A Jewelry Designer’s Color-Rich Dallas Home

Homeowners: Lloyd Pierson and Laura Ginsburg Pierson
Designer Name: Michelle Nussbaumer, Ceylon et Cie
Location: Dallas, Texas

As staunch supporters of color-soaked interiors, we can certainly get on board with a home that embraces a saturated scheme. So was the case for interior designer Michelle Nussbaumer’s lively pad for Lloyd and Laura Pierson, a young couple-turned-growing family in Dallas. The designer called on her penchant for pattern—namely in the form of hand-painted Chinese wallpaper—and the homeowners’ own knack for traditional, often 18^th-century French, décor to create the elegant, yet fresh, interior.

If you’re familiar with Michelle’s portfolio (her new book Wanderlust: Interiors That Bring the World Home, on sale today, is a good place to start!) then the fact that this home is brimming with worldly pattern and rich pigments should come as no surprise. The interior is festooned with bespoke decor pieces, smartly energized by brave color choices, to suit the couple in their 30s. Hand-painted wallpaper from de Gournay, in a fiery scarlet shade, lines the walls of the formal living room, which houses a pagoda daybed designed by Michelle.

Laura’s collection of Chinese porcelain is displayed gallery wall-style in the bright aqua dining room. Futuristic modern pendants drop in to the pattern-laden kitchen and breakfast area, which is donned in a playful wallpaper by Andrew Martin. In another (successful) attempt to bring youthful energy into the home, Michelle introduced large-scale, graphic patterns throughout to break up the sea of chintzes and toiles.

Together, Michelle and Laura (who owns fine jewelry company Laura Pierson) devised the home’s brazen color scheme, which takes cues from the jewelry designer homeowner’s work with precious and semi-precious stones. The opulent jewel-toned theme is the aesthetic thread that connects the entire project.

One of the main challenges for the designer was to incorporate both homeowners’ decor preferences and day-to-day needs. “Their aesthetics blended,” says Michelle, who was happily surprised by the elevated taste of Lloyd, a sports agent, and his fondness for more traditional elements of décor. And while he was nearly always on board, there were a few times the designer had to meet him in the middle. For example, in lieu of the ubiquitous sports-watching perch (a leather sofa), Michelle sold him on a roomy, vintage sectional wrapped in hard-wearing linen velvet; his desire for three TVs was limited to one extra-large screen; and the office, of which the designer notes a rock-n-roll appeal, delivers a chic man-cave vibe, with modern photography and a brightly hued bar cabinet.

Once the couple found out they were expecting, Michelle came back to the home to create the expectedly fabulous nursery (complete with custom Gracie wallpaper). When their bundle of joy arrived sooner than expected, the designer received a note from the Laura saying: “He arrived early because he couldn’t wait to see his room!”

Paint & Wallpaper Resources:

Entry

Door & Accent Wall — Sherwin-Williams Black Magic

Ceiling — Scalamandre East India

Dining Room

Wall — Sherwin-Williams Aruba Blue

Formal Living Room

Wallpaper — de Gournay Portobello on Scarlet Lady Dyed Silk

Ceiling — Benjamin Moore Custom

Powder Room:

Wallpaper — Scalamandre Gold Leaf, Flowers Hand-Painted by Artist

Library:

Ceiling — Cole & Son Fornasetti Malachite

Kitchen

Wallpaper — Andrew Martin Cargo Taupe Wallpaper

Thank you for sharing Lloyd and Laura’s home with us Michelle!