This Home Filled With Pastel Hues Perfectly Blends Mod and Trad

Houston-based designer Marian "Mimi" Meacham of Marian Louise Design proves that pastels are the missing link in your home's style.

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June 26, 2023

By: Kamron Sanders

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Photo By: Ellen Renee

Photo By: VisitGreenvilleSC

Photo By: Ellen Renee

A Growing Family Gains a New Home Without Losing Their Neighborhood

When you love your neighborhood but you're outgrowing your home, sometimes the only option is to tear it down and start fresh. And that's exactly the solution this Houston couple sought, moving into a nearby rental while they constructed a beautiful two-story with more space for their three kids and numerous pets. The young family enlisted designer Marian "Mimi" Meacham of Marian Louise Design to aid in the creation of their dream home, a blend of modern and traditional with pops of pastels.

This Green Front Door Makes a Strong Visual Statement

While both the interior and exterior have a white foundation, the Houston home is jam-packed with eye-catching pastels, starting with the front door, which is painted in Sherwin Williams Gallery Green. "One of my favorite vignettes in this home is the front porch!" admits Mimi. "We knew we wanted to do a 'statement' front door since the brick was white, and this adorable one truly welcomes all who pass by."

Various Materials Come Together to Form a Seamless Front Porch Vignette

With a green door, copper lanterns, a brick floor and a wood ceiling, the front porch employs several materials with dissimilar textures and tones to create a vignette that is as seamless as it is striking. "It’s all about going bold where it counts and making sure the surroundings blend seamlessly with those choices," explains Mimi. "The warm white paint, grounding copper and timeless brick work together as neutrals to frame the green door." The house numbers were intentionally written out as a nod to the home's traditional side.

Neutral Selections Make Room for More Colorful Accents

Mimi continued this "neutral frame" concept in the interior, adorning the entry with materials intentionally selected to let the colorful accents pop. "The chic white paneling, white and brass iron stair railing and lighter-toned wood floors created a beautiful blank slate for our entry selections," she notes.

A Commissioned Painting Guides This Entryway's Decor

When it came time to furnish the elegant entryway, Mimi says "The homeowner only requested storage space. She had this painting commissioned so we let the colors in the painting guide us in selecting the storage cabinet, rug and lamp to tie it all together."

Inspirational Decor Pieces Guide Each Room's Color Choices

"We like to start with an inspirational element like a wallpaper, light fixture, fabric or art piece, and then build out from there," explains Mimi. "Each room has its own personality, but they still 'talk' to each other so the whole home feels cohesive." Refreshing pastels weave from room to room, giving each room a distinct look while maintaining a consistent color story.

A Moody Study Maintains a Look All Its Own

A sneak peek of a dramatic study is available through a custom set of white oak doors to the right of the entry. The dapper space is finished in Sherwin Williams Indigo Batik, offering a distinguished contrast to the whites and pastels found throughout the home.

Dark Paint and Luxe Furnishings Make for a Moody Hideaway for Parents

While the home is family-centric, the study is a space designed for the parents. "It’s their 'adult' space and we wanted it to feel like a moody hideaway for hanging out and having fun with friends," says Mimi.

Landscape Panels Are Reminiscent of These Clients' Texas Ranch

She sourced four green velvet chairs from Highland House Furniture, centering them beneath a segmented art piece that's stature gives it a mural-esque feel. "We sourced these landscape panels from an Etsy shop and had them custom framed. The scene depicted in the panels reminded the clients of their Texas ranch," offers Mimi.

A Pastel Butler's Pantry Inspired This Entire Home's Look

The butler's pantry, positioned between the kitchen and dining room is the design heart of this home, as its design dictated the whole home's look. "We knew this space was going to be one of the first seen upon entering the home, so we wanted it to make an impact and set the stage for the entire home’s design aesthetic," explains Mimi. Before the space was even materialized, Mimi had chosen the paint, Benjamin Moore Piano Concerto, a lively violet with soft gray undertones.

Purple and Green Wallpaper Is the Perfect Pairing for This Violet Paint

Next, Mimi sourced a complementary wallpaper for the space, Schumacher's Thistle in Ivory. "After selecting the paint color for the cabinets, the wallpaper just fit like a glove and our client absolutely loved it," she notes. With all these light pastels, the space was in need of a bit of warmth and balance, which Mimi found in butcherblock countertops.

These Sconces are a Metallic Extension of This Wallpaper's Botanical Backdrop

The botanical backdrop is a perfect pairing for the Hampton Wall Lights flanking the built-ins, which are sconces that resemble sculpted bouquets of metal leaves. "We had fun with the light fixtures in this home and put just as much emphasis on them as we did the color palette and fabric selections," says Mimi. "Lighting and hardware are what we consider to be the 'jewelry of the home,' and we love to let them shine!"

The Butler's Pantry's Violet Hue Continues Into This Dining Room

In lieu of traditional cased openings, the homeowners requested soft arches. The wide arch between the dining room and the butler's pantry makes each space feel like an extension of the other, so Mimi leaned into the effect by carrying over the violet hue of the cabinetry and pairing it with green velvet dining chairs.

