Needing Not at a New Portland House, Wasting Not

Shannon Quimby and Glenn Hoffinger tore a dilapidated 1920s house in the Sellwood area of Portland, Oregon, with a very specific vision: to build a sustainable house from the floor up without wasting any substance. They called their renovation job the R.E.X. — for “the Reuse Everything Experiment.”

“My grandmother was very bad,” says Quimby, a photo stylist and salvage decorator. “We used everything, and we saved everything. When it was broken, we fixed it. When it was broken, and we could not fix it, we would change it into something different.” She and Hoffinger worked tirelessly for seven months because their own general contractors, conserving everything out of the crumbling foundation to bottles located on the building site, nails in the walls and even floor grates.

“We saved trees, we encouraged local companies, we encouraged nonprofit businesses who came into assist deconstruct and we taught people how to do this for future jobs,” says Quimby. For the interior she decorated with secondhand, budget-friendly finds wherever possible. “Thrift stores and salvage yards are my Chocolate Property,” she states. “I like to discover things everybody passes by and figure out exactly what I can change them into.”

at a Glance
Who lives here: Shannon Quimby; Glenn Hoffinger; their son, Chase; and cats Plum and Bella
Location: Sellwood area of Portland, Oregon
Size: 3,100 square feet (like the garage); 3 bedrooms, 31/2 bathrooms
That’s intriguing: The couple hired as many as 350 subcontractors for its renovation; about average 20 per day labored on it. The most they had onsite was 67.

Whitney Lyons

The siding was the only job that cost more to refinish than replace with new. The shiplap needed to be dipped, sanded and primed to eliminate the lead-based paint.

“When we’d bought it new, it might have cost us $2,000 less,” Quimby says. “But we saved trees saved it from going to the landfill.”

Before Photo

Cridland Photo

Quimby and Hoffinger began deconstructing the house in 2007. They hired local company The Rebuilding Center to provide help. The project took seven months to finish.

Before Photo

Cridland Photo

After taking down the house, they organized the building materials to reuse but discovered an issue. “We made a big mistake,” Quimby says. “After putting everything in the lawn, we realized we had nowhere to build the house. We needed to lease two containers and shop everything in these.”

Whitney Lyons

AFTER: From the dining area, Quimby repurposed beer and wine bottles located on the house during reconstruction to create a dining room chandelier. She even took the bottles for her mason to get them cut using a wet saw and then added the lightbulbs.

Table: Fixing, Urban Timberworks

Whitney Lyons

A vintage map hides a mounted tv in the living area. “The map retains the union together,” Quimby says. She purchased the cupboard at a local garage sale for $55. The couple cut off the sides and turned it to a corner cabinet to maintain their electronics.

Before Photo

Cridland Photo

Everything in this space got a new life in the new house. The floor grate in the old living room is now the front door boot scraper. The floor was saved and utilized on a mini fridge as door paneling, as floor for two of the bathrooms and as bases for window beds in the upstairs playroom.

Whitney Lyons

They bought the sectional at an estate sale for $300. The back of the sofa, piping and buttons are all covered in burlap Quimby found for $4 at Goodwill. She found the rest of the cloth online at a discount.

Whitney Lyons

This set of cushioned chairs in the living area cost $35 at a neighbor’s real estate sale. Quimby reupholstered the seats together with old java bean sacks and jeans. She designed the fireplace hearth with bits of wood in the old sunporch.

Whitney Lyons

Quimby repurposed holly trees in the home for stools. “Holly trees are an invasive species, so you don’t need a license to cut down them,” she states. An old mailbox utilized as a side table sits with a sofa Quimby purchased for $20 at a garage sale.

Before Photo

Cridland Photo

The cabinetry and sink in the kitchen are presently being utilized in Quimby and Hoffinger’s workshop.

Whitney Lyons

AFTER: The kitchen island is created of a composite of 80-year-old framing by the previous house and leftover framing by the new construction. Above the island Quimby and Hoffinger utilized a window in the old home as decoration.

Knobs and hardware in the kitchen and throughout the house are made from insulators.

The couple found the large scale at an estate sale in Medford, Oregon. It was not a part of the sale, but Quimby’s eagle eye spotted the stone under 40 decades of sawdust. She paid $25 for this .

