I like to frequent a local hotel mid-day for a couple of hours- don’t worry I’m not having an affair with anyone, it’s the hotel’s interiors that make me feel like a giddy girl in love. The Quirk Hotel is a pink muse that lights up all my buttons and feeds my mind.

Some folks don’t notice the details. They will remember a place as lovely but can’t tell you why they walked away feeling that way. The loveliness is built on a thousand small decisions that either play off each other to create a memorable space or compete with each other and miss the pleasurable mark altogether. I’ve heard it said that the people we find most attractive have the most symmetrical features which is shocking because to me most people’s eyes look symmetrical. But it’s true and yet what attracts us to certain faces goes beyond symmetry. It’s their smile, the warmness of their eyes as they lovingly look at you-all the ways they make you feel seen heard, and alive. I feel the same way about good design- sometimes it’s the beauty that symmetry makes space for and other times the asymmetrical placement of things turns my head.

I can be arrested by bad design, it can create visual overwhelm that silently runs like open tabs in the background of my mind. I don’t realize it’s draining my battery until it flashes red and alerts me to the 10 percent mark. When I encounter spaces with design cohesion my mind can rest. I’m no longer on auto-pilot sorting good from bad or rearranging rooms in my mind. I am freed up like a kid in a candy store discovering each building block that is created for enjoyment. I want to grab passers-by, take them by the hand and say did you see this visual feast that someone set up for you?

The perfect shade of high gloss coral paint that adorns the louvered lobby bathroom doors mimics a beach house shutter and makes me feel like someone turned the lights on in my mind. The way that door shakes hands with the tile under my feet sends me on my way smiling. The gallery shop makes my heart flutter-new wallpaper with giant flowers adorns the back wall of the shop and the scale is perfect. Perfect I say! Get closer and they’ve layered in items that get more pleasurable with each glance. The pink-striped Paddywax candle next to the floral packaging of Lolila’s lotions and potions makes me want to let out a little squeal of delight and buy it all! The straw handbags that line the top of the store display have pinkish handles and look like an art installation. Vintage rose branding on the bag of peanuts made especially for the Quirk makes me rethink my whole life every time I see it. I sniff the Na Nin tulip-scented candle and start to believe that life can be good again.

They used to have pink velvet barstools with an aged bronze base tucked under their bar. They have been relegated to the downstairs. I find myself daydreaming about encountering them years later for sale and making them mine. Vinyl can look cold and cheap but not in this patent leather shade of the palest pink hugging a giant oval ottoman that you could host a dinner party on. It also covers two side chairs and makes them look preppy and smart. The velvet floral print pillow makes my heart beat just a little bit faster. I start thinking about where I can find fabric like it and I’m starting to sweat.

There is a dog sculpture that looks like they have trapped him in mid sniff. It sits on a white modern table that blends into the white walls. They are playing with all kinds of design elements and it is not lost on me. I see you velvet gray couch and striped linen pillow. The baristas in pink and gray aprons and the view of the outdoor courtyard makes me wonder if this is how it feels to be drunk. The sheer explosion of shades of pink threatens to do me in, in the best of ways. Jasmine is artfully arranged in a grid-like pattern on the wall of the courtyard and the scent greets me like an old friend. There is a softness to their outdoor container gardens that doesn’t look overdone but effortless like the way a European woman dresses. Loving layers of pink flowers spill over the edges and hide between the formal boxwood. Pale bubblegum pink roses, and blush petunias mingle among the tasteful green heucheras. I’m thinking I may not be in a safe state to drive. If I didn’t live so close, I’d just have to get a room.

The outside container gardens at the Quirk-wish I could claim them as my own! They are planted by Katie Ukrop and Sublime landscaping.

Some of you may think it down right silly to wax poetic about a hotel. Maybe the feelings I’m describing greet you when you hike at sunset or crack open a new book. Perhaps you ride your bike and feel God’s good pleasure. Your mind finds rest and your tank fills up. These life giving glimpses are God’s good gifts to you. Drink them up friends and make time to stop and smell the roses! SM