Violet Trim and Ceilings Give This Dining Room a Bold Look

Mimi's utilization of the violet paint in the dining room is decidedly subtler than that of the butler's pantry, as she opted to prioritize white on the walls and paint the trim violet instead. "We wanted to go bold with color but still stay on the traditional side of things," she explains. "Reversing the white walls and painted trim was a unique way to do that." To go bolder still, she took the pastel to the ceiling as well.

Designer Advocates Use of Colors That Spark Joy

Incorporating pastels can be daunting for some, so Mimi suggests "using colors that make you feel lighter and spark joy. Then find ways to incorporate them throughout your home, tying them together to create a cohesive look." Adding, "But be careful of going overboard — you need some breathing space too."

Curated Floral Arrangements Enhance This Dining Room's Springy Feel

As if the pastel-packed dining room wasn't already the visual embodiment of spring, the vibrant floral arrangments lining the tablescape seal the deal. Each stem is intentionally curated to match the room's pastel purple and green color scheme.

Floral Details Can Be Found Everywhere You Look in This Dining Room

The end result is a dining room that looks as if it were pulled from a magazine cover. It features a lively and light color scheme that revolves around purple and green with an abundance of floral details all the way down to the plates and cutlery.

Designer Shares Her Tips For Making an All-White Kitchen Warm and Inviting

We've seen plenty of white kitchens. However, as simple and timeless as this look is, pulling it off in a way that's warm and inviting can be tricky. "An all-white kitchen can be beautiful and warm with the right white paint and warm wood tones sprinkled in," offers Mimi. The European-oil-finish white oak floors do just the trick.

An Oversized Window Is the Star of This Kitchen's Design

From the coffered ceiling detail to the stunning gas range, there's a lot to look at. However, in Mimi's opinion, "The huge window above the sink is the star of the show in this kitchen." Its grand size affords a view of the other lovely homes found in the quiet neighborhood, while its shape satisfies the homeowners' desire for arched openings.

The Massive Island Is the Heart of This Kitchen

The window may be the star of the kitchen, but Mimi says the massive island is its heart — a multipurpose spot for breakfast, homework, meal prep and even dance parties. Luckily, the extra-thick Taj Mahal Quartzite slab, a natural stone alternative with beige hues and soft golden veining, can handle anything the family throws at it. Since there's no such thing as too much storage (especially for a family of five), the enviable cabinet space continues into the walk-in pantry to the left.

Sconces' Green Hue Inspires This Kitchen's Pastel Details

True to the Houston home's theme, the kitchen's warm white is a blank canvas for pastel details found in the lighting and the Villa and House stools. Since the client wanted a timeless white kitchen, Mimi got creative in her pastel inclusions, which adds to the bespoke feel of the kitchen's details. "The sconces came in a great mint green color that we all loved, so we paint-matched them with the pendants and found a performance fabric in the perfect color to upholster the stool cushions," she explains.

Subtle Curves Give This Vent Hood a Minimal-Yet-Refined Look

For the vent hood, the homeowners wanted something "very minimal, but still refined," which Mimi achieved with soft, curved lines and tonal paint. The mudroom situated behind the range is also paint-matched to the kitchen light fixtures, tying the spaces together and offering visual depth.

A Wide Opening Creates an Open-Concept Feel

The kitchen gracefully flows into the living room via another extra-wide, soft archway, mirroring the arch of the window above the sink and making the transition between the spaces seamless. The continuation of the coffered ceiling exaggerates this effect.

Modern and Traditional Furnishings Come Together to Create a Uniquely Beautiful Living Room

Mimi opted for a mix of modern and traditional furnishings in the space, naturally including a few pastel pieces to honor the home's look. A variety of coordinated colors and patterns give every vignette a unique look without sacrificing the room's cohesive style.

This Living Room's Design Balances Beauty With Functionality

"The goal in the living room was to feel chic, airy and livable, and to withstand two rowdy boys and a toddler," notes Mimi. "We sourced all performance fabrics for the upholstery and a wipeable coffee table." A sprawling glass doorway towers over the living room, filling the space with light and providing access to the backyard and pool area.

A Hidden TV Allows the Custom Fireplace to Take Centerstage

In an effort to maintain the living room's traditional, formal look, a Frame TV was positioned left of center in the built-ins. As a result, visual priority is given to the fireplace, which sits in the middle of the room, flanked by the built-ins. To fill the remainder of the ceiling-high shelves, Mimi says, "A lot of the styling pieces were family heirlooms and pictures of the homeowners. We also enlisted the help of our favorite interior stylist, Becki Griffin from Curious Details, to finish off the room."

A Limestone Fireplace Was Designed and Custom-Built for This Living Room

The fireplace was custom-built for this space using limestone, which offers a subtle contrast to the clean, white built-ins, referencing the calming neutral tones of the Taj Mahal Quartzite in the kitchen. Its beautiful curved lines and circle details contrast the more rigid lines in the room, tying into the home's archways and the curvature of the coffee table.