French Estate

Here is a sample of some of my current work - I have been running around the past few weeks trying to accessorize a model home that I am doing for a builder. This French estate is located in the heart of Preston Hollow in the Dallas area, most of the homes in this area have certain restriction on how far they need to sit back from the street and lot sizes that need to be maintained, so the area almost feels as if you aren't in the hustle and bustle of Dallas but really you are and everything is so close! This home is a palatial 14,000 square feet and includes a living, dining, great room, huge gourmet kitchen, theater, etc...the list goes on. I had a very limited budget on the furnishings and most of the items have been reused from previous models so please don't judge too harshly - and it is not quite finished. There are a few tweaks that need to be made! I will posting more photos in the next week or so as I finish the house up.

Houston: Antique Destination

After jetting down to Houston this weekend to visit some family, I had a couple of hours to kill and immediately ran down to Alabama St., where there is shop after shop of some of the South's best antiques. Houston's take on antiques is more casual than their Northern counterparts I am sure, but I think most people like living in a more casual enviroment that doesn't look like a museum and having to constantly live in fear that their kids (or themselves) are going to break a priceless antique. I thought I would share my pics from my quick stops along the way...enjoy!

Of course I had to put a sunburst on here - and brag about our collection as well! This one was huge and had an antique silvered convex mirror.

I love bullseye mirrors above beds and fireplace's - may be cliche by now...but it is timeless and will always look great!

(I have a source for some little ones at great prices that I am trying to update our site with.)

I think I am going to call the shop and see if they still have these exquisite trays, they were a robin's egg blue with gold etching and are so wonderful. The patina on them is fabulous!

I also fell for these Greco inspired French wood lamp bases. I picture these petite lamps in pair of chests perched upon a stack of antique books.

And last but not least, a beauiful French display cabinet. I have retrofitted these several ways for clients including changing out the glass and adding antique mirror fronts, or just keeping the glass and adding antique mirror to the back to bring in the light and make collections sparkle. I have also changed the glass out for wire mesh with fabric behind it in a little girls room to hide a TV - it turned out so cute!

Designer: Geoff De Sousa

Traditional Home

When flipping through one of Traditional Home's best productions ever, I came across this designer who is very well known throughout the San Francisco area for his design work and also his hi end to the trade showroom, desousahughes . He designed this room for the San Francisco Decorators Showhouse 2008 and it is simply devine! He pulls together a masculine mix of bold shapes and colors and juxaposes those lines with feminine touches like the hand embroidered drapery panels by Holland & Sherry .

The color palette was inspired directly by the Jean de Merry painting of horses that is composed of 36 hand-painted glass squares which is the statement piece in this room. The ink blue silk walls simply make the art pop. I also like how he chose to keep the beautiful wood floors exposed to carry out the caramely rust color throughout the room and also notice how he pops the yellow from painting in touches like art and flowers.

Check out the embroidered detailing on these luscious velvet drapes! He also created wood cornices to mimic the millwork throughout this 1905 Pacific Heights mansion. The long vertical mirror acts as another window, bringing more light and depth to a darker space.

Two Jean-Michel Frank chairs upholstered in Judy Ross embroidered textiles flank the sofa on the other seating area on the opposite side of the room - which used to be a ballroom!