Budget Breakdown: A Designer Embraces the Hippie Vibes in Her Portland Kitchen for $45K
Stephanie Dyer and her husband, Samuel, celebrate the quirks, handicraft, and patchwork of wood in their 1898 home.
Stephanie Dyer and her husband, Samuel, celebrate the quirks, handicraft, and patchwork of wood in their 1898 home.
Stephanie and Samuel Dyer are no strangers to a fixer-upper. They bought their first home in Portland, Oregon, just before getting married 20 years ago—and Stephanie says "we ended up having to remodel the entire thing." In the years since, she finished interior design school and opened her own firm, Dyer Studio, while Sam taught himself carpentry and met his future employer, Harding Construction, while building out their backyard ADU.
The couple raised two children amidst the demo dust, and now they’re on fixer-upper number three. "We always joke about being serial remodelers," says Stephanie. "But we weren’t necessarily looking for this one."
One day about four years ago, on a dog walk in their North Portland neighborhood, Sam took a left instead of a right and spotted a "For Sale by Owner" sign in the window of a 1898 dwelling. It was one of a handful of "storefront homes" that can be found throughout Portland, with a commercial space at street level and an attached house in back.
Before: Rear Facade
Before: In 2020, Stephanie and Samuel Dyer bought a "storefront home" in their North Portland neighborhood. The commercial space in front was fairly true to the building’s 1898 construction, while the home definitely had hippie vibes. "We didn’t realize that was our thing," says Stephanie.
Courtesy of Dyer Studio
The couple learned that the building has a rich history—the storefront first served as a neighborhood general store, then a WWII rations depot, and the house had evolved just as much. The bones, from the brick facade to the rear kitchen, were solid, but the vibes veered very hippie.
"Five years ago, if you had told us that we were going to buy a shabby, hippie, general store building, we would’ve been like, ‘Nah, that’s not our style,’" says Sam. "But when we found ourselves in it, it was an absolute yes."
After: Mudroom
The existing tongue-and-groove paneling in the mudroom inspired the backsplash and select cabinet fronts in the kitchen remodel. The couple kept the windows and painted the frames Benjamin Moore’s Regent Green.
Bill Purcell
It was clear that the eclectic kitchen had been cobbled together together over time. One corner appeared to have original cabinets, while the sink was flanked by a few mismatched cupboards tucked under a handmade, wood countertop with lovely rounded corners. "There were so many natural objects that have a handmade touch," says Stephanie. "Before we did anything, we asked ‘are we taking away any of the magic?’"
After: Built-In Table
Except for new paint, this side of the kitchen changed very little. The built-in booth has an original handmade redwood table that exemplifies the aesthetic the couple wanted to maintain. Now, this area is mostly a crafts station for the kids; drawers below provide a space to store art supplies.
Bill Purcell
See the full story on Dwell.com: Budget Breakdown: A Designer Embraces the Hippie Vibes in Her Portland Kitchen for $45K
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