I love small towns for their historic buildings and the synergy created by small business owners showcasing their niche passion, solely for our delight and, more often, consumption. We've gone from being a 'front porch' community culture to one of 'back deck' isolation, but these small-town businesses help ease that divide.
Recently, I had the good fortune to stumble onto a "First Friday" on Main Street, and more importantly, into a little confectioner's called
"Brittle Bark". I paused in front of Brittle Bark Pie, (a lovely combo of popcorn, flavored brittle, nuts and chocolate drizzle), I perused dozens of combinations and I purchased a small bag of Brittle Bark flavored with coconut and cinnamon.
Now, both of these flavors can easily overwhelm, but in my mouth they struck subtle, discernible notes on their best behavior...as my taste buds were doing the happy dance, I couldn't help but think that conscious restraint in room design was just as elusive ( bet you didn't see that one coming...)
As I munched away - forget about sharing - I cast about for images that combined subtlety and great style or nuanced use of color and pattern....feast your eyes below
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| The words subtle and animal print rarely collide in the same sentence, but this works |
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| Sigh....unbelievable tactile treat (silk/linen velvet) and remarkable for what wasn't added |
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| Asymmetric use of color and nothing jumps in your face |
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| Just wouldn't be the same with patterned pillows and landscape art |
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| Traditional use of color and pattern in the deft hands of Charlotte Moss |
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| Same skill with a Boho vibe |
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| Lamps disappear into wall, bit of gleam, high/lows in sofa fabric and love the facets of light and shadow thrown by garden stool |
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| Stone-cold traditional and incredible attention to detail: tape on sofa skirt, contrast fabric on leading edge of drapery and bullion fringe on tufted chair combine to evoke old money |
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| It's red, it's bold patterned and it's cluttered, but it manages to keep your eye moving |
Image Sources:housebeautiful,washingtonpost,jamiebeckwith,elledecor,11gray
