From grand views to tiny houses… NEWSLETTER / May 2026 KIND WORDS: “Thanks again to you and Amy … I seldom read such content-rich and well-written news releases!” – Laura Beausire, nationally published travel and design freelance writer, including for Travel + Leisure and Western Art & Architecture 
TAKING THE LONG VIEW A study in “Chic Rusticity,” the JLF Architects project known as Grand View is a Jackson Hole stunner “where reclaimed materials are given a clean, modern twist,” writes LUXE Interiors + Design, which features the home in its May/June Colorado + the Rockies edition. The European-by-way-of-Michigan homeowners spent over a year touring possible building sites with JLF's Logan Leachman before landing on the ideal spot. “The design was driven by the views,” says Logan of the home built along a north-running ridgeline that takes in the whole Teton Range. Other less-usual sources of architectural inspiration: the homeowners’ prized, existing 14-foot-long dining room table – crafted using wood from the doors of an ancient Italian church - and a sculpture by Parisian artist Nathalie Decoster (shown). (Photo: Ed Riddell) 
COOKING UP COVERAGE Following her expert turn in Good Housekeeping in April, this month Aspen Design House founder and design director Denise Taylor was tapped by House Beautiful for a “How to Think Like a Designer” piece on kitchen “rules.” HB shares a photo of the real-chef’s-kitchen layout of a culinary space (shown) for a former restaurant-owning family of avid cooks – part of an Aspen-area remodel by Denise and team that successfully captured additional kitchen space from formerly unused areas while making the most of natural light and riverside views. Avoid “pinch points,” Denise counsels HB in the article, to make a kitchen function well: appliance clearances and traffic flow are crucial to check. And think in work “zones” including, for larger kitchens, possible specialty areas for a coffee station or cocktail bar. (Photo: Dallas + Harris) 
CURATING COZINESS “Fair warning: your guests might not want to leave,” writes Homestead in its new Summer 2026 issue. To share nine ideas from top designers and architects “that will take your guesthouse to the next level,” the magazine called on WRJ Design co-founder Rush Jenkins. Thoughtful amenities are top-of-the-list, coming in at #1 with Rush championing a guest stay where you feel “as though every possible need had been anticipated before you even realized it.” The article pictures several WRJ-designed diminutive dwellings – including a lushly layered Jackson example (shown) – that prove size doesn’t matter when it comes to the firm’s livable-luxury approach. Another expert idea at #6? JLF Architects’ Logan Leachman, on proper proportion when shrinking main house architectural details down to guesthouse size. (Photo: William Abranowicz) PR TIP OF THE MONTH Why You Still Need a Blog in 2026 Does everyone remember the proverb about the cobbler’s poor shoeless children? At Word PR we’ve long advised clients to add blogs to their websites. Recently Aspen Design House decided to take the plunge – their new blog is in the works – and Denise Taylor’s let’s-get-it-done attitude finally got us to take a look at (metaphorically) making shoes for our own kids. This month, invoking that #1 PR tenet, “It’s never too late,” we finally started our own blog offering PR advice for the interior designers, architects, travel businesses and artists who make up Word’s specialized area of expertise. For those who don’t yet have a blog, a few reminders: While OG blogs began as an organic, online journaling movement, with a boom in blogs soon followed by claims of “blogging is dead,” the game has changed several times since then. These days, as Between the Lines Copy recently put it, “Blogging is one of the most effective organic marketing tools you have at your disposal, and it’s SO MUCH EASIER than you think.” Already effective for SEO and increasing Google ranking through providing the fresh, rich content that the Google algorithm favors, now, with your prospective clients increasingly turning to AI for help, your focus needs to be on visibility. Writes Between the Lines: “With AI, blogs are still working behind-the-scenes for your business. In fact, AI uses your blogs to provide those summarized answers. If you don’t blog and share your expertise with the world, AI doesn’t have any new information to work from.” Also important, as Nick Schäferhoff notes in his “Why Start a Blog in 2026: 9 Solid Reasons” on WordPress.com, “A blog helps you sharpen your online profile and build a reputation for your business. It’s the perfect vehicle to demonstrate your expertise, skills, values, personality, and what you want people to associate with you.” (His other 8 reasons are worth reading too.) Like the old real estate saw, “location, location, location,” with the AI age upon us, the three most important things for driving business are visibility, visibility, visibility. Our help getting clients into AI-valued editorial in magazines and online media – and then amplifying that coverage through our news releases, social media and, yes, blogs – is bringing top-of-the-search results. And it’s never too late to start. |
