Two stuffed animals, a Technicolor washi-tape dining table, heaps of hexagonal mirrors plus quite a piece of reclaimed wood decorate the walls, ceilings and floors of the 24 fantasy dining rooms on screen as part of the Serving Up Style fundraiser for Molly’s Fund Fighting Lupus. The event, which ran October 3 to 6, 2013, challenged 24 Portland, Oregon, designing teams to come up with the wildest, most innovative dining room potential.
Take a look at 10 of those fantasy dining rooms — from a colour explosion to a casbah camp to a cowshed — to get a glimpse of every designer’s imagination.
ColorBomb
Design team: Garrison Hullinger Interior Design
Garrison Hullinger coated his dining table in decorative Japanese washi cassette in vivid, brilliant hues. A Technicolor wall rug and treatment and eclectic wall artwork run with the crazy and colorful palette.
Suggested menu: A colorful Neverland-style meal in which food doesn’t exist unless you imagine it.
The Byre
Style team: Manor Fine Wares
This room’s simple design was motivated by Manor Fine Wares’ mascot: Tartare, a cow mount by a no-kill taxidermist (who utilizes only animals that have died of natural causes). The room is known as The Byre, following the English word for”cowshed”; it had been motivated by the contemporary movement in which old buildings have been reused for new functions.
Suggested menu: A local farm-to-table meal that reflects the area’s humble cowshed roots.
Ida York Interior Design
Home Brew
Design team: Ida York Interior Design
Portland has a different style and ambiance, and this chamber adopts some of the best of it. Reclaimed wood, elements from local breweries and trendy restaurant-inspired features convey the city’s funky blend of new and old.
Suggested menu: Pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, collard greens and bourbon balls over ice cream.
Art Institute of Portland
A Lair Combination for the Queen
Style team: The Art Institute of Portland and Ikea Portland
A team of college students from The Art Institute of Portland put their Ikea expertise to good use in this room. The design revolves entirely round wall installments of Honefoss hexagonal mirrors, which signify the gold accents and light around the room.
Suggested menu: The best, freshest honey in the hive.
Mobius Home
Glamp the Casbah: NW Meets Marrakech
Style team: Möbius Home and Studio G
Elements from Morocco and the Pacific Northwest blend in this informal, comfortable dining space. Salvaged, reclaimed, whitewashed and charred local wood (handled shou-sugi-ban style) covers the walls and ceiling, contrasting with the bright Moroccan-inspired colors.
Suggested menu: A Moroccan-fusion family-style supper with tons of spices, chicken shawarma and lamb tagine.
Urban I.D. Interior Design Services
Tranquil Hideaway
Style team: Urban I.D. Interior Design Studio
An island setting with a gorgeous view sets the tone for this unique outdoor dining room. The designers created a space where they pictured visitors unplugging and recharging from today’s busy world.
Suggested menu: A tropical-inspired meal of ceviche, crab, tropical fruit and a hibiscus cocktail.
Rejuvenation
Launched in Tanzania
Style team: Abode Design and Rejuvenation
The classic stuffed lioness and Victorian chandelier in this space ordered the theme. The mix of elegance with jungle design immediately attracted luxe safaris to mind — the first glamping! A cotton tent, a wood platform and zebra accents tie the entire room together.
Suggested menu: Traditional South African pap en vleis (maize porridge and meat) with a Cape Town cabernet.
Portland Community College
Up-Cycle
Style team: Portland Community College Design/Build Team
Portland Community College’s Design/Build team tapped to the city’s lively sustainable design movement for their area’s inspiration. A number of the products were salvaged or reclaimed in some manner, shape or form. The shrub and reclaimed wood convey the importance of indoor-outdoor dwelling.
Suggested menu: Like Hullinger’s space, a dinner party here will be much like a dinner at Neverland, together with whatever food you imagine.
YES Spaces, LLC
Feed Your Mind
Style team: YES Spaces
YES Spaces designed this dining room for a tribute to favorite childhood books. The chalkboard on the walls, by way of example, is a tribute to some publication from the Cheaper by the Dozen collection, in which the dad painted on the walls of the family’s home and left chalk treasure maps to his kids.
Suggested menu: A family celebration meal including a formal dinner, followed by rousing board matches.
Digs inside & outside
Kervanseray: Traveling the Silk Road
Style team: digs Inside & Outside
A prized mosaic chandelier located at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar sets the tone for this colorful Turkish-style design. Tulu rugs, plush pillows, pagoda lamps, suzani textiles and Turkish ceramics come together beautifully beneath a brassy black and white striped tent, much like a pit stop on the notorious Silk Road.
Suggested menu: A Turkish feast with a mezes platter of hummus, olives and pita bread; lentil soup; lamb kebab; saffron riceand honey-walnut baklava.
Watch the fantasy dining tables from last year’s event