Interior Designer in Preston Hollow

The Preston Hollow brief: scale, not space

Preston Hollow houses tend to have large lots, mature trees, long single-story plans and rooms with high ceilings. The recurring problem is a well-built house whose rooms do not feel comfortable. The causes are consistent and all solvable:

• Nobody sits in the living room because the seats are too far apart. Two properly sized groups fix it — a large room needs more furniture, not larger furniture.
• The rug looks small and the art looks lost because both were sized for a standard room.
• The room feels like a lobby because nothing sits at human scale. Lamps, side tables and layered light bring it down — see space planning and furniture layout.
• Sound echoes because volume meets hard surfaces. Rugs, lined drapery and upholstery do the work.

Indoor-outdoor living and phasing

On a large lot, covered outdoor space is often the biggest gain in the brief: orientation first, outdoor-rated fans, continuous floor levels and materials that survive Dallas sun — see outdoor living spaces in Dallas. Doing a large house all at once is disruptive and expensive, so many projects here are phased from a master plan: infrastructure first, then the rooms used daily, then the rest, with flooring, trim and palette fixed in phase one. More in the Preston Hollow renovation guide and whole-home design phasing.

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.