True Colors
At home in Houston, Paloma Contreras breathes new life into a classic abode for her family.
When designer (and Visual Comfort & Co. design partner) Paloma Contreras was looking for the house her growing family would call home, the wish list was a bit of a throwback. Rather than the open-plan layouts beloved by builders and homeowners alike, Contreras hoped to find a house with rooms. The designer’s preference for distinct spaces comes down to other things she loves: art collecting and traditional decorating. “As soon as I walked into this house, I knew it would be our home,” Contreras says. “The layout has well-defined formal spaces in the front and a more open family room/breakfast room/kitchen in the back – which means plenty of walls for art and some separation between entertaining spaces and the relaxed family areas we use daily. It’s the perfect combination for the way our family lives.” Read on to see how Contreras transformed the 1987 center-hall brick home with her signature blend of tradition, modernity, and color.
Photography by Aimée Mazzenga
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Inside Paloma Contreras' Houston Home
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From the showstopping deGournay wallpaper to the custom double pedestal table, lilac suede Andre Arbus chairs and Brigitte Large Chandelier from her namesake collection with Visual Comfort & Co. Contreras’s dining room is a layer cake of refined beauty. Still, every inch of it was designed to be shared. “While some may argue that formal dining rooms are pointless because you only use them a few times a year, I love having rooms in the house that set the stage for special occasions, holidays and special memories,” the designer says. “A beautiful dining room is festive, inviting and memorable. If anything, having this lovely formal dining room in our house has inspired me to host friends and family more often.” No matter the occasion, the mood in the dining room remains unfussy, thanks to spring green drapery, a shock of pink coming from the large-scale Paul Lange photograph, a clean-lined sideboard and the graphic punch of Contreras’s Orsay Medium Table Lamp.
Arguably the most traditional room in the house, the formal living room crowned by the Comtesse XL Uplight Chandelier draws upon great sitting rooms throughout history for inspiration … and if you look closely, you’ll find a few tried-and-true pages from Contreras’s design playbook. For starters, upholstery is neutral with sweet details (like a box-pleated skirted sofa), and little upgrades here and there (honed Nero Marquina marble on the existing fireplace surround, pink balloon shades to make the most of shallow windows, shiny brown lacquer on an inherited console) allowed the designer to work with what she had.
Housed in an existing extension at the rear of the home, the kitchen and breakfast nook leads to the family room where Contreras, her husband and their young daughter begin and end most days. Though these spaces are purpose-built to stand the test of time, a thoughtful design plan keeps things balanced. Airy details like rattan seating and a calm palette are grounded by brass accents, namely the Orsay Grande Pendant over the breakfast table and 18" Cabinet Maker's Picture Light over the hardworking built-ins.
A well-placed dose of classic pattern in a camel colorway shakes up the sleek primary bedroom, where the walls are a moody (and unexpected!) shade of brown. The effect is striking but never heavy, thanks in part to the Maverick 60" Ceiling Fan overhead. In a citron-tinted guest room, collected art, textiles and decorative objects in a calm palette of fresh, pale greens form the perfect backdrop for the zing of a Sylvie Medium Table Lamp. “The palettes could not be more different,” Contreras says of these two bedrooms, “but the result is very much the same: comfortable spaces that feel like a soothing respite from the outside world.”
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