Bright Bookshelves & A Spa Tub Make This Low-Waste Home Renovation Sing

Creative director Rachel Rowland had only been living in her Portland, Oregon, home for a few months when the pandemic hit. Despite supply chain delays and massive material shortages, she decided to try her hand at renovating the space to better suit her needs, using techniques that were as low-waste as possible. We asked Rowland what the process taught her about sustainable design, self-sufficiency, and creating a house that feels like home—even during challenging times.

Playful, curated, and cozy. 

Aside from the bathroom addition and attic renovation, I have done a lot of smaller-scale projects on my own, which have ranged from landscaping to staining to constructing a built-in bookshelf out of unused closet space.

With this project, I tried to come up with creative ways to reinvent and refurbish older pieces and limit my click-and-deliver level of consumption whenever I could.

Pandemic-related sourcing challenges and logistics have actually ended up being a bit of a blessing, creatively and sustainability-wise. I would bring my inspiration and ideas, but then I had to work with limited materials, supply chain issues, etc., forcing me to lean into using what was already around me. I have lots of knickknacks collected during my travels, and I started to let those shape my design. 

Mostly, though, a lot of the stuff I've done has come out of me just starting to tinker around listening to Fleetwood Mac and Alanis Morissette, getting inspired by cool lady vibes, having an idea, and breaking it down one step at a time. We've all got to start somewhere.

My favorite piece in my home is probably my dining table. My grandmother and her sister were both artists, and this table belonged to their mother, my great-grandmother. It is almost 150 years old, and thinking about all of the meals shared, artwork created, and times spent at that table over three generations of women in my family is really special to me.

Ironically, even though I've put so much work into the house, my favorite "room" is actually the backyard! After living in Los Angeles for over a decade, I was nervous about readjusting to the climate of my native Northwest, so I made a conscious effort to tie the outdoor space here to that period of my life. I hung up a hammock and even put out a potted citrus tree, and sitting under the pergola is pretty much my favorite place to be at any given time.

I am always burning incense, candles, and palo santo, and I love using my fireplace—there are always smells of warmth here. I also have a few large rosemary bushes, and I sprinkle cut rosemary in vases around the house (I even rub in it my hair and on my skin as a bit of an au-naturel perfume). Smell is such an emotional and memory-triggering thing, and it is very tied into a sense of home for me.

Whenever people comment on my home's uniqueness or personality, that makes me happy. I try not to get swept up in trends, and I very much know when I see something if it speaks to me or not. I would rather wait and limit myself to collecting personality pieces over things just to fill space. So, I really like it when someone visits my space, and they can see that aspect of who I am and how I process things and what I value.

I've tried to create a home that allows me to do the things I love. I like to cook and entertain, so I built a spot for people to chill and chat and have a glass of wine while I'm making dinner. I try to exercise every day, so I turned a cement slab out back into a makeshift yoga platform. I am a notorious tinkerer and get new ideas and feel inspired when I'm on the move, so I like keeping my space dynamic. Being able to do the things that make me feel like the best version of myself is the ultimate support for my mental health and physical well-being.

Home is a place for me to feel at peace and absolutely comfortable in my own skin. It is where I am able to express myself and create memories. I don't necessarily think of four walls when I think of "home"; I think about watching movies and having sleepovers with my best friend when we were lonely and scared during COVID, making s'mores under a full moon, or having the first kiss with someone special. Having experiences that give life weight, no matter what that looks like—that's my version of home.