Text: Tiffany Adams
Photos: Michael Hunter
Styling: Jenny O’Connor
Growing up in Houston, Kristen Nix would have rather been pulling drapery fabrics and arranging samples than doing homework. “My parents had a commercial interior design firm, and they officed in the Decorative Center, so instead of coming home after school, I went there.” While she didn’t major in the field, the knowledge seemed ingrained in her and eventually led to her helping friends who told their friends and so on before snowballing into a full-service firm. “I feel lucky to have found a passion and that I get to do something I love,” she adds.
As a mother of three, Nix, who has been based in Austin since 2016, has a particular penchant for family homes. “I think that as a firm, we do a really good job of creating homes that are durable and comfortable but also look beautiful,” she says. Perhaps this was part of the draw, when a Texas Hill Country family of five called on her to update their residence after admiring her work on Instagram.
While the home had already been gutted when Kristen came on board, she notes it had a very ornate French style with heavy iron and deep hues. “We call this look Texas Tuscan,” she says. “It’s reflective of the late 1990s and early 2000s building boom, and a lot of the time, clients will ask us to come in and ‘de-Tuscanize’ the house.” As much as they desired a fresh look, the family also wanted it to be practical for everyday living and personalized to their taste. She is a risk-taker and loves the color pink,” Nix says of her client. “We shared an eye on look and feel.”
To this point, the home has numerous elevated features that are complemented with everyday elements. For example, the kitchen’s high-style cantilever island is as thoughtful in its form as it is sensible for informal dining. Overhead, the barrel ceiling is filled with a subtly shimmering tile, offering a moment of awe when gazing upward, while a separate banquette area, known as “the café,” gives a resting spot that is still within earshot of the cook and fellow diners. The primary suite and living room are neutral in nature but immensely rich in texture—a feature Nix notes is a must when working within a limited range of colors. Other rooms bear distinctive palettes, including the blue jewel-toned media room and the sophisticated formal dining room, where the plaster walls and ceiling are enveloped in a dusty rose shade.
While colors define some of the aforementioned rooms, many of the home’s most personal spaces were designed with a particular family member in mind. For example, the spacious bar was customized for the husband. “He was like a kid in a candy store,” Nix says of the scene when it came time to organize and prominently display its offerings. For her, a space under the stairs that was formerly a wine room was transformed into a shoe and handbag closet. “This was a better use of space for them and gave her more storage,” Nix notes. Since the closet lacks natural light, the designer infused it with soft neutrals that bounce light along with a gold ceiling treatment that is functionally chic. Upstairs, individualized bedrooms play to the couple’s daughters’ love of pink, while hues of blue and a serpent-patterned wallpaper are a match for their son. What Nix refers to as the “rock ’n’ roll playroom” is a teen-friendly lounge area complete with a lacquer wallcovering on the ceiling, framed photographs of modern rock icons, and even a disco ball, all of which point to Nix’s love of completing a home down to the most client-inspired details.
