Small Moments
Small moments are the good stuff in life. But we’re not actually looking to get too philosophical in this newsletter! Instead we’re looking at small moments in the home, which add personality and character to your spaces. Take the above image as an example. This is a vignette shot from a powder room we just completed and photographed. From a utilitarian standpoint, you need a toilet, a sink, hand soap, and a towel in a powder room. But we turned this tiny room into a small moment in the house. The more macro choices were the stunning wallpaper and complementary deep teal paint on the planked walls. From a micro perspective we chose a hand towel that has some yellow in it that echoes the yellow in the wallpaper. We also chose a hand soap dispenser that has simple elegance and added a sweet brass pear figurine next to it. It doesn’t serve a functional purpose but it’s a small aesthetic moment. Sprinkling these small moments throughout your home are what make your home your own and imbue a room and a house with joy. As another summer comes to a close, think about where you could add some small joyful moments to your home…the season is coming where you’re probably going to be spending a lot more time there!
Product of the Month
Small brass figurines are a quirky way to create a small moment, like we did with the brass pear in the powder room. These brass birds are actually bookends, and you could use them as such, but can also break them up to add to vignettes around your house. Some ideas for this include adding one on top of a stack of books, next to a tabletop plant, or in a grouping of three with a framed photo and a small trinket dish.
What Have We Been Up To?
The Arlington project that includes this stunning powder room also has a nearly finished kitchen and primary bathroom. Shower tiling in the hall bath has just started it’s coming out so beautiful already.
We just started concepts for a few rooms in a coastal Maine home, including a bunk room, home gym, and mudroom. The client wants colorful, possibly coastal-inspired wallpaper in the mudroom and we’ve loved pulling some ideas for this.
We also photographed a small consult-based entryway we completed a few months ago. This is an example of how we can help with small projects by suggesting finishes and updates that clients can then implement themselves. Our consult services are a great way to get designer expertise and access to designer-only sources while working within a smaller budget.
Paint Colors We’re Loving
We’re trying something new with our paint colors this month. These three colors are meant to be complementary and used in a room together. For example, you could have bathroom walls painted in the color on the left, the ceiling in the middle color, and the vanity in the color on the right for an interesting but cohesive look.
Aegean Teal (left)
Benjamin Moore
An intriguing blue-green with a hint of gray, this balanced mid-tone creates natural harmony.
Genesis White (middle)
Benjamin Moore
A light-as-air hue delicately shaded with hints of gray.
Polar Ice (right)
Benjamin Moore
Clean and crisp, this cool blue captures a glacier's regal, frosty hue.
Quotable Moment This Month
"The little things? The little moments? They aren't little."
― Jon Kabat-Zinn
August Design Tip
One of our favorite ways to create a small moment in a home is by using bold wallpaper. Here are three striking wallpaper choices we love. These are designer wallpapers but you can purchase them through us by using the link above.
We know wallpaper can get expensive quickly, which is one of the reasons we love using it in smaller spaces. Small spaces with big color and/or pattern might be our favorite way to create an exciting small moment in a house. Here are three places we love to use patterned wallpaper for maximum impact.
Powder room. A powder room’s petite footprint helps keep the financial investment in wallpaper reasonable. It’s a room you use every day and one guests in your house will likely use too. You won’t believe how many people comment on the fun surprise of using your powder room and finding a happy wallpaper surrounding them when they turn on the light.
Mudroom. Often another smallish space, and another room you’ll pass through multiple times a day. We love to pair patterned mudroom wallpaper with a coordinating color on built-ins or cubbies for a saturated, high end, custom look.
Entryway. Even if you have a large entryway there is sometimes an area you can wallpaper for a small moment of pattern and color. If you can afford it and are ready for the commitment, wallpaper the whole space! What an amazing first impression this gives to anyone coming into your house.
