wild. We learned from the land. We watched our parents work from dawn to dark for so little in return and do it anyway, with joy.

They're still farming. Still growing their own food. Still making things last. In their mid/late-70s and going strong.

I didn't realize until much later that this is exactly why I became the kind of designer I am. Much of the furniture I specify is American-made, built to last decades. My true joy: original pieces found through estate sales, auctions, and consignment shops.

Everything I source, every layer I add, every decision I make in a client's home comes from that perspective. Treating our earth well. Valuing craftsmanship. Honoring both the present and the past.

Some origin stories are obvious. Mine took me a while to see.

The full story is on the blog. Link in bio.