Stone, Terra Cotta, and Gravel

In garden design, materials speak before anything blooms. Stone, terra cotta, and gravel, often underfoot and overlooked, carry a sense of permanence, texture, and history. Their presence sets the tone, and their rhythm holds the space.

Lori often returns to these materials when designing both interiors and outdoor rooms. They tell a story of place, weight, and time. Nowhere is this more evident than in Venice, where even the floors hold meaning. 

In Pavimenti a Venezia, a book Lori often references, the introduction describes the floors of Venice as “magical and wondrous.” It continues, “No one pattern is like another, and like the waters of Venice, they reflect the surrounding space, giving a sense of fluctuating atmosphere to everything around.” That idea of surface as atmosphere continues to shape how we think about materiality.

In gardens, gravel paths lead softly around stone basins and terra cotta vessels. Indoors, those same textures find their place through worn marble thresholds, limewashed walls, and clay tiles that deepen in color over time.

These materials hold memory, whether it’s gravel crunching underfoot, the feel of cool stone on a summer morning, or terra cotta softened by use and light. They are not just structural; they carry a feeling.

At The Wren, we often use them to anchor a room or garden, not through decoration, but through presence. This can come to life in a powder room with a tumbled stone floor, a terrace lined with terra cotta planters, or a hallway where the muted palette comes directly from the garden beyond the window.

These materials encourage us to notice what is beneath us, to design from the ground up, and to allow space to feel timeless without needing to be loud.

Some of the most enduring design moments are the ones that stay with us long after we’ve walked through them.