About a year and a half ago I got a call from a wonderful young lady. She and her husband were building a custom home in the very affluent area in Cinco Ranch, Katy – A suburb of West Houston.
She desperately needed help picking out some of the finishes for the new home. They were working directly with the builder’s design center but didn’t feel they understood exactly what she wanted.They were on a strict deadline from their builder to stay on schedule, and she was afraid to make a mistake with the selections. She had already interviewed a few local Designers and just didn’t feel like they got the look and feel she was going for.
After meeting with her in the home they were living in at the time, I got glimpses of her decorating style, which co-incidentally was very similar to my personal design aesthetic (at least the current one, since that changes all the time 🙂 ). She loves a light, airy, lived-in and romantic feel.
After looking at the home under construction and discussing their budget, we set out to work picking out the rest of the finishes (tiles, cabinetry, lighting etc) and planning the color scheme and furnishings.
There were certain pieces that had to be included in the design plan….like a couple of slip-covered sofas, a few tables, and a few area rugs, which dictated our color scheme of cool seafoamy blues, greens, grays and whites/creams.
This was an exciting whole-house project and my clients were the best. They trusted my advice and relied on my professionalism and knowledge, but still had strong opinions about what they loved to have in their home.
We decided to do the project in phases over a year, starting with the main areas (living, dining, kitchen, breakfast and study), then the game room, then the master and finally the kids rooms and guest rooms.
In the middle of this project, they also built a rental house which I also helped to pick out the finishes and paint colors for. They kept me busy 🙂
Fast forward a year later and a project that was close to completion for the most part, and my clients called me with the big news that they are moving to another part of Houston about and hour and a half from their new home. Her husband had just accepted a new position with a company and the commute would be too much everyday. They are a very close knit family with two children and family time is very important to them. The husband did not want to spend that precious time in traffic everyday. She was very sad about having to leave her beautiful new home and start this process all over again. She made me promise her that I will take on the decorating of the new home! 🙂 Of course she didn’t have to make me. I loved working with this great family and I am super excited about the new home!
They are waiting for the current home to sell before purchasing a new one, but they are casually looking. She has asked me to look at a few of the homes she likes to make sure it works with the existing furnishings.
Here is the listing on HAR.com. It is listed for $1.19M
3111 Brighton Sky Ln Katy TX
This home is a beautiful contemporary Mediterranean – One and a half story, 5 bedrooms including a mother-in-law suite, 5.5 bathrooms, a media room, a game room, large dining and family room. The home is 5231 sq feet and boasts a gorgeous pool and deck.
I am sure you are curious about the work we did on the inside………
Here is your very own private tour of this beautiful family home.
This is the family room. My client already owned the area rug but wanted to keep things on the lighter side. I pulled the soft seafoam greens and blues and used that as accents with whites and grays being the main colors. We were going for a fairly monochromatic, calm and airy feel throughout the home.
The fabrics are beautiful soft linens in the very muted tones, the furniture have a soft aged patina to create that lived-in feel. Although we were using mainly a light color palette, the fabrics and furnishing needed to live up to the everyday use of a busy household with two children under age 7. We went with linen blend slipcovers on the sofas that can be thrown into the laundry for cleaning. All the pillows were zippered so they can be cleaned easily as well. We used some indoor/outdoor fabrics that can easily be wiped down, and all the decorative accents are out of immediate reach of tiny hands. My client wanted to surround herself with meaningful items, but nothing was so precious that the kids couldn’t touch. This home is a primary example that you CAN live with beautiful furnishings – even white ones, with kids running around.
My clients are practitioners of feng-shui and a lot of the design choices were based on those principles. They brought in a feng-shui consultant since that is not an area of specialty for me.
Notice that there are a lot of greenery and flowers around to make the room come alive
Via Casa Vilora Interiors
This is the master bedroom. The main focal wall is a metallic damask pattern on cork. The wallpaper is the perfect combination of rustic with refined. Gorgeous texture! even better in person! We weren’t finished in this room – we were going to add a chandelier, art and a bench at the foot of the bed.
This is the formal dining room. We added the wainscoting and the beautiful metallic damask sisal wallpaper. The beautiful beaded chandelier adds the perfect sparkle to the room. The drapery is custom linen on a traverse rod so they can be closed off for privacy.
Based on the recommendation of the feng-shui consultant, my clients had the large mirror hung really low and angled on the wall to reflect the dining room table.
There were finishing touches that we were going to make in the dining room as well – for example, we were going to add more of the white wall flowers above the mirror.
This is the study. I commissioned my painter to create the large tone-on-tone horizontal stripes on all the walls. That brought the high ceiling more in scale for the clients The linen draperies are also custom on traverse rod to function for privacy.
The art is an original from my client’s home country of Venezuela.
This is the hallway to the kids’ bedrooms. The custom piece in the wall niche is laser cut wood with a very intricate detail
They have two children – a girl 6 years old and a boy 4 years old.
The girl had very strong opinions about her room and obviously wanted it showered in pink, so pink it was! 🙂
We added a fun hammock to the boy’s room and lots of car decals
This room is the mini master or mother-in-law suite. Like the rest of the home, all the draperies and window treatments are custom.
This is the main kitchen and breakfast area. See how open and airy it is. I love walking into this home!
One of my favorite pieces is that wonderful plate rack that we added in the breakfast room.
This is the family TV watching room. This is also where the kids play. We had the kids create art and framed them for one wall.
In this room we were sure to utilize slipcovers, zippered pillows and indoor/outdoor fabrics so everything can be cleaned in the laundry easily. The kids know that this is their designated play area, and so this is where they come to let loose and be kids (within boundaries). I absolutely respect the fact that this family has taught their children from an early age to pick up after themselves for the most part, and to be respectful of their home.
This the powder room.
The laundry room
And the exterior pool area. All the cushions and pillows are custom made by my work room.
We didn’t get to certain rooms like the media room and the guest suite on the second level, so those rooms aren’t featured here.
As you may have observed in these photos, this home is a well LIVED in family home. It is not pretentious nor ostentatious. The home is cozy and inviting. When you walk into the large foyer, this home beckons you to come in, sit back and enjoy.
My client’s realtor is very confident that they will get their asking price.
I have loved working with this wonderful family and I cannot wait to help them make the new house a home, just as we did with this one.
What are your thoughts on this home? Could you see yourself living here?
Please leave me a comment below.
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Via Casa Vilora Interiors
Wishing you beauty and inspiration!
