Hello lovely,
Good evening. A slightly later than usual email from me, the weekend ran away from me in the nicest kind of way.
There’s something about this time of year, when the light arrives earlier, lingers a little longer, and gently finds its way into corners you haven’t properly noticed in months.
It changes how your home feels without you doing anything at all. And lately, it’s been making me look less at the big, obvious spaces… and more at the ones in between.
When we think about designing our homes, we tend to begin with the obvious. The kitchen. The living room. The bedroom. But I’m finding myself drawn to the ‘connecting’ rooms.
The hallway you walk through half asleep each morning. The downstairs loo your guests use. That slightly awkward landing at the top of the stairs. The utility room where real life unfolds. The box room that quietly collects the things you’re not quite ready to let go of. The nook under the stairs that never quite becomes anything.
These spaces are so often dismissed as “just functional”, but in my experience, they’re the ones with the most potential to hold soul. Because they don’t come with the same expectations, they don’t need to impress and they don’t need to perform.
It’s an opportunity for you to allow yourself to be more instinctive, more expressive. To choose something simply because it makes you feel something, share your personality a bit more.
I’ve visited so many homes, and the ones that stay with me aren’t the biggest or the most polished. They’re the ones where every corner feels loved. Where a tiny cloakroom makes you smile. Where the hallway softens something in you the moment you walk through the door. Where a small nook feels like a place you want to linger.
Today I’m going to give you some ideas from Pinterest so you can look at your smaller spaces with fresh eyes.
Stop trying to make small spaces feel bigger
We may think that white should be used in smaller spaces to make it feel bigger, not every small room needs to be painted white.
Small spaces already come with shadows, lower ceilings and less natural light. When you paint them a bright white, those qualities can become more pronounced. Corners feel sharper, and the light can feel flatter.
Instead, I always suggest leaning into the space as it is.
Colour drenching a room in a mid-tone or deeper shade creates something much more intentional. It softens the edges. It absorbs the light in a way that reduces those grey, awkward shadows. And it brings a sense of calm that white often can’t achieve in smaller spaces.
Your hallway sets the emotional tone of your home
Hallways are so often overlooked. The place where you dump your bags, kick of your shoes and hang up your keys, but they carry more emotional weight than we realise.
It’s the first moment you have when you walk through your front door. After a long day, a busy morning, or simply the rhythm of everyday life.
Think about how you want to feel when you arrive home. Calm? Grounded? Slightly lifted? Then lean into this.
Because you move through a hallway rather than spend time in it, it gives you a certain freedom. You can go a little bolder. Perhaps a little deeper. A little more saturated.
Even something as simple as painting the stairs in a richer tone can completely shift the energy.
It’s less about playing it safe and more about creating a feeling you return to every day.
Make your downstairs bathroom unexpectedly joyful
I’ve always had a soft spot for a downstairs loo. Partly because it’s one of the few spaces in your home where you can take a real risk without it feeling overwhelming.
You can paint everything one colour. You can wallpaper the ceiling. You can bring in vintage pieces, layered patterns, or lighting that feels slightly theatrical.
There’s a freedom in these smaller spaces.
They can feel like a hidden jewel box within your home. Something a little surprising and a little indulgent.
And because no one spends long in there, you can be braver than you might elsewhere.
A deep burgundy. A warm, enveloping blue. Even a soft buttery yellow that catches the light in a gentler way.
It’s about creating a room people remember, even if they can’t quite explain why.
Bring nature into forgotten corners
One of the strongest themes I noticed coming out of Milan Design Week this year was a desire for homes to feel slower. Less digital, less performative and more restorative.
There’s a real shift towards spaces that allow us to switch off properly. One of the simplest ways to bring that feeling into smaller, overlooked areas is through natural materials.
A sisal runner underfoot. A wooden stool beside a bath. Ceramic tiles with subtle variation. Layers of texture that feel organic rather than overly styled.
It’s these little thoughtful details that create depth and feeling.
Ask yourself: what could this space become?
Sometimes it’s just a matter of looking again at your home and the spaces. An awkward alcove might become a quiet reading corner. A box room might turn into a space to stretch, journal, paint, or simply sit with a coffee. A landing could hold a chair, a lamp, and a small stack of books waiting to be picked up.
We’re so used to thinking about space in terms of productivity, how it can be used or how it can work harder.
Sometimes the most meaningful spaces in a home exist purely for pleasure. That almost feels quite radical right now.
The homes we remember are the ones with a touch of personality in every corner. The ones where even the smallest spaces quietly say something about the people who live there.
And that, to me, is always far more interesting than perfection.
Speak in a couple of weeks!
Tash x
P.S. If you’ve transformed a small, forgotten corner of your home into something special, send me a photo or tag me on Instagram. These are genuinely some of my favourite spaces to see.