Photo: Brittany Ambridge
Clean. Fresh. Interesting. Unexpected.
That’s what you get when you turn the pages of Houston interior designer Paloma Contreras’s new book, “Dream Design Live” (Abrams; $35; 240 pp.), which goes on sale Tuesday and will be toasted at a book signing at the Found home decor store on Thursday.
The book features photos of her own Houston home, as well as several she’s designed for clients. Her home is filled with light, bright spaces and pops of bold colors and her dog, 9-year-old cockapoo Tate even makes a cameo.
Walls are almost always white — unless they have wallpaper — and furnishings are a mix of solids and prints combined in unexpected ways. Chartreuse velvet chairs sit next to mushroom-like ottomans in a black-white spotty pattern.
Vases of flowers — glorious peonies and roses, tulips and hydrangeas — bring a touch of nature to every room. And she explains why she put rooms together as she did: grasping color theory, understanding scale, following rules for window treatments and the most minute details of how a bathroom can be most functional. (For example, sconces should be 36-40 inches apart, towel bars should be 48 inches off of the ground and bath robe hooks should be 60 inches off of the ground.)
Contreras wasn’t one of those kids who rearranged her parents’ furniture or sketched living rooms instead of stick people and daisies. She didn’t dream of a day when she’d create beautiful homes for others.
Instead, she followed her passion for foreign languages, studied Spanish and Italian, then becoming a Spanish teacher. She knew there was something else out there for her, though, and it wasn’t long before she hated her job so much that she just wanted to walk away.
But the 38-year-old Houston native’s desire to be creative and stylish was always there. She launched a design blog, “La Dolce Vita,” that quickly drew a loyal audience. She took on small design jobs and occasionally did freelance writing for corporations.
Her skills with social media and her knack for business got her a job as director of marketing at Visual Comfort, the Houston lighting firm that works with renowned designers such as Alexa Hampton, Kelly Wearstler, Christopher Spitzmiller, J. Randall Powers and Michael S. Smith. Her husband, Fabian Contreras, worked in the hospitality division there and urged her to try something new.
At Visual Comfort she learned the basics of the design world and gained valuable insight about running a business. Contreras took time recently to talk about her new book.
Q. Tell me about your transition into interior design.
A. I knew how to market myself; social media was taking off and I had a voice and found a way to carve out a niche for myself. I did marketing for a couple of years and launched Visual Comfort’s Aerin collection, one of their more successful launches. It was an eye-opening experience … a huge education. I knew that ultimately I wanted to work for myself. I got my first big client — a recent divorcee who had a large home in the Energy Corridor and wanted to make it feminine and glamorous — which gave me the confidence to go out on my own.
Q. Without formal training, how did you cultivate your style?
A. The ironic thing is that my mom studied interior design in school but never actually practiced. She had me and was a stay-at-home mom. I am completely self-trained, but I have a good eye and access to incredible mentors … Suzanne Kasler, Vincent Wolf, Mark Sikes, who is a wonderful friend, and Andy Singer at Visual Comfort for business. And I have an insatiable thirst for learning and knowledge. I’ve always been curious, I go out and learn and devour every book I can. I train my eye to see things differently when I travel. I ask a lot of questions when I shop for antiques.
Q. In photos of your own home it’s clear that you like to mix design styles. What style do you most identify with yourself?
A. It’s so true, there isn’t one singular aesthetic that I work in or that I like. I can be just as into an all-white room with a chunky rug as I am to something with rich velvets and bullion trim and fine antiques. Both are equally alluring and both are aesthetics I can execute. Some designers have a singular point of view and have a style and you know it when you see it. My style in particular is a modern take on traditional and classic style. I love classic elements and French antiques, things with classic silhouettes and mix them with a sweet chair or abstract art and making it feel fresh and vibrant.
Q. Designers always hate to talk about trends, but what are you loving that’s hot right now?
A. There’s definitely a return to color. For a while it seemed everything was gray and white and very neutral. Lately, over the last year, we’ve embraced more vibrant color schemes that we haven’t in the past five years. I can get on board with that.
I’m seeing more and more traditional elements: Traditional silhouettes for upholstery, bullion trim on a sofa or settee. In terms of lighting, though, things are skewing more modern. If some elements are trending traditional, it’s more interesting to interject a funky modern chandelier and make it feel fresh and unexpected rather than feel just one note.
Q. Many design books are written as hulking retrospectives on a long career, but yours is so different, fresh and accessible and even including some design lessons.
A. It was important to me that it feel like a useful book. I am addicted to beautiful books, and my house is filled with them. I knew that many people may not read it, so I thought if people spend their money on my book they would feel like it’s a hard working book. It has pretty pictures for inspiration, but also useful advice.
I tell them how to arrange art, one nice piece or a salon wall with several smaller pieces, how to get the right rug size or set up the perfect guest room. I don’t want to call it a reference guide because it’s not quite that didactic, but there’s certainly a lot to get out of the book, that they can apply instantly to their own home.
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