Photo by Stephen Karlisch
With a neutral base in place, Sandy layered in color through the art and window treatments, along with punctuations of graphic black and white and a large vintage mirror. Houles drapery fabric; Schumacher print pillows.
The saying goes that patience is rewarded, and sometimes it can take decades. Just ask Suzanne Goss who searched for a home in her Houston childhood neighborhood for 30 years before her dream came true. “I wanted an old River Oaks home that was still authentic with no additions or major changes,” she says. “My father was in real estate and his mantras rang in my ear: middle of the block for safety and the south side for the sun, which limited my search even more.” Suzanne learned of a house that a builder had under contract with a teardown in mind—and it was only three doors down from her childhood home where her sister now lives. A meeting was arranged, and soon the house was hers. “In essence, it was a 30-year journey,” quips Suzanne. While the home had been updated over the years, it still retained the original 1948 character with intact moldings, millwork, and hardware. Suzanne wanted to imbue it with her personal style, so she called on Sandy Lucas of Lucas/Eilers to help realize her long-hoped-for dream home.
Photo by Stephen Karlisch
Custom ottomans in a leafy green with recessed casters serve double duty as extra seating for guests. They perfectly fit under a white Parsons table covered in lacquered white linen. Artwork by Batu Jagchid.
Photo by Stephen Karlisch
The dining room speaks to the power of color and print with its de Gournay hand-painted tropical wall covering set off by classic window panels trimmed with a trellis border.
Sandy built upon some great foundational pieces that Suzanne had purchased with assistance from her dear friend and decorator Mary Jane Gallagher, including the rug, sofa, two chairs, and coffee table in the living room. With the mostly neutral base in place, the designer’s first order was to layer in some color to capture her client’s spirit. “Suzanne is very gregarious and fun-loving, and her home needed to reflect that,” says Sandy. “I wanted to bring the vibrants hues of nature in with flowers and other flora so the house would sort of dance but still feel serene.” Some design cues came from Fishers Island off of Long Island, New York, where Suzanne and her family have summered for years. She also found inspiration from the Palm Beach designs of the 1930s and ‘40s. For example, the guest room, with its preppy green-and-pink color scheme and an awning stripe in the mix, gives off New England beach house vibes, while the dining room wallcovering called Amazonia by de Gournay, a vivid tropical scene on a favorite pink shade, gives the impression that it was plucked from the storied Colony Hotel in Palm Beach.
Photo by Stephen Karlisch
The dining room reads traditional with the original built-in corner cabinets and crown molding, so Sandy gave it a more up-to-date look with a custom plaster dining table and more contemporary dining chairs under a white chandelier covered with gesso.
For both Sandy and her client, art was of utmost importance as another way to introduce color and intrigue into the home. The chosen pieces served as initial jumping-off points in several rooms. “While looking, we found this huge, wild piece by Will Bentsen,” says Suzanne. “I couldn’t believe it because the Bentsens are dear family friends.” That artwork inspired the apple green color in the living room. A black-and-white poppy print from David Sultan brings a graphic note that’s reflected in the room’s pillows. Likewise, in the primary bedroom, a large-scale abstract floral ties together the lavender tones used throughout the space, including the grasscloth wallcovering, window panels, and ottoman.
Photo by Stephen Karlisch
A floral-inspired painting by Melbourne-based artist Ali McNabney-Stevens through Dimmitt Contemporary Art adds a note of colorful depth in the primary bedroom. Armchair fabric Schumacher- Kandira.
Photo by Stephen Karlisch
The primary bedroom exudes quiet luxury with monogrammed bedding from Leontine Linens and Matouk. The print of the headboard has a muted tropical attitude with birds and palm trees. Lamp shade by Fermoie.
Photo by Stephen Karlisch
While the lavender-hued palette reads more subdued in the primary bedroom, the mélange of fabrics and furnishings keeps it lively, including a tall custom curved headboard, large skirted ottoman in Fortuny fabric, a vintage Danish settee, and a twiggy Oly chandelier.
For the furnishings, Sandy selected some items that reflect the home’s age while not feeling too literal. For example, the French deco mirror in the living room and the Danish settee in the primary bedroom are both from the 1940s. Other pieces offer a mix of styles and time periods for a collected, lived-in look. “Houston is such a new city, so it was refreshing to work on an older home and take cues from its history,” says Sandy. And while her client had to wait decades to create her own history in this home, she certainly was rewarded with design that speaks to her in a timeless, colorful language.
Sources
Living Room: Vintage mirror from M. Naeve Antiques, 713.524.0990; Houles drapery fabric; bleached Oak French chair and ottoman and star quartz table lamp (on white console) from Memorial Antiques and Interiors, maihouston.com; Schumacher Binary embroidered pillow fabric (black and white geometric armchair), schumacher.com; painting over fireplace Black Poppies by Donald Sultan, donaldsultanstudio.com; blue and green painting by Will Bentsen, bentsenstudio.com; custom ottomans (under console table) in Lark Fontaine Brushstroke fabric, larkfontaine.com.
Dining Room: de Gournay Amazonia custom wall covering, degournay.com; pottery on table and in corner shelves from Oka, oka.com/uk mixed with antique Chinese porcelain; custom plaster table by Segreto Finishes, segretofinishes.com; custom dining chairs in Promenade by Schumacher, schumacher.com; Pindler Washington drapery fabric, pindler.com with Thibaut trim, thibautdesign.com.
Primary Bedroom: Made Goods bedside nightstands, madegoods.com; mid-century Danish sofa from M. Naeve Antiques, 713-524-0990 in Fabricut Tuscan fabric, fabricut.com; custom pillows covered in Zenato from Vervain, fabricut.com; custom armchair in Schumacher Kandira fabric; custom headboard in Schumacher; Phillip Jeffries wall covering Manila Hemp, phillipjefferies.com; custom ottoman in Fortuny fabric, fortuny.com; Fabricut Tuscan fabric for bed skirt, drapery, and pillow backs; Sylvan chandelier from Oly Studio, olystudio.com; bedding from Leontine Linens, leontinelinens.com and Matouk, matouk.com; vintage chair with seat cushion in Fabricut Quill; Fermoie lampshades; fermonie.com; large artwork by Ali McNabney-Stevens Ceale through Dimmitt Contemporary Art, dimmittcontemporaryart.com.
Guest Bedroom: Headboards in Ferrick Mason Lexington fabric; ferrickmason.com;Chelsea House bedside tables, chelseahouse.com; Matouk bedding; Lisa Fine roman shade fabric Aswan; Visual Comfort bedside table lamp, visualcomfort.com with Fermoie lampshade.
By Alice Welsh Doyle | Photography by Stephen Karlisch
