Interior Designer in Highland Park

What Highland Park houses usually need

Much of Highland Park was built from the 1910s through the 1930s, with Tudor, Colonial, Mediterranean and Georgian revival houses alongside later rebuilds. The same briefs come up again and again:

• Connecting defined rooms. The kitchen was planned as a service room at the back and the dining room as a formal one. Most renovations connect them sensibly without losing what makes the house gracious — see open plan or defined rooms.
• A kitchen that works, with the pantry kept. The original pantry is usually worth keeping — see butler’s pantry and scullery design.
• More bathrooms and real storage. Bathrooms and closets are few and small by current expectations. The space usually comes from a bedroom or a closet rather than an addition — see closets and storage design.
• Keeping the character. Nearly every house has been altered before, so the framing behind the walls may not match the drawings. Deciding early which original details are worth restoring protects both the budget and the house.

A separate town, with its own process

The Town of Highland Park is an independent municipality surrounded by Dallas, with its own building department, adopted codes, inspectors and review process. Requirements are confirmed with the town at the start and its review times are built into the schedule. Tree protection, construction hours, parking and dumpsters are governed locally and enforced. The full picture is in the Highland Park renovation guide and in permits and trades in Dallas.

How a project with Jan runs

1. Consultation at the house. A working meeting where Jan looks at what is there, asks how you live in the rooms and tells you what is possible — including what is not. See what to expect at a first consultation.
2. Plan and selections. Floor plans, elevations and every finish chosen before anything is scheduled, because unmade decisions are what delay projects.
3. The build. Jan can run the construction herself as general contractor, or hand a complete plan to your own builder.
4. Furnish and finish. Furniture, window treatments, lighting, rugs and art ordered, installed and styled, so the room is finished rather than nearly finished.