THE STORY
Desert Oasis
Desert Oasis was designed to be the ultimate backdrop for a life well-lived—a home where the architecture steps back to let the human experience take center stage.
You know those rooms where people just end up? Where guests somehow always migrate, where the family gravitates on game nights, where someone is curled up with a book in the corner on a Sunday afternoon? This is that room.
The sofa is enormous and comfortable — you sink into it and genuinely don't want to get up. The pendant light overhead is one of those pieces that stops people mid-sentence: its white draped fabric panels drift like something between a chandelier and a piece of art, casting the softest, most flattering light over the whole space.
We kept the palette calm — cream, warm oak, muted ochre — so the room never competes with the people in it. The burst of blush and purple in the art print on the wall gives the space just enough color to feel joyful without feeling loud.
There is something about a well-loved entry that tells you everything about the people who live inside. A coat on the hook. A scarf left from this morning's walk. A plant someone remembered to water. This foyer was designed to hold all of that — the small, daily evidences of a life being lived beautifully.
Photography courtesy: Miranda Estes Photography
The deep charcoal walls of this dining room make the room feel like its own world, hushed, warm and intimate. An exquisite tapestry hand embroidered by craftswomen in Asia adorns the wall and holds cultural significance to the client. The light above, with its soft pleated, scalloped shade, makes everyone around this table look beautiful. That was non-negotiable. And beyond the stairs, the living room fireplace still glowing — and you remember that this room is never really separate from the rest. It's all one home. One family. Every space is just a different way of being together.
We knew this wallcovering was the heart of this project the moment we found it. Up close, you notice how the ink-washed botanicals are brushed loosely and freely, like someone painted them from memory rather than from a reference. Come evening, when the lamp is on and the day is winding down, that subtle metallic shimmer softly whispers - Welcome back!
There will be birthdays at this table. Holiday dinners, and long Friday nights with friends. The marble top of the Saarinen table carries all of it gracefully and it only gets more beautiful with use. We love the vegan leather seats that can be wiped off easily if small fingers get jelly on them. But look past it to the right — a sumptuous chocolate ombre staircase runner made of natural wool adds such a special touch, for a small doggy that was so scared of the wood stairs that he had to be carried up and down each time!
Now, that's a vision to come home to! The warmth doesn't stop at the entry — it climbs the staircase with an ombré runner that melts from soft bisque to rich chocolate, threading the same inspired conversation all the way up.
