Kind of Chic To: Our Current Obsessions
We don't chase trends so much as notice which ones we're still thinking about six months later. Here's what's earning permanent real estate in our specs right now.
Zebra Print, Unapologetically
Not as a "moment." Not as a single accent chair you can swap out when you get bored. We mean it structurally — a pair of pillows on a linen sofa, a runner in a hallway that has no business being that confident. Zebra print reads as maximalist, but the trick is restraint everywhere else around it. One loud thing in a quiet room is chic. Five loud things is a safari.
Photo from Pinterest
Handmade Zellige, Not the Version That Looks Like It
There's factory-pressed "zellige-inspired" tile, and then there's the real thing — hand-cut, kiln-fired, each piece slightly off from its neighbor in a way no machine can fake. The imperfection is the entire point. It catches light differently across a single wall, which is exactly what a flat, uniform tile can't do. We'll always spec the real one, even when it means waiting longer and explaining to a client why the grout lines aren't perfectly straight. That's not a flaw. That's the tile working.
Chartreuse, Used Like You Mean It
Chartreuse is the color people are scared of until they see it done well, and then they can't stop asking for it. It's not a neutral, and we don't treat it like one — it shows up as a single upholstered piece, a lacquered door, a kitchen island that makes the whole room feel considered rather than safe. The mistake is diluting it. Chartreuse wants to be the loudest thing in the room, not a suggestion of a color.
Sneak peek of our styling project in Chile!
Art From Actual Local Artists
Not prints. Not stock art bought in bulk from a wholesale catalog because it matches the palette. We mean walking into a studio, meeting the person who made the thing, and hanging it because it's good — not because it's the right size for the wall. A room full of commissioned or purchased local work tells you something a room full of catalog art never will: that someone actually lived in the decisions.
Designing for How You Live, Not How It Photographs
This is the one that doesn't show up in a carousel, but it's the one that actually matters. A kitchen island that photographs beautifully but has nowhere to put your keys down is a failure, no matter how good the render looks. We ask what time you actually get home, where the dog sleeps, whether you cook or you order in — and then we design around the true answer, not the aspirational one. The most chic thing a room can do is work.
— No. 9 Studio
