Musician's bungalow remodel

Scott Garred plays a 1991 Gibson Les Paul Standard in the light, bright music room, which now has plenty of space to make music and display instruments.  // Photo by Jon Jensen

When you walk into Scott and Michelle Garred’s 1911 Sears kit bungalow in Portland’s Alberta Arts district, the first thing you see is a room with an upright piano topped by a large piece of abstract art, a guitar, recording equipment and a red vintage toy airplane on the floor. It’s a sign that this home manages to combine family life with the creative life.

After Scott graduated from Washington State University in 1996, he moved to Austin, Texas, to become part of its indie music scene and formed a band, Super XX Man. “I was just playing music and trying to survive,” says Scott. “I probably had eight different jobs.” His band, which has gone through several permutations, just released its 13th album, Vol. XIII: White Bed.

Eager to return to the Northwest, he and Michelle, whom he met in Austin, moved to Portland in 2000. Michelle, a molecular biologist and accordionist who occasionally plays with the band, got a job at OHSU, and Scott enrolled in the music therapy program at Marylhurst University. Now, he works as a music therapist at the Oregon State Hospital.

To hear Scott Garred's song House/Home from the album There'll Be Diamonds, click play in the upper left hand corner of this story.

When the couple began looking for a home in 2004, they wanted space for socializing and liked how the home’s open living and dining rooms created a large common area. “Right after we moved in that June, we had band practice,” says Scott. “We have a picture of Michelle sitting on a packing box playing the piano.” Another goal was to have the reception for their August wedding in the house. “There was a mad rush to get the cosmetic things done,” says Scott. “We rented a floor sander for the weekend I graduated from Marylhurst. I was just waiting for the ceremony to be over so I could start sanding.”