Bend is known for its abundance of Craftsman-style homes and log cabin architecture.

But modern design is also big in this small city.

We wondered how modern style fits in with the Central Oregon’s rustic/arts-and-crafts vibe in home decor.

“furnish” (spelled with a lowercase “f”) is a Bend contemporary furniture and home accessories store on the edge of downtown, and it has flourished for a dozen years. Owners Jed and Noelle Teuber are passionate about modern design.

“To us, the modern lines work well anywhere. It’s also about textures, tones and colors. We often tell people, if you fill your Craftsman house with Stickley, no one will notice the furniture as different from the house, but put a clean, simple-lined sofa with a Stickley side table, and people will say, ‘That’s a cool side table,’ and they’ll notice the fireplace, too,” Jed Teuber said.

This summer, about a mile away from furnish, the new Bend/Modern vintage furniture and watch store opened in downtown Bend.

Bend/Modern owners, Kelly Zimmerman and Serena Christy, specialize in vintage “Danish modern,” and midcentury American furniture from the 1950s and 1960s. They don’t carry contemporary modern furniture.

“Our furniture is all original, sometimes restored and reupholstered. I can’t tell you how many times people have asked, ‘Are these reproductions or custom made?’ That’s really a compliment to us, because it looks so beautiful,” Zimmerman said.

“The furniture from the 1930s to the 1970s is really classic, and it can be mixed with other genres, and that’s the beauty of the Danish stuff. It’s very versatile,” she said.

Local interior designer Jeannie Legum frequently incorporates modern elements into Northwest-style homes. She told us that modern doesn’t have to mean cold and sterile.

“Modern design is a nice way to refresh a look. I bring it in very simply and subtly with clean lines and simplistic design. In this day and age, everybody is so busy and moving so fast, that coming home to a simplified home is relaxing and soothing. It’s uncluttered and peaceful. A lot of people think modern means cold and stark, but it doesn’t have to,” Legum said.

One local family has made a big switch to incorporating more modern design: the Leavitts, who moved to NorthWest Crossing this year from Powell Butte.

After years of ranching, raising cattle on more than 300 acres, and raising their kids in a big farmhouse-style home with cowboy and lodge-type accents, Becky and Dan Leavitt decided to downsize and start a new way of life in Bend.

“We wanted to be able to take advantage of bike trails, the farmers market and walking everywhere. We have hardly any yard now. We decided to do a 180 with the style, too,” said Becky Leavitt about her Craftsman-style home that’s a little bit “Western farmhouse” mixed in with mostly modern elements.

The Leavitts worked with Noelle and Jed Teuber of furnish to put their new home’s interior together.

“We call it ‘eclectic ranch,’” Dan Leavitt said.

The Leavitts’ dining room table is called a Graham dining table, made of reclaimed hardwoods from South America, with black iron elements and modern lines. Eames molded plastic chairs add another modern touch, and one side has a bench to match the rustic table.

“It’s easy to rearrange, and that’s something we really wanted to do: You can seat 10 to eat or play games with the grandkids, or have Bible study. The chairs can be moved to add seating in the living room,” Becky said.

Hardwood floors make it easy to move furniture around.

The living room has a glass-topped Natura table that’s a replica of the iconic Noguchi glass coffee table with a wood base.

“Jed recommended the glass table in front of our couch. We love it. The beautiful organic wood base, and the glass is very thick, so it’s good and safe for the grandkids. The glass shape itself has no hard corners; it’s a triangular organic shape too. We can put our feet up on it. It also reflects the light in the living room and has an openness that wouldn’t have happened with another table,” Becky said.

The Leavitts parted with a lot of old furniture and sentimental items in order to modernize their lives.

“We had a lot of furniture that was handed down from my folks that was 50 or 60 years old. It was tired, and it was time to find a new home for it,” Dan said.

One wall features a skull from one of the Leavitts’ bulls. A birch tree adds a modern yet Western sculptural element.

Modern shelving is mixed in with artifacts from Africa, where the Leavitts do mission work and are building a school.

A large African drum sits between two chairs in the living room. “We use it as a table; the grandkids use it as a drum,” Dan said.

The Leavitt home is a well-thought-out mixture of old and new, Western and modern, marked by simple and clean lines, and that’s just the way they wanted it to be.

“I wanted to be able to clean the house, and get out the door fast, so we made the decision to go more modern. The big, clean, open lines are dictated by the house.

“At the same time, we’re very much outdoor, ranch people, so we didn’t want to completely go 100 percent modern. We tried to combine a rustic farmhouse look with modern. It turned out to feel very peaceful, and honestly, for me, the person who does most of the housecleaning, I can keep up on it. It makes me feel more at home to know the house is in order,” Becky said.

So contemporary modern decor and vintage modern furniture can easily fit into Central Oregon style. As Jed Teuber of furnish design told us: “Modern goes anywhere.”

“We often refer to modern design as ‘the little black dress.’ It’s the very well-done basic form that allows everything else to shine,” Teuber said.

— Reporter: ahighberger@mac.com