Whitney Lyons

Popcorn and brown sugar have been stored in jars attached to the bottom of the kitchen cabinet. Quimby’s grandfather Buzz was a bus driver with handyman abilities who maintained his nuts and bolts in jars that were similar in his workshop.

Most of the countertops in the house, including this one, are by Trinity. They’re created from recycled broken bottles and low-carbon concrete.

Whitney Lyons

Recycled chestnut floors make a beautiful hallway — and bowling alley.

Whitney Lyons

Quimby made this toilet pebble mat by gluing pebbles to a $4 mat out of Target. She bought the pedal faucet online with her son and his buddies in mind. The vanity is made of the old home’s back door.

Whitney Lyons

After the treads showed up for the stairs, they had been too brief. As opposed to taking the bits to the ditch and beginning from scratch, Quimby asked the builders to bulge the skirt out, put in a lip and make a toy-car monitor for her own son.

Numbers are attached at random by Velcro on each stair riser; they can easily be eliminated should the household need a switch.

Whitney Lyons

Quimby painted all the walls in the house using low-VOC paint from Yolo Colorhouse. This guest bedroom color is Water.02. The chandelier is an antique, purchased for $25.

Whitney Lyons

This armoire in the guest bedroom was Quimby’s first antique buy. A drum-clock garage sale locate decorates a repurposed lattice.

Whitney Lyons

The laundry area countertop is made from layers of paper out of Paperstone, bought at Green Depot. The colour is Gun Metal.

Quimby paid $10 for its white wall cupboards, which sat in storage for many years before the R.E.X. supplied the perfect chance to use them.

Whitney Lyons

The brass chandelier is an antique that Quimby upgraded with white paint using a toothbrush.

Friends gave them the letters utilized below the bathtub apron, which is lined with salvaged door and door trim.

Wall paint: Leaf.04, Yolo Colorhouse

Whitney Lyons

Quimby found this drain years ago in an old home’s scrap heap and turned it into a flowerpot.

Whitney Lyons

The main bedroom headboard is made from salvaged wood; it was the driveway gate of the first house. Quimby claims the gate was employed as an equestrian jump and as part of the decor in a Western-theme pub.

The foundation of the gate was discovered as it was featured in an article in The Oregonian. The creator realized his work and contacted Quimby.

Whitney Lyons

Ten years ago Quimby re-covered this chair in the main bedroom with burlap. “Burlap and java bean sacks are hot right now, and I’ve been doing this for decades,” she states. “Everybody told me how damaging it’d be — it’s not.”

Whitney Lyons

Among the biggest splurges was this beautiful armchair in the primary bedroom. “I really feel guilty about how much I spent on it. I despise spending money,” Quimby says. She found the bag at a garage sale and paid $45 for its antique lamp.

Whitney Lyons

Quimby designed the master bathroom vanity using the home’s unique groove and tongue Douglas fir flooring. The multiple colours are from years of paint layers. She scrubbed the old floor with water and soap and coated it with foam, subsequently added chrome-plated knobs in the hardware shop, personalizing them with rocks by a nearby creek.

The sconces are repurposed outdoor lighting fixtures out of a salvage yard. “They had been missing the glass panels, but I thought that looked great and decided not to replace them,” she states.

A vintage railroad sign over the mirror is a reminder of what things cost years ago.

Mirror: Goodwill; shower tiles: Fireclay Tile; counter: Home in Coal Grey, Eco-Cem

Whitney Lyons

The base of the upstairs window seats is made out of floors from the first living area. Quimby built them as wide as twin beds therefore the couple’s son and his buddies can have sleepovers.

Whitney Lyons

Intricate newel post caps in the former home adorn the new stairs.

Quimby is fascinated with old photos and decorated a wall in the upstairs hallway with old black and white photos of families from secondhand stores. “I always wonder exactly what those people were enjoy and ponder over their history,” she states.

Whitney Lyons

Chase designed this tree house, called Fort R.E.X., when he was 6. It is built with scrap wood.

Whitney Lyons

Once a year Quimby, shown here, has a massive garage sale.

She gives two to three tours of her house every year and occasionally shows it to interested folks who are passing by too.

“It’s a blessing, and I’m very proud of it. I enjoy discussing it,” she states.

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