A Houston Home Goes High-Style With Rich Colors + Lush Textures

Walking up to the front door of a newly purchased home in Houston’s Tanglewood neighborhood, interior designer Chandos Dodson Epley was immediately impressed. Built in 2000, her clients’ brick residence was stately, with two rows of windows and three roof-topping dormers. The homeowners, a family with teenage children, bought the abode mainly for its location, noting that much of the interior would need to be changed. Stepping inside, Epley saw why.

The house was designed in a Regency style, “and it had a great, regal feel from the outside,” the designer observes. “But inside, it needed a lot of work. The back was choppy and blocked off.” The couple wanted to open the floor plan, better connect the rooms and modernize the outdated finishes and fixtures.

“They were coming from a traditional home, and the wife wanted something more glamorous,” Epley reflects. The designer strived to keep the bones, such as the architectural details and millwork, in context with the exterior. “I also approached the furnishings so that the interior and exterior were cohesive,” she says.

With plans for few changes to the façade—updated trim, a new front door and swapping out the existing windows for more contemporary models—Epley concentrated most of the renovation on the inside, reimagining the downstairs living spaces and upstairs rooms and revamping the bathrooms.

Working with builder Jim Bob Taylor, the team gutted the house, reconfiguring rooms to concentrate the entertaining spaces at the front. The soaring foyer makes a grand entrance, flanked on either side by the formal living, powder and dining rooms.

In the latter, color and materiality take center stage. Elegant blush-pink Venetian plaster covers the walls, and the ceiling is clad in a gold and silver, geometric-patterned wallpaper. “The ceiling is really the fifth wall,” Epley explains, “and if architecturally there is no move there, then we like to create interest with wallpaper.” A multitiered glass chandelier emanates a texture-rich shimmer from above, and the marble fireplace surround is saturated in soft lavender tones. It perfectly matches the mantle anchoring the formal living room, which is outfitted in a mix of contemporary and vintage pieces. Here, two plush club chairs were upholstered in navy fabric—a nod to the clients’ penchant for blue.

As one moves toward the back of the house, things get a little more casual—but that doesn’t equate to simple. To connect the kitchen and family room, the team had to contend with walls made of concrete blocks topped by steel. “When we demoed the house, we left them there and were working around the elephant in the room,” Taylor remembers. “We finally brought in a special crew to take them out.”

In its place, a joint family room and breakfast nook open to the kitchen, which, according to Epley, “is central to the family’s lives.” A generous island trimmed in brass creates a focal point, one of the many glints among the otherwise neutral shades of white and gray. The brass carries through the room’s light fixtures and hardware. “I’m always looking for ways to add detail,” the designer shares.

Beyond the main living spaces lies the crown jewel: a dazzling, emerald-green bar where the homeowners can host game nights or have a glass of champagne with friends. “The wife wanted a sexy cocktail lounge,” Epley recalls. “The room originally had a walk-up bar with an English pub feel, and we felt it was time for a change.” The designer had been wanting to incorporate lacquer somewhere in the project and thought it would give an opulent touch to the bar, so it was applied on the Sheetrock. “I had never done that before, but it turned out really nice,” she adds.

Upstairs, the primary bedroom revisits the blue motif in a refined silvery tone. “It feels luxurious and calming,” the designer says of the space, which features the gentle allure of Venetian plaster walls, matching the rug underfoot. To give the clients privacy, Epley commissioned wool draperies and Roman shades—part of a suite of details that help coalesce the project. “The owners wanted the spot to feel warm, but they did not want a lot of accessories, so we aimed to keep it minimal but still interesting,” Epley describes. Like the rest of the house, the room captures the designer’s skillful balancing of elements—color, texture, pattern—to reflect the home’s sophisticated architecture and the rich personalities of the family that lives within.