At Home on the Salish Sea

We've been thinking a lot about time and place this summer. Back in 2007, when we decided to return home after nearly ten years on the East Coast, we were nostalgic for the Northwest but didn't really know if we could build a design business here.

We chose the natural beauty of this place and the benefit of being deeply connected to family as things we valued above all else, so we set up our practice in a 100-year-old farmhouse and got to work. 

Above and below are photos from that first home and studio, where we lived and worked with our interns and employees and chickens and eventually our first daughter, Ada.

We were surrounded by our experiments and to-be-packed boxes. I don't think that we were as busy as we are now because we also had many long lunches and coffee breaks when the sun came out. 

If you look closely, you can find our early naturally dyed textiles, some of the first Dish tables, terracotta ceramics that eventually became our Grail series, as well as Circlet sconces and our original Totem Candles which are now made by Areaware.

We've since moved on from this home and Grain has landed in its own commercial space - so no more packing crates in the gravel drive and hoping for good weather - but we're grateful to have these photos shot by our friend Ben Blood. They help us remember the importance of taking small steps in the right direction and of coffee breaks when the sun comes out.