Walls That Wow
Creative Treatments that Make a Statement with Sustain Interiors of Hood River, Oregon
by Jennifer Walton
When you last entered your home, did you think it needed refreshing beyond a quick coat of paint, a rearranging of furniture, or a few new plants to give it a proper update? Of course, you can easily upgrade your living room with new textiles like throw pillows or rugs, or freshen up your bedroom look with new linens or draperies, or take on a decluttering and reorganizing of your entire home that would make Maria Kondo blush. Yet those boosts to a space often only last several months before you’re contemplating what’s next. When you want to change the entire energy of a room to reflect your personality and style, look at your walls.
An art form that requires skill and expertise to execute correctly, plaster can enhance a home’s space, light, and depth with its subtle variations in color, texture, and pattern.
Consider your walls’ purpose. First, they define the room’s space. They create boundaries, provide structure, and allow you to arrange furniture, art, and other design elements in a cohesive and visually appealing way. Further, they provide a canvas for color and texture and set the tone for the entire room. They also showcase artwork and provide space to display paintings, photographs, and other decorative items, while pulling double duty when they draw the eye to a specific feature or area, like moldings or accents. And lastly, they insulate, protect, and offer privacy. Because your walls act as a foundation for interior design, consider how you might want to change their color, texture, structure, or covering.
Sustain Interiors and Sustain Home has transformed homes with their interior design, building services, cabinetry, and, specifically, plaster, from which they’ve built their reputation and expertise with nearly four decades of experience. Whether it’s a new build, remodel, or refresh you’re after, Sustain’s passion for defining a home’s character with its treatment of walls using natural plaster is known throughout the Columbia River Gorge area and beyond.
Plaster, wallpaper, and artwork—these treatments are the blueprint for expressing the essence of your home. Let’s look at what’s possible with Sustain Interiors’ support, services, and resources.
Plaster: Adding Dimension to Interior Walls
Plaster is a versatile and enduring material used for centuries to create beautiful and functional interior spaces. From decorative moldings to textured walls, plaster uniquely adds elegance, sophistication, and a mood-altering aesthetic to virtually any room. An art form that requires skill and expertise to execute correctly, plaster can enhance a home’s space, light, and depth with its subtle variations in color, texture, and pattern. A natural material not defined by modern or traditional architectural styles, it is eco-friendly, enduring, and easy to maintain. As a result, plaster became Heith England’s preference for distilling a home’s individuality. The founder/owner of Hood River’s Sustain Interiors is perfectly positioned to celebrate plaster’s versatility and desirability. He and his son Chase have worked with the breathable, fireproof, mold- and mildew-resistant medium with a virtually infinite amount of pigments in multiple applications in dozens of commercial and residential properties throughout the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West.
“We specialize in and distribute mainly two plasters, American Clay and Meoded. American Clay is earthen clay plaster comprised of clay aggregate, water, and pigment, creating a fantastic, healthy, breathable finish. Meoded is our supplier for all of our decorative wall finishes. Meoded offers a full line of authentic lime-based plaster ranging from gloss to matte to textured finishes. They have plasters for inside showers, a beautiful Lime Wash, metallic paints, glitter paints, and anything you can imagine,” says England.
Employing the tadelakt technique ensures that when the surface is used in bathrooms (including sinks and showers) or throughout a home’s interior (including floors, ceilings, and kitchen countertops), it is waterproof and water-repellant with a bonus of excellent soundproofing properties. In addition, it is seamless, highly resistant to cracking, and does not fade. Sustain Interiors’ artisanship is evident in the superlative application of this timeless and iconic material.
Wallpaper: From Bare to Beautiful
Today’s wallpapers are available in various colors, patterns, and textures. What many homeowners love about wallpaper is its ability to instantly alter a room’s appeal. Sustain Home works closely with professional wallpaper installers and carries several wallpaper brands, including Wippowillow Wallpaper and Manolo Walls; both local companies offer enticing, curated collections of bold patterns, botanicals, florals, animals, and intricately-designed papers. Wippowillow Wallpaper artist Kate Troyer works with designers and clients to create custom colors and papers—it’s a visual and tactile experience for the client and designer working with the local artist, and all parties involved express their joy in engaging in the creative process.
“We have clients wallpapering everything from powder bathrooms, stair treads, feature walls, to their sailboat bathrooms.”
–Lisa Yank, Creative Director, Sustain Interiors
With a longer lifespan than paint, wallpaper can be used in and around shelving, windows, and headboards. “We have clients wallpapering everything from powder bathrooms, stair treads, feature walls, to their sailboat bathrooms,” states Lisa Yank, Sustain Interiors’ Creative Director.
As manufacturers continue to introduce new designs, you’ll have more options for the aesthetic you want to achieve. This wall treatment promises more than a “wow factor;” it guarantees immediate impact, whether you’ve chosen an unexpected whimsical pattern or abstract geometric look.
Wall Art: A Fresh Serving of Artists
Adding art personalizes and complements any room in your home because you chose it. It can set the tone (serene or lively), illustrate your interests (travel, music, nature), tie together various elements of the space (furniture, color, soft goods), or act as a finishing detail providing balance and symmetry. Alternatively, a room can begin its transformation by using a single piece of art as its inspiration. “We love art at Sustain Home and feel that it helps create a beautiful interior—as a way to bring color and pattern to a room when the interiors are soft and neutral. We frequently change our art in the showroom and highlight different artists quarterly to inspire people to bring art into their homes,” says Yank.
With art as a unifier, collaboration and community go hand-in-hand at Sustain. Yank continues, “We just started a collaboration with the local 301gallery and have begun carrying their art while they display our furniture vignettes styled by Sustain Designers—bringing the community together with art and interiors.” With two showrooms—Sustain Interiors, located at 206 State Street, and Sustain Home, a two-minute walk away at 215 First Street—the Sustain family and staff, which includes Brew (a black Lab whose official title is Plaster Inspector), are ready for the opportunity to guide you through any size project from concept to completion, utilizing their superb craftsmanship, expansive knowledge, and their signature style for making walls that wow.
On tap for Spring and Summer at Sustain
April 1 • Spring Pop-Up
April 21 • Meet the Artist Warren Heard
April 22 • Meet the Artist Lenor Bingham
June 2 • First Friday / Romeo Gelato and Artist
July 7 • First Friday / Costa Rosa Farms Vinyl and Cider
August 4 • First Friday / Indian Textile Pop-Up
September 1 • First Friday / Wallpaper Artist Kate Troyer
