Skip to main content
Just as people start to look like their dogs, your home is supposed to be a reflection of the inner you. The dog thing seems to work itself out. Popular myth says the house thing follows just as naturally. But in reality, when we snowflakes set out to imbue our homes with all of our charms and nuances, most of us wind up living in an Ikea showroom.
NestFest 2026
That’s most of us. WW’s annual home design magazine, Nester, profiles the exceptions—Portlanders who are really good at crafting living spaces in their own image, like Lovely’s Fifty Fifty chef Sarah Minnick and prop stylist Anne Parker. In contrast to Architectural Digest–style house porn, the magazine is aspirational in a way that you might actually, you know, use.
NestFest, the totally free two-day party of panels, design tours and walk-up workshops that launches the mag, goes one step further in helping you make your house cooler. This year, it takes over the newly renovated headquarters of Art of Catering in the middle of the Central Eastside—Portland’s design district—on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19 and 20.
The aesthetically inclined theologian Nolan Kurtz, another subject of this year’s Nester, will sit on a panel about the magic trick of homemaking. Other talks include artists Kate Blairstone and Daren Todd as well as several designers from the vaunted Jessica Helgerson interiors firm. Also look out for rooms curated by artist and designer teams specifically for NestFest, which function like 3D magazine spreads; instead of taking a screenshot, you can step inside, walk around, and make yourself at home.
But you can’t leave without getting your hands dirty. At 11 different interactive stations, a choice group of home pros will walk you through their tricks and tips. If literal dirt is your concern, folks from Blueprint Earth will help you manage your garden soil. JK Paint offers an interactive “Color Personality Quiz” (a big step up from your Ikea palette).
Craftsman Design & Renovation may have interpreted the brief most directly. Bring questions and the remodeling company’s designers will solve your specific design conundrums. Tell them, “I was going for doe-eyed, three-legged corgi but it came out Swedish and unpronounceable” and they’ll tell you where you went wrong.
In short, we planned a whole weekend with the goal of freeing you from following the rules on those confounding pages of furniture-assembly instructions. By the time you leave NestFest, you’ll be able to find your way home. —Matthew Trueherz, Arts & Culture Editor
GO: NestFest at Art of Catering, 110 SE Taylor St., nestfestpdx.com. Noon–5 pm Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19 and 20. Free.
