Hope you are having a wonderful winter! In Houston, it already feels like spring, which definitely puts you in the mood for sprucing up the house!! For inspiration, here are some of the projects we’ve been doing about town!!!

This project has been one of my favorites to date! Though it’s a stunning home as is, the owners wanted a total exterior facelift. Rather than going for “new”, they wanted something which could meld perfectly if it were placed in the European countryside so we plastered the exterior. What a change!!!  I want to move in!

It was really fun to go back to this home, as I’ve been involved with three different owners over the past 15 years, all with different looks. Even more fun for me, Goodchild Builders has also been a part of  three renovations!!! The new owners were looking to lighten up the the bones of the house and infuse it with pops of color for a high style feel! Designer Lisa Hough, becoming part of the team, began transforming this traditional European style home into one with a more modern feel.

Lorraine from Custom Floors Unlimited, was hired to take the floors from a dark stain to this wonderful bleached look! I love how the walnut insets are still darker in tone!!!

To heighten the more contemporary aesthetic of the new design direction, the cabinetry was painted in a high-gloss finish, and a new metallic backsplash and ceiling wallcovering were installed. I love the new look!! We are in the process of painting all the vents and cans on the ceiling to blend with the gold-leaf-like paper installed! It makes such a difference when they go away!!!

Changing the plaster to a warm white really pulled out the lighter tones of the floors, creating a fresh backdrop for Lisa’s designs. The fireplace and the columns, which were previously golden in hue, got a light gray wash!!

Here is a close-up of the new stone after we applied our glazes to it! It still looks natural and has variation to it, but since replacing stone can be very expensive, this was a much more cost-effective alternative!!!

I love the bit of gold added to the staircase railing! A little bling goes a long way!!! I look forward to sharing more of this home with you as it progresses… can’t wait to see what Lisa does with the rest!

Working on a project with sweet Jennifer Martinez, we were asked to paint a mural on a custom-sized panel using the colors of the fabrics and rugs going into the room. So pretty – I really wanted to take this one home!!!!

Here is a close-up of the detail! Just timeless!!! This would be beautiful in a dining room or powder bath or just in one panel and framed as we are doing for this wonderful client!

We had plastered the majority of this home about five years ago, and I recently met with the homeowner again to talk about plastering the rest! Since I love all of her interesting collections and how they’re displayed, I snapped some quick pics to share with you!!

Such an eclectic mix she has! She has such an eye for mixing the expensive with the reasonable! These chairs came from High Fashion Home!

A wonderful collection of antique copper oil cans are on display over the mantel. They are so much more interesting the way she has stacked and placed them inside other objects!

Here, she put them in an antique glass jar, of course! I adore the collections of clocks as well, paired with the glass weights right beside. I can imagine so many objects coming to life grouped this way!!

Her dining room cabinet is filled to the brim with interesting objects!

Rather than hiding her napkins and napkin rings in a cabinet, she stores them in plain site, integrating them into the artistic combination of items. These papier-mâché flowers would look great on my dining table! Yours? Thanks, Heather, for letting me share your creative arrangements of accessories and collections!!

And on the home front!….

You would think getting our family of five together for a photo would be easier now that the kids are older! We tried to capture one for Segreto Vignettes in time to go to press, and they all turned out about this way!!! In a short time, I’ll be able to tell you if they made the book!

I’m off to Midland Texas!!! Join Me for a Segreto Style Book Signing on March 3rd!

While you wait for the third book, you can grab a signed copy of Segreto Style… I’ll be signing books and chatting about finishes on March 3rd from 1 to 3pm at the wonderful Hyacinth for the Home in Midland!!! Drop by and say hello – I’d love to see you!

I hope everyone has a great week!

P.S. Find me on INSTAGRAM Here!