If you follow us on this blog, you'll know that we've been in Round Top, Texas, for the mother of all antique fairs this side of France. And here's our take on it: Texas, we love you!
What a fun week it's been. From genuinely lovely, caring and hospitable people (Brenda, that's you, girl!) who have welcomed us to their Airbnbs and charming little inns to the amazing staff at the famous Marburger Farms, we thank you all (sorry, I meant, y'all.)
And to all the lovely new friends and clients we met - wow! What a pleasure to work with you. We'd say 80% of you came from Houston or Austin where the design bar is pretty high and the look du jour is a gorgeous mix of clean and modern pieces artfully mixed with the old, crunchy and patina-d. (Dallas/Fort Worth and all other stylish parts of Texas - not to worry: we will get to you soon because you've got the design thing going on too!)
For example, take a peek at some of the design coming out of Houston - it's pretty darn fabulous:
Our first go-to in Houston is our dear friend, fellow Francophile, blogger, designer and new retailer, Paloma Contreras. Paloma came shopping with us to Paris a couple seasons ago and we absolutely fell in love with her. Her stylish star has been ascending with design work, a beautiful coffee table book and now a retail establishment. Here's a peek at a couple of her many projects that had us drooling at "howdy":
Here are some other Houston designers who caught our attention:
And there's no-one more Houston than the talented Pamela Pierce. Not only is Pam a fabulous interior designer, but then she went and stole our dream job: editor of a design magazine! Pam's brainchild is the luxe and very gorgeous Milieu magazine which has us gasping, ooohing and ahhhing every time we open its glossy pages.
One of our favorite Houston designers and blog commentators is Joni Webb of Cote de Texas. For years, Joni has been capturing the vibe and essence of design in the south (west and east) and in other parts of the country. If you're not familiar with it, Cote de Texas is a fabulous running commentary on today's design trends and style. The latest posts are a sweet and poignant testimony: a downsize - maybe not quite voluntary - that turned from the duckling to the swan, all with Joanie's gracious and glass-always-full attitude. Her posts are always on point and fun to read.
When I told my new Round Top bestie (precious Betsy Austin from Tres Bien Antiques in Houston - follow her at #tresbienantiques on Insta) that I wanted to feature Houston/Austin designers, she suggested I take a look at a few who are making a name for themselves in that part of the world.
Even though our travels are taking us all over the place these days, we've got a soft spot in our hearts for Texas - and we've definitely got our eye on the fabulous design that's coming out of the wonderful Lone Star state. Keep it up, Texans - we love you!
Ta ta.
PS: I'd love to share a sweet story from Round Top: a lovely new client snapped up a set of really unusual carved wooden Italian dining chairs for her Round Top house. A couple hours later, I got the best text with a photo of the chairs in their new home:
"Found their way home to the oldest original farmhouse in Round Top - 1823!"
