Architectural metalworker Joseph Mross specializes in custom, hammered-copper kitchen and fireplace hoods done in an Arts & Craft-style, but he’s made all sorts of other things, too. “I’ve done light fixtures, awnings, doors and even a hammered-pewter entertainment center,” he says. “Once, I was asked to make a forged basketball hoop.”  

A tiled shower room. A rainforest showerhead. A soaking tub you can truly hunker down in. His-and-her sinks. A heated travertine floor. If you’re steaming for a new master bathroom, these are undoubtedly some of the features you’re going to try to squeeze into the space. Oregon Home asked a tilesetter, two designers and an architect for ways to do the room right.

S.E. Belmont St. is quickly becoming a competitor to the nearby—and much trendier—Hawthorne neighborhood. And with shops from the downright delicious (Saint Cupcake) to the ultra-stylish (Za Zen), you'll be ready to spend an afternoon discovering all of this southeast street's charms.

Way less hip than its tattooed sister shopping mecca—the Hawthorne District—one main drag to the south, S.E. Belmont St. is a fresh mix of boutiques in which new and vintage house stuff share a store with cupcakes, or tea from afar is sold next to one of the city’s best tea bars.

Growing up in Germany, Helga Winter never imagined becoming an artist of any kind, much less a woodturner. “When I was a child, I did a lot of knitting and crocheting, but it wasn’t considered art because it was practical,” she says. “When I left school, I worked as a doctor’s assistant.”

For Portland designer Michael Arras, his early experience with art gave no indication that he’d eventually decide to design furniture. “In school, I took art classes with everyone else,” he says. “But I didn’t have a real interest then. Mostly I doodled.”

To learn woodworking, furniture designer Richard Massey apprenticed to both his father and his grandfather. “I’m a fourth-generation woodworker,” he says. “It’s in my blood. I learned a tremendous amount from my grandfather, and not just about woodworking, but also about life. He was a wonderful person.”

When artist and jewelrymaker Elyse Bunkers discovered metal, she knew she’d found her medium. “It’s nice to work with such a stable material,” she says. “But I also like that I can manipulate it.”