Large interior spaces have dominated interior design trends over the few past decades, and scale has always been the key to making an open floor plan successful. Large furniture, chunky or layered moldings, wide tile or wood flooring and hefty accessories helped bring those oversized spaces to a human-scale. With the new interior design trend of living in smaller spaces, homeowners have wanted to scale down their square footage without losing the impact that came with the “large” look. One emerging interior design trend is bolder, thicker surfaces.
We had clients who were downsizing to a Downtown Indianapolis condo and were looking to create huge visual impact in their smaller space. Our designs called for thick countertops in the kitchen and on the built-in shelving in the adjacent family room.
There are two ways to make a chunkier countertop – stacking two small layers just on the edge of the slab and smoothing it out, or placing one piece on its side along the slab edge and mitering them smoothly at the corners. The latter is a more expensive option since it requires great skill, however, it offers the most cohesive look. A skilled installer is central to pulling off this look, and fortunately, the superb craftsmen at Tremain Tile, Marble & Granite were on our team. The final product made the island one of the stars of the space.
For the family room, we continued the stone fireplace mantle to serve as a thick top for the built-in cabinetry. This design feature meant that the shelving for the upper portion of the cabinet wall had to be crafted a bit chunkier to fit into the overall design.
As we scale down the square footage of our living spaces, we do not have to sacrifice being bold with our design choices! For advice on how to create the smaller space of your dreams, send us an email or give us a call at 317.253.8986.
