Field Trip: Houston

This is the first entry to post for Kemble Interiors and as such, a toe dipped with trepidation into the blog pond. We are torn between discussing what is odd and surprising to us and tracking our ongoing but occasionally typical adventures. This first post is a bit of a hybrid:

So. . . there we were in Texas, one fevered and hacking (Celerie), one freshly married  (Lindsey) and recovering from the stomach flu (honeymoon in Mexico), and our client (as company policy shall remain nameless) who went from stuffy to feverish and delirious by the end of day. Plagues notwithstanding, we were on a 24 hour whirlwind site visit to Houston, our first with this client, Celerie’s first to Houston, and a first hometown job for Lindsey.  So far, this story is ripe with the usual, location being the big surprise. But come on, Celerie in Texas?

 Turns out she loved it and still hasn’t stopped talking about the trip -- most frequently revisiting the enormity of everything; specifically the closet in her hotel room.

Our first stop was the Walker Zanger stone slab warehouse because the Texas house was hungry for stone – Kitchen countertops and backsplashes, fireplace surrounds, bathroom vanities, and a bar countertop that really demanded punch.  So often designers say the starting point for a room is the rug but in a renovation where stone coloration is in play, we think it is an even more permanent / epic investment and a great place to dodge the mundane.

Suddenly our Living Room is renamed "the green room" and we foresee yellow grassy greens, deep olives, and flashes of Daffodil yellow/gold. 

Later we visited Chateau Domingue and destiny was working for us when we discovered the perfectly scaled mantelpiece.

(Photo courtesy of Chateau Domingue)

Photo showing the future fireplace surround and 17th century French mantle.

We loved this slab but got stressed and discarded it due to the colorscape that brought to mind a multiple personality disorder.

Still not sane in anyway but somehow perfect, we settled on an enormous slab of Portofino for the powder room. . . .

The teal, rust, and orange we hope will become a high backed powder room backsplash and vanity top.  So dramatic was the stone that the room began to define itself  - Amelie Waterworks wall mounted tap in brass over a hammered brass sink basin, crystal legs from Urban Archaeology,

(Photo courtesy of Waterworks)

(Image courtesy of Urban Archaeology)

and more. . .we can’t stop dreaming about a swirl of gray, teal, and gold fish on sliver leaf background from de Gournay.

(Photo courtesy of de Gournay)

For anyone who hasn’t been to see marble slab warehouse this is worth a look!

(all photos by Lindsey Herod for Kemble Interiors unless otherwise noted)

xo, the kemblettes