The Piece That Changed Everything: How a 19th-Century Painting Became the Anchor for an Entire Room
How the Client Found It: A Backstory at DeVol
Some people return from a trip with a tote bag. Our client came back with a 19th-century landscape painting wrapped in linen and reverence.
It was discovered tucked against a pale pink wall above the Sebastian Cox range at Cotes Mill, the beloved showroom of DeVol Kitchens in England. Nestled among handmade cabinetry and age-washed ceramic vessels, the painting wasn’t front and center. It wasn’t styled to catch attention. But it called to her.
A quiet composition of trees, hills, a church spire, and shadowed sky, the piece radiated a kind of stillness that doesn’t ask to be admired. It just is. Its surface bore signs of age: soft craquelure, a few nicks along the frame. But that patina felt like permission: to bring home not just an object, but a mood. A memory. A mood that lingered longer than any souvenir.
She didn’t know where it would go. But she knew it mattered. And so it came home.
How the Palette and Feel Emerged
The painting sat in her home for months before we stepped in.
When we arrived, it was leaning against a wall in the dining room behind the corner sofa. Slightly crooked. Waiting.
And yet, without realizing it, everything else had started to form around it.
There were candleholders in aged brass. A stack of antique books in a similar color palette. A vintage chair she’d found at a flea market. The bones of the space were already responding to the painting’s palette — soft blues, muted earth, cool shadow, warm oak.
We didn’t have to invent a vibe. We just had to listen.
Rather than creating a moodboard, we held the painting up to each material we considered. We let it be the reference point. The measuring stick. If a piece felt like it could live within the world of the painting, it stayed. If not, it was gently edited out.
This wasn’t about matching. It was about memory. Continuity. Composition.
And that’s how a single painting told us everything we needed to know about the room it belonged in.
Our Method: Emotional Anchors > Moodboards
Most designers start with a vision board. We start with a feeling.
What made you love that object? What story does it tell? What materials, memories, or places does it remind you of?
This is what we call emotional anchoring. Rather than sourcing for style, we source for soul. And we do it backwards on purpose.
It’s easy to build a room from Pinterest. But it’s hard to build one that stays with you. That holds.
So instead of asking what’s trending, we ask:
What are you already drawn to?
What are the objects you’ve kept, even when they didn’t "match" anything else?
What story would you keep retelling, if it were written into your home?
The answers shape the sourcing. The sourcing shapes the space.
And just like that, design becomes something else entirely.
The Sourcing Approach Around It
Once we understood the tone of the painting, we broke sourcing into three waves:
Foundational Materials: The non-negotiables that needed to harmonize with the piece: wood finishes, metal tones, paint color. We opted for greens, warm woods, unlacquered brass, and pottery.
Functional Layers: Lighting, storage, art — pieces that carry weight and wear over time. These needed to be beautiful, yes, but also quiet. Understated. Capable of being lived with.
Emotional Embellishment: The final layer was all feeling: a small collection of mushroom figurines, a handmade ceramic vessel, a dried foraged branch placed just so. Nothing new. Everything personal.
Throughout the process, we returned to the painting. Not to match it, but to honor it. It was our compass.
The result? A room that doesn’t just photograph well. It lives well. It holds story.
Need Help Finding Your Anchor Piece?
You don’t need a full renovation to transform your space.
Sometimes, you just need one piece worth building around.
At House of Thayer, we help clients find their emotional anchor — and source everything else from there. Whether it’s a painting, a chair, a color, or a childhood memory, we translate soul into space.
Ready to source with story?
🔗 [Book Your Sourcing Consultation]
Because the best rooms don’t just look good. They feel like home.