Design Notes

For Sarah Bartholet Gwin, a third-generation interior designer and color enthusiast, design is more than just a profession. It’s her lifelong passion. From the very beginning, Gwin’s journey into the world of design was inevitable. Growing …

Anyone who knows me well or follows me on Instagram is aware that I love to entertain at home and dress my table as imaginatively as possible whether it’s an intimate caviar and vodka dinner for my husband and me or a Mardi Gras feast for a crowd…

Woodlands Style House, the brainchild of Sondra Lagasse and Jill Simms, is a natural evolution for two very talented women. Both have a knack for design and marketing. But with young kids in school, they didn’t want to put their families on the b…

Designer Sara Story’s remarkable Manhattan townhouse renovation propelled her onto the design world’s radar when it appeared in the June issue of Architectural Digest. The five-story 1840s Gramercy Park brownstone was assembled from nine apartments ove…

Tiny houses, great causes. Eight businesses around the greater Houston area will be graced with their own beautiful one-of-a-kind dollhouse display through the La Petite Maison 2023 Dollhouse Tour this month. Each dollhouse was created by a different d…

If you’re into home decor and ceramics, you may already be a fan of MacKenzie-Childs’ bold designs. Based in Aurora, New York, the company has been designing and manufacturing hand-decorated ceramic and enamel tableware, furniture and home and ga…

Dallas-based designer Jenn Todryk is returning for her third season of No Demo Reno on HGTV with more Dallas and Fort Worth area homes. No Demo Reno‘s new season will premiere this Thursday, September 14 at 8 pm CST, with the first of 12 episodes…

Johnny Carrabba III readily admits that he is seldom at a loss for words. But on the reveal of the makeover of two private rooms at his original Carrabba’s on Kirby, the gregarious Houston restaurateur was not only dumbstruck but he was also in t…

Oliver Micklewright has fond memories of lazy summer days, watching his parents float on their inflated “lilo” lounger. What Americans call a float, or even a raft, the British call a lilo (pronounced lee-low). Micklewright set out to design one that c…

Houstonian Lily Barfield never dreamed that her passion for antiques and antique hunting would lead her into the realm of influencers with an Instagram following of more than 26,000 and growing. It was an unexpected trajectory. As a newlywed, she was f…