“I was definitely walking a high wire, and I wasn’t sure if there was even a net,” says designer Kristin Mullen, recalling her work on a newly built home in Dallas, Texas. It was a departure from her usual fervently traditional interiors, the reason being, in part, that its owners had divergent decorating tastes. The husband felt energized by the idea of contemporary, clean lines, while the wife was a card-carrying classicist with a degree in classical art and architecture to match.
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“I wanted to create a curated and collected introduction and welcome to the home,” says Mullen of the entry hall. “We kept the color palette a bit more subdued to allow for the ‘wow’ as the other rooms unfolded.” The Walt Chandelier is by Oly Studio.
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A custom rug by Patterson Flynn anchors the space. “I love the boldness of the Greek key motif, and how spectacular it looks in that very humble abaca texture,” Mullen says. The fluted base of the table is a recurring motif throughout the house.
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As is often the case when a couple finds one another’s Pinterest boards, well, un-Pinteresting, a neutral third party was required to help move things along. “I think they realized that in order for their home to fully blend together what he was thinking—a lighter, more modern feeling—with her sensibility—which is definitely more aligned with antiquity as well as easy elegance and comfort—they were going to need a designer,” Mullen says. “What we bring to the table is that both sides end up feeling really heard, and you can take from each side and come up with something that makes both of them deliriously happy. And that really was what ended up happening through this process.”
Mullen worked with the builder, Endurance Homes, to design the 14-foot fireplace in the family room, made of white oak tambour. “I wanted to do something that felt very clean and elegant and spare on one hand, but still had some warmth and interest to it,” she says. The Nottaway Chandelier is by Currey and Co.; the light blue sofa is upholstered in Schumacher’s vegan leather. Plaster cube coffee tables, Segreto Finishes.
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Mullen found this 1920s artist’s study of a statue of Constantine on a buying trip in Provence, France. When she presented it to her client, “I had no idea she was a classicist,” Mullen recalls. “So as I was talking with her about it, she said, ‘do you have ESP or something? This is my background. You don’t have to sell me on this; this speaks to my soul.’” The designer juxtaposed the painting against a contemporary stacked console from Noir.
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“That little settee reminds me of a Roman bench,” Mullen says of this curved bench by John Saladino, upholstered in S. Harris velvet. “I could just see it sitting in a courtyard in ancient Rome.” The base of the drinks table was made from an African drum, nodding to the wife’s heritage; the mirror is by Kristin Mullen designs.
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From the outset, Mullen aimed to capture the clients’ diverse interests as well as honor their backgrounds—the husband is Sri Lankan and the wife is African American. Exuberant doses of color, partially inspired by photos of a Sri Lankan spice market, instilled an unexpected vibrancy from the start; the palette also made pairing design epochs more challenging. “I’ve definitely done the mix of antiquity against modern forms before, and I certainly have done a lot with great color before in an artful mix, but I had not done the overlay,” Mullen recalls. “If you’re keeping it neutral, it is much easier to combine things—the margin for error is a lot greater, and you can much more easily make things flow together.”
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In the cookspace, Mullen opted for a Kitchen Kandy range hood in horizontally brushed brass. “I wanted to add a bit of a twist on that feeling of texture by bringing it horizontally wrapped around the hood rather than vertically,” she says. “It lends some grandeur to it, but because there’s texture, it also allows the space to feel more inviting.” A duo of Middleborough lanterns by Hudson Valley Lighting are suspended above the quartzite island.
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In the breakfast room, the Tiffany Dining Table by Julien Chichester has hammered bands around its base. “They reminded me of ancient coins,” Mullen says. Art, Oka. The banquette is upholstered in vegan leather in Lagoon by Schumacher.
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To help settle the eye, Mullen opted to focus on a narrower range of earthy greens and blues. In a nod to the wife’s attraction to historic motifs, she employed design elements inspired by centuries or even millennia-old elements of antiquity. Fluting, used since the days of Ancient Greece, is a motif that can be seen throughout the project, appearing up everywhere from the foyer’s lamps to the fireplace mantel in the family room. “Every time I looked at a piece of fabric or an object or lighting, I put it through a really rigorous filter: Does this in any way, shape or form relate to anything grounded in antiquity? If the answer was yes, then it became part of the space. If the answer was no, then it didn’t make the cut.”
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A Visual Comfort chandelier hangs over the primary bedroom, with its Alchemy Fine Home bed and a Charles Stewart chaise. The rug, by Talebi Rugs, is a favorite of Mullen. “It really hit the sweet spot between having the softness that I love to see in a primary bedroom where people go to retreat and relax, but also boldness to really carry forward the big element of pattern in the room.”
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Nuvolette wallpaper by Cole and Son adorns the powder bath. “This goes back to her love of history and philosophy,” Mullen says of the Fleur Home sun mirror that appears to burst forth from the clouds. Sconces, The Muse on Slocum.
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Luckily, the historic angle came naturally to the designer. “My mother had to persuade me not to be an archeologist!” she laughs. As a result, the home’s interiors are a testament to the fact that opposites attract; each room feels storied, but with a modern twist that will no doubt live happily ever after. Or, as Mullen puts it, “Honestly, this project was such a chef’s kiss.”
