Live Like A Decorator

My journey as an interior designer building my home.

I have moved 10 times and lived in seven different cities, so when it comes to designing a home from the inside to the outside, there are a few things I’ve learned along the way.

Austin has so many wonderful neighborhoods to choose from, but for my family’s lifestyle, we chose Brentwood in Central Austin. I fell in love with the classic, simple, bungalow-styled homes and the amazing walkability of the area and neighborhood.

There are many places in Austin seeing changes and updates that are great for the neighborhood, but they can also be eyesores, particularly the homes are not reflections of where they are. Our home, for example, was a complete teardown because it was in such terrible condition that it could not be renovated. However, I wanted the new build to fit into the neighborhood but still have several modern elements that I love about mid-century and modern design.

I began with deciding on the style and the direction I was going to take the exterior and interior of the home. I wanted the exterior to have a modern farmhouse-bungalow feel and the interior of the home to reflect the same classic elements, along with several modern touches, as well as using unique and green materials. The home has a beautiful, large oak tree in the front, and this was the key feature to showcase the home around. To pull the modern yet traditional feel together on the exterior of the home, I focused on several key elements:

o The entire exterior of the home, including the trim, was painted one solid neutral color (Brilliant White by Benjamin Moore) so the focus is on the other elements and they can really pop.

o There’s a custom steel and glass front door painted iron black, and fabricated metal planter boxes left in their natural color of Seal to avoid rusting that vary in height and length to help the front have a modern element and stand out against the pure white house. The steel work was done by Azmitia Welding.

o The vertical-box shapes of the Hinkley Atlantis light fixtures have very clean and simple lines to help with the modern elements, and they also provide upper and

lower illumination, casting beautiful light in the evening. The fixtures are from Lights Fantastic.

o The garage door can sometimes be forgotten when it comes to a home, but in this case, I wanted it to be a key feature to add to the modern elements. I went with a black steel frame and frosted glass so the light is translucent for the inside of the garage but shadows all the items that I don’t want to see in the garage. The garage door is from All Points Garage Doors.

o We stayed traditional, adding a little bit of Zoysia Grass under the oak tree and black star rock for xeriscaping and extra parking. But when we poured the driveway, we split it to add the modern element and flow that lines up with the beautiful privacy bamboo fencing from Bamboo Your Privacy along the right side.

o What’s a front porch without seating? It’s the perfect way to add a pop of color and personality to your home. Here, I added two Acapulco Peacock chairs from Collectic Home.

As this process outside was going on, I focused on how to continue that same feeling on the inside while also incorporating different textures and key elements that were made from recycled and green products.

The entrance of the home is the first thing guests see, and it can also set the tone for the type of style and flow throughout the home. I chose to do a feature wall on the right side, using Wall Flats by Inhabit in the Facet style. Wall Flats are expandable, embossed, 3-D wall coverings made from 100 percent bamboo pulp, are chemical free and 100 percent biodegradable. The amazing thing about Wall Flats is that they can transform so many spaces and still be environmentally friendly, and they come in a variety of styles. They’re great for any problem wall, add texture and style to a room and can be used for a feature wall or just an element. Wall Flats go on with glue and can be painted any color. I chose to go with a high-gloss white to keep it bright and neutral, and to focus on the 3-D texture instead of a color.

Speaking of color, when it came to painting the interior, I really wanted to do what I like to call “flipping your color,” which means using the lighter color on the walls and using the darker colors for trim and doors so those elements stand out and make a statement. Here, I chose Chalk White for the walls and Graphite by Benjamin Moore for all the doors and trim. The Chalk White is a soft white with a touch of gray and helps keep the palette neutral. The dark trim is an element that can be bold and modern yet

very traditional when paired with a three-paneled door and the right hardware. I brought back the Schlage vintage-black gold hardware for all the doors, keeping that old-school, and going with a clean, simple line on the hardware itself.

The main space is very open, with the kitchen, eating area and family room all in one. This can be a real design challenge when it comes to texture, color, furniture placement and accessories. To help with this, I kept in mind that not all things needed to match or be from the same material or pattern. In great design, you want to try to have a happy marriage in mixing your materials, colors, patterns and textures so the space flows and has interest, but also reflects your personality and style.

Here are some elements I used for the interior of the home to make the marriage between modern and traditional flow:

o All the kitchen cabinets were painted Extra White by Sherwin Williams and all interior and exterior painting was done by J & J Central Texas Painting.

o The hardware used in the kitchen adds a vintage gold element yet is very modern because of the clean shape of the pulls. Remember, you can mix metals, so having stainless appliances and gold accents still works.

o The countertop is Grey Goose quartz and is very durable and amazingly easy to care for. It has the look of Carrara marble but without all the maintenance and worry.

o The lighting is where you can add drama and extra style. The three Thomas O’Brian pendants from Lighting Inc. are new and showcase the mix of metal and vintage gold, whereas the large, black wood and gold chandelier above the table is a vintage piece from an estate sale in Hyde Park.

o Adding a natural element and modern side is the large sheet of metal I had put on the underside of the island, where the barstools will go. This is a place that is usually forgotten but where adding a touch of unique style and functionality for kids that like to kick the cabinets really comes in handy.

o The flooring throughout is another green product. It is cork flooring with a wood-veneer top. The cork is amazing for softness, temperature control and for sound. It is a great product from ProSource and very easy to clean and maintain

One of the last two things I want to mention for adding warmth, style and keeping with my mix of modern and traditional is adding wallpaper and reclaimed wood to your spaces. I love wallpaper and I use it in small amounts in almost every project I can. In

my home, I have added wallpaper to two rooms (my office and the half bath), and I will soon be adding one wall of grasscloth wallpaper to the wall in the large space near the kitchen eat-in area. Wallpaper adds such a quick design change to a room, and it also warms up the space with the texture, color and design that you choose. In my office, I went with a modern metallic geometric print, and in the half bath, the wallpaper is a vintage peacock-feather design and the texture and deep colors coordinate well with the handmade, vintage gold light fixture. It enhances the modern and traditional feel in this room and throughout the home. The wallpaper installation was done by Juanita Carson at A Woman’s Touch.

The reclaimed wall in the master bedroom, from Endever Furniture, is an amazing focal point to the entire room. It adds the traditional feel of wood and helps warm the large space so the bed is not the only large piece in the room. It keeps to the modern feel by working with the different colors and grays in the wood, as well as using different sizes instead of keeping the wood stacked and symmetrical. When you pull the room together with furnishings, such as the Paul McCobb dresser and side table by the bed, the antique Victorian couch and the modern, tall upholstered bed, it all tells the story of where I began my vision of modern-farmhouse design.

The master leads to the marriage in my master bath, where I created a traditional window transom over the double-door entrance to the bathroom. I wanted the bathroom to feel large, light and airy, so I went with a Carrara marble throughout the bathroom and then kept it traditional by using two classic shapes that you would find in any traditional home: a hexagon shape for the floor and subway tile for the walls. The cabinets are painted in Carbon by Jeff Lewis Color. The countertops are the same Grey Goose quartz from the kitchen. The tub is a unique freestanding piece that adds shape to the room, and the shower, being glass-enclosed, is what helps keep the bathroom flowing with light and showcasing the marble subway tile.

The process of home design and decorating should be a true reflection of your personality, your family and your lifestyle. However, always keep in mind the neighborhood, your surroundings and the traditional key elements that are timeless when it comes to design. When you take all these things into account, you will create a great design and home that you and your neighborhood can love for a lifetime.