Art Meets Design: A Garden Party Pantry

A Conversation Between Pattern and Art:

Michele Aschenbrenner’s Buttoned (2026) serves as the visual anchor for the space, quietly setting the tone for the entire scheme. Its soft pastel palette in blush pinks, butter yellow, and pale blues mirrors the room’s gentler moments, while deeper colors echo the richness found in the cabinetry and countertop. The result feels velvety yet light, grounding the space without overpowering it. Within the structured green bead board, the still life becomes a moment of pause in calm and charm that reinforces the idea that even the most functional spaces deserve intentional beauty. It’s personal, thoughtful, and effortlessly lived-in.

Building on Michele’s work, I incorporated three additional pieces that carry the same feelings: whimsical, feminine, and softly confident. Each artwork extends the rooms narrative rather than competing with it. Jennifer Allevato’s Scenic Scroll Platter brings a sense of decorative rhythm through its chinoiserie-inspired motifs and similar palette of blues, pinks, creams, and yellows. This pattern plays beautifully with the botanical wallpaper above, creating a dialogue between the art and the pantry space. The result feels maximalist yet cohesive in detail.

Michelle Armas’ Work Wife introduces a more organic and contemporary note. Its deep browns and greens complement the warmth of the wood flooring and depth of the cabinetry. Simultaneously the fluidity of pastel yellow and pink tones echo accents found throughout the room. The piece guides the eye effortlessly, offering movement and balance without visual interruption.

Kevin Brent Morris’ Cottonwood Leaf Beetle completes the story with a more focused, graphic presence. His wallpaper-like background pulls direct colorations from the wallpaper’s motifs, reinterpreted through layered pinks and yellows that add contrast and depth. Darker tonal moments within the piece quietly reference the charcoal countertops, allowing the artwork to sit confidently within the space while enhancing the grounding elements. Together, these works create a cohesive story, softening utilitarian with artistry and transforming the room into a space where pattern, color, and form exist in thoughtful conversation.

Bringing It All Together:

When bringing this butler pantry all together, it creates a whimsical approach to unity. The entire room feels perfectly adhered to modernity, yet also refined in femininity. Vertical panels add a subtle texture, allowing the cabinetry to feel architectural/utilitarian rather than heavy and bulky. Layering the space in patterned accents is the quiet hero here. Floral wallpaper and a faded pink rug work adjacently rather than in competition, both nostalgia, timeworn, and romantic. Their softness offsets the cabinet’s structural corners and elements that creates balance and visual ease.

Being deeply rooted in traditionally designed interiors, allows for the charming elements to feel more elevated, rather than outdated. Adding in vertical paneling signals to interesting texture that keeps the space from feeling too clean and modern. The bead board serves as a moment of interest, but color drenching allows the space to feel thoughtfully put together, rather than multiple elements placed within one another. Gold hardware is utilized in both the float lantern-style lighting and on the cabinetry, adding a sense of warmth and refined contrast against the Forest Hills Green. This nods to the heritage/cottage-like design while keeping the look crisp and current.

Pairing the space with a dark soapbox countertop allows the space to feel less child-like and mature. Overhead, the butterfly botanical ceiling wallpaper brings a light, playful lift, like a secret garden hiding in plain sight, echoed again in the soft blush tones of the vintage runner below. The result is a hardworking jewel box that’s ready for hosting prep, pouring, plating, arranging, and gathering everything you need before guests arrive, while still feeling beautifully curated and a little bit magical.

Designer Tips:

Pro Tip #1 - In a hardworking space like a butler pantry, go tonal (bead board walls + cabinetry) to make the room feel intentional and elevated, then let the contrast do the work. Here, the dark soapstone and warm brass and floors keep the green from reading “flat” and add instant depth.

Pro Tip #2 - Treat the ceiling as your “surprise and delight” moment. A small-scale pattern overhead adds personality without visual clutter at eye level, and it’s perfect in a pantry because you still get the magic while keeping counters clear for everyday use and hosting functionality.