The Tiny Kitchen Detail Jeremiah Brent Included That Made a Big Difference

For Jeremiah Brent, the small details are what make or break the large picture when it comes to design. So when he and Nate Berkus installed gorgeous marble countertops and matching backsplash in their kitchen, Brent noticed one small detail that really made him cringe — and he did something really extra to solve the problem.

“One of the things in my house that I get a lot of crap about is my obsession with the details and little things,” Brent said in a July 3 Instagram video. “In the kitchen, we picked this really beautiful marble. I really fought for it and I advocated for it. Nate was totally against it. And one thing that I realized when we had it in, obviously, was that the outlets really stuck out like a sore thumb.”

Brent said that he’s not the only one who has thought about how awkward outlets look in marble. In fact, you can actually buy custom marble outlet covers that match your marble surface’s veining, but of course, this costsa lotof money. And for something so small, Brent didn’t feel comfortable withthe splurge. So he decided to think smarter and spend less.

“I actually enlisted a local artist and had [all the outlet covers] hand-painted to match the marble,” he said. “They’re just standard plates we had hand-painted and like that, they just go away. It makes me very happy every time I see it.”

As people in the comments are pointing out, painting faux finishes has been around since the ‘90s when designers would often use paint techniques to mimic plaster walls, marble floors, and even stone walls. If you love this idea but have an even tighter budget than Brent and Berkus, you can try hand painting faux finishes yourself, or useMod Podgeand marble-printed paper todisguise your outlets. It might not be perfect, but it definitely helps conceal that stark white contrast.