Text: Tiffany Adams
Photography: Julie Soefer
Styling: Adam Fortner
Inspired by a stint spent living in Paris, this Houston couple first fell in love with their Memorial-area home for its European influence. However, after living there for more than a decade and raising their three children within its walls, they were ready to renovate for the next phase of life.
They called designer Kara Childress to inquire and learned she was booked out for the next year. Without hesitation, they said, “We’ll wait.” Having seen her work in several friends’ homes, they knew it would be worth it. “Even though they are all different, you can just tell ‘a Kara home’ when you walk in the door,” one of the owners says. “It was such a compliment that they were willing to wait,” the designer says. “I’m a small boutique firm, and I sincerely think about whether I can take on a project and have the time to do a good job,” she adds.
Upon visiting the property, Childress found a formal home with dark, heavy layers. “It didn’t feel like them,” she says. “They wanted it to be good-looking and comfortable and have no rooms that were off-limits or pieces you couldn’t touch.” This desire matched with Childress’s philosophy of comfortable interiors that are “beautiful but not difficult.”
While no walls were moved, the house came down to its studs in several places, allowing faux-finished drywall to be exchanged for character-rich plaster in many of the rooms at the hands of Leslie Sinclair of Segreto Finishes. “Leslie gets the vision,” Childress says. “It is a blessing for me whenever I get to work with her.” With the backdrop in place, Childress pulled the rest of the home’s palette from a beloved tapestry the couple purchased abroad. The piece, which now hangs in the front stairwell, inspired the hints of green seen throughout as well as the hues in the natural stone slabs.
Aside from the tapestry, the owners have a number of antiques from their time overseas, including the commode in the entry, the chaise in the primary bedroom, and the sofa in the study. Childress effortlessly incorporated these into the design, giving sentimental value while also adding to the home’s European bend. “I love that these have meaning for her,” the designer says.
While the receiving rooms underwent structured yet welcoming refreshes, Childress pushed comfort and more contemporary finishes in the private gathering spaces. In the family room, which adjoins the kitchen, trusses and built-in bookcases were removed, and a stone fireplace was traded for a plaster version. “We took away layers to edit and streamline the room,” Childress says of the approach. Rather than the tapestries seen in the entry hall and formal living room, contemporary art—including a mixed-media work by Gary Komarin—hangs on the walls. In the media room, they removed a dated projector system, and the walls’ existing wood treatment was pickled to lighten the look. Similarly, bulky drapery and accent pieces were removed from the kitchen and primary bath, making way for a renovation in a lighter palette with a slightly more modern feel.
“Kara’s vision was unbelievable. I didn’t even know how heavy it was before,” the owner says. “This is a very livable interior, but we also gave it instant authenticity with the lighting, fireplace mantels, and plaster—it doesn’t feel new,” Childress says of the end result. “Ultimately, I want my designs to be timeless and for clients to love their home as much in 10 years as they do the day we install it.”
