What is micro-decorating?

This past Saturday while browsing in my favourite secondhand bookshop, Pandemonium, I stumbled across a small art book that stopped me in my tracks. Called Little People in the City, it's a collection of photos by Slinkachu, a London-based street artist who places tiny hand-painted figurines in public places.

Each spread has the same two ingredients: a wide shot on the left in which the little people are mere specks, and a macro shot on the right in which their funny/macabre/sad predicaments fill the page.

Though published back in 2008, the collection speaks to our moment. On the one hand, we've experienced lockdown shrinking our worlds down to the square footage of our homes, forcing us to live in miniature. On the other, the confined scrutiny of our intimate spaces has revealed things we never noticed before.

We've scaled down – and the details have scaled up. Finite rooms have proven themselves a new form of infinity.

Let's seize this opportunity to remake our surroundings. Our senses are acute in a way that will never be repeated.

In the weeks ahead, I'll help you reinvent what's around you via a method I call micro-decorating. It's something better experienced than described, but for now I'll give you a five-word definition: Small design moves, big results.

So, get ready for a perception-heightening journey. And at any point along the way, let me know what you're thinking. I'm guy@guywithaneye.ca and welcome your messages, always.