You really never know how a client will land in your life. While house shopping, this couple happened to view a property I designed and fell in love with the style. They didn’t end up buying that house, which was my good luck, because, when they did find the right house, I was the first designer they called. The property they ultimately purchased was on an incredibly large lot in north Dallas. The site itself was their reason for buying it. The house needed a tremendous amount of work, and while I love a challenge, I was a bit apprehensive when I first saw it. In the end though, this house is the one that came the furthest over the course of the project, thanks in large part to the excellent architect William Riggs.

Architectural changes were necessary all over the house, but one of the most impactful was made in the entry. The original simply had no depth. Walking into the house, one felt as if they were walking into a wall. To solve the problem, we closed off a never-used hallway and pushed the rear wall back. This one alteration changed everything about how the rest of the house feels. I’ve written more than once about the significance of entries—how they introduce a house like the first pages of a book, telling you what you should anticipate seeing and experiencing as you move through the rest of the home. This entry ended up being one my favorite places on the property, with de Gournay wall coverings, a stunning, vintage chandelier, a large soliel mirror, plaster wall sconces, and a Marbro lamp.

As it should be, the rest of the house tells the remainder of the story. Serenity and peacefulness were the guiding principles behind our design, so we avoided big, distracting colors. Given the layout, there was no way to utilize a vast palette of colors without creating a choppy effect, so, instead, we focused on unity and flow, which we achieved with soothing hues that draw the eye through the house in a way that feels natural and pleasant.

The kitchen and master bath are exquisite Christopher Peacock creations, and the study is as serene and glamorous as any I’ve designed, with gorgeous blue, high-gloss walls and a handsome desk, but the room that made the most striking transformation was a walk-out basement with a low ceiling that that felt like a dungeon when I first saw it. Truly, it was absolutely without charm, which was all the sadder because it’s the primary passage onto a spectacular lawn and the grounds beyond.

The answer came with color—painting everything the same color is a given when it comes to low ceilings—and with scaling down the furniture. I always talk about scale, and this is one room where it couldn’t have been more important. It’s not enough to populate a room with beautiful things. It must always work at the proper scale. The heights of all the furniture had to be low but still feel natural. We ultimately decided to decorate the downstairs with a more modern twist, with low, curved sofas and contemporary wingback chairs. After the addition of a Christopher Peacock bar, a wine cellar, and a pool table lit by the perfect vintage chandelier found on a Paris buying trip, the basement transformed into one of my favorite rooms in the house, and theirs, too. It’s now become their primary family room, finally complimenting rather than distracting from the lush landscape that first inspired the homeowners purchase the house.