Tour a Colorful Texas Home With Tons of Brilliant Touches

Decorating with oodles of colors is all about balance. Just ask Stephanie Freeman, who squeezed as much turquoise, fuchsia, and chartreuse into her Houston, Texas, house as she could get past her husband, Brian Tison, and designer Meg Lonergan. “Some homeowners need to be pushed out of their comfort zone — I needed to be reined in,” says Stephanie. Her passion for color dates back to her teen years, when she would fill her bedroom with bright bedding and prints — a stark contrast to the dark woods and deep earth tones of her parents’ house. Stephanie was able to go all out in 2017, when she and Brian replaced their 1940s bungalow with a bigger build. Now they have a vibrant sofa, funky patterned fabrics sprinkled everywhere and a showstopping turquoise stove, all living in harmony with a neutral backdrop. “Not everything can be a wild color or pattern,” says Stephanie. “I’ve learned that’s a good thing.”

You don’t have to stop at one color statement in a room — just pair up pieces purposefully. A sofa by Moss Studio upholstered in lemon-lime Schumacher fabric plays off splashes of yellow in the abstract art by Michael von Helms. The rest of the furniture is muted, including a custom black-and-white settee and a coffee table from Crate & Barrel with low-key rugs.

Ghost chairs from Overstock let the table’s cool aged green base stand out. “It’s a machinist table from the 1930s that a local department store displayed perfumes on,” Stephanie says. “It wasn’t for sale but I kept going back until the salesperson gave in!” A pink table runner by Lulu & Georgia echoes the art above the vintage console.

"The blue range doesn’t just make me smile, it gets my kids excited about cooking. Our son makes his own eggs now. Win!" says Stephanie. She likes the range’s retro vibe as much as the color — Brian does too. Its brass details inspired the pulls and knobs on the cabinets.