From Metro San Antonio In Focus Vol. II No. I
by Catherine Hudgens Reprinted with permission.

Most people have developed a unique way of living and distinct likes and interests that have evolved over time. They may have collections of things they’ve inherited or furnishings they’ve acquired that they want to display or enjoy using every day.

However, people who are relocating to the Metro area from a region that’s quite different, such as Boston or New York, for example, may find that the interior design to which they’re accustomed will begin to seem too formal for Texas.

Don’t let the process of bringing your own sense of style to South Texas and making it work scare you. Instead, simply reinterpret your taste and style in a way that gives your home’s design - inside and out – a South Texas Feeling, which Jeff Koehler and Nancy Stevens of Design Associates, headquartered in Seguin, describe as “just a little more casual…livable…less formal.”

And while the Early Texas look is both classic and very popular, the bottom line here in the south-central portion of the Lone Star State is that individual taste and lifestyle are the ultimate determining factors for a home’s design and décor.

Koehler and Stevens suggest beginning the relocation or renovation by determining what’s important to you at this point in your lives and how you intend to conduct the business of being homeowners.

In other words, as a new South Texan, you should sit down and figure out what your specific needs and wants for your living space are now, then experiment with taking a more laidback approach to meeting them.

The results of this soul-searching should be an understanding of what you have to work with and what you need to make you and your family feel at home in your new Texas neighborhood.

“Don’t just try to “do Texas” if it’s not your style,” counsels Stevens. “It’s your home. We think you should be happy there.”

Besides, as Koehler notes, since Texas is about more than cowboys, there’s really no need to impose a Western them on, say, a European post-modern sensibility.

Instead, you can add touches of bright color and Southwestern or folkart-inspired decorative pieces that reflect the Hispanic influence on South Texas to a room filled with your favorite furniture. You’ll also probably want to consider building an outdoor area for entertaining and barbecues, both Texas traditions and enjoyable year-round, thanks to the region’s mild climate.

Remember to give your new home a real Texas feel while incorporating familiar furnishings and your personal design philosophy, just aim to balance sensibility, comfort, and functionality, whether you are making a lifestyle change – downsizing, for example – or moving to a new home, with a new layout, that offers more room for a growing family.

And don’t despair if you fall in love with a house, only to find that its current spatial arrangement doesn’t fit your new life’s needs.

As a recent Design Associates project illustrates, Texans have a strong independent streak and can-do attitude.

The project involves a turn of the twentieth century (ca. 1900) home, nestled in a quiet neighborhood in Seguin, in which the owners have resided for the past 30 years. When the nest emptied, the couple decided that, though they didn’t want to leave their home or neighborhood, they wanted to reconfigure the space to better fit their current needs.

In this case, meeting their goal required major remodeling, in part because the house had previously undergone several extensive renovations. This time around, the attic, previously a game room, became a new master suite. The old master bedroom was transformed into a TV room cum guest bedroom, while the daughter’s bedroom became the new kitchen.

By first consciously considering traffic flow, furniture and appliances, the mechanics, (such as plumbing and electrical), and “details” like cabinetry, wall and window treatments, and personalized accessorizing touches in a typically Texan, out-of-the-box way, the owners, with the help of their designers, have achieved exactly what they want – and what expresses their own unique version of South Texas style.

Because the home has “awesome” windows, part of the projects success rested on the views coming in from outside; the designers helped plan an enclosed garden area, complete with fountain.

“We call the home’s style ‘comfortable contemporary,” says Koehler. “It has a slight edge to it – yet it’s warm, charming, and inviting at the same time.”

The owners are very happy with this new version of their living space. “After all these years,” one noted, “our home is finally comfortable. It’s now a place we want to spend time in”

Which is, in a nutshell (pecan, of course), the essence of the predominant approach to design in this region: making the abode comfortable and its residents happy.

Welcome home, y’all!

--Catherine Hudgins
Metro San Antonio In Focus Vol. II No. I Reprinted with permission.