Heather & Daniel’s Texas Treasure

updated Feb 19, 2019

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Square feet

1700

Sq ft

1700

Name: Heather and Daniel Mount
Location: Denton, Texas
Size: 1,700 square feet
Years lived in: 6 months, owned

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When Heather and Daniel started looking for their first home, they had been nervously watching the intense Denton market for a year. The first few houses they saw were supposed to give them an idea of what they could get in their budget, but when they walked into the first house of the day, they felt a connection. Even though they were looking for an older ’60s era ranch, they loved the 1984 home with its sunken living room and a huge backyard—not to mention a solid foundation and great neighborhood. The house continued to grow on them and they put in an offer that night.

(Image credit: Celeste Noche)

In terms of furnishing, Heather and Daniel have been slowly replacing their IKEA/hand-me-down furniture with things their own style since moving to Oregon and back over the last four years. They’re down to just a few pieces in the bedroom to hunt for but it helps that one of their friends is a mid-century furniture dealer who’s always keeping an eye out for them.

(Image credit: Celeste Noche)

The only part of the house that needed serious work was kitchen. Heather and Daniel replaced the damaged laminate counters with white quartz, self-installed the hexagon tile back splash and replaced the ’80s brass hardware with brushed silver t-bar handles to match the new under-mount sink. Although they’ve only been living in the home for six months, the kitchen is their proudest achievement so far, taking the worst part of the house and turning it into their favorite.

(Image credit: Celeste Noche)

Heather and Daniel met working at the library together. Four years of dating and six years of marriage later, Heather works in marketing and Daniel works for IT with the county. They spend their free time trying new vegan recipes, working on the house, and hanging out with friends at their local “cheers-esque” bar, East Side Drafthouse.

(Image credit: Celeste Noche)

They lived in Portland for a few years but moved back to Texas mainly to be closer to family and to find a home in Denton, Heather’s home town. Their time in Portland and love for Denton inspires much of their art and decor. “I love that the pieces we have with us tell our history,” says Heather. “It’s like walking through a house full of old friends. We gravitate towards jute, wool and cottons, neutral/de-saturated colors and medium wood tones. In case it’s not apparent I also have a mild owl addiction. Honestly I’m a sucker for anything forest-inspired. That’s what we loved the most about Oregon—the forests and the mountains—so it’s nice to feel like we’ve somehow meshed the two worlds.”

(Image credit: Celeste Noche)

Apartment Therapy Survey:

Our Style: Mid-Century Modern

Inspiration: We love going to the homes and apartments of our friends to see how they’re mixing textures and furniture in unique ways. One particular couple we know from Seattle, Jack and Lisa, inspired Daniel to finally let me explore my mid-century cravings a few years back and it’s been the perfect meeting of our two tastes. I also love scoping out the set decoration in period film and television. The Facebook group I’m in for buying/selling and discussing mid-century in Dallas Fort Worth has taught me a lot about designers and styles from the era as well.

Favorite Element: I’ve wanted to have a fireplace my whole life and this is my first time living with one as an adult. It’s amazing. I think Daniel would say his favorite is the backyard. We inherited six raised garden beds and removed three so that our dog could have a little room for running. Daniel has spent the last month growing grass in the dirt patches from seed and I’m getting suspicious he loves that lawn more than me at this point.

Biggest Challenge: The popcorn ceilings we still need to take down, oh and keeping nice things with a puppy and two cats around.

What Friends Say: Our friends have similar styles so they dig it, and everyone mentions their love for the sunken living room.

Biggest Embarrassment: We have two long-haired cats and a dog, so I’m constantly worried about pet smells and hair on chairs when guests come over—it never ends! At least they’re cute.

Proudest DIY: Our dining table and chairs. Heather found a Craigslist seven piece set priced for $125. We researched it and discovered it was a Conant Ball Leslie Diamond designed set worth over $3000! The table top was water damaged, so we spent a week refinishing it and now it’s the star of the house.

Biggest Indulgence: The hutch in the dining room. After redoing our Conant Ball dining set we had to find it a proper companion. Since hutches like that are few and far between here, we splurged and bought it from a local dealer.

Best Advice: Don’t paint over furniture, restore it. Danish oil and wipe-on satin poly saved our table, but for smaller issues we love Restor-a-Finish and Howard Feed-n-Wax!

Dream Sources: Estate sale—I wish I had the time to go to more.

Resources

PAINT & COLORS

Breakfast Nook & Kitchen: Worldly Grey by Sherwin Williams
Dining Room: Essential Shade by Sherwin Williams
Rest of house is cream – painted by the previous owners.

(Image credit: Celeste Noche)

ENTRY

Wooden Hat Rack: Heather’s late grandfather
Brass & glass 3-tier table: Craigslist
Pair of Owl Crewels: Instagram

(Image credit: Celeste Noche)

DINING ROOM

Table and chairs: Conant Ball Leslie Diamond found and refurbished from Craigslist
Threshold Woven Rug: Target
Red Ship Painting: Lewisville Antique Mall
Unframed ship watercolor: Good Will
Painting of Woman: Modern Motif Vintage
Wine Rack: Instagram
Dining Hutch: Retrospektiv

(Image credit: Celeste Noche)

KITCHEN & BREAKFAST NOOK

3cm Quartz Counters – Allen & Roth / Lowes
White Metro Hex Tile Backsplash – Home Depot
Delta Trask Faucet – Lowes
White Hanging Succulent Planter – Lowes

Texas Framed Print – Modern Motif Vintage
1950’s Formica Table – Portland Craigslist
Metal Chairs – Overstock.com
Milk Glass Pendant – West Elm

(Image credit: Celeste Noche)

LIVING ROOM

Karlstad Couches & Ottoman – Ikea (we switched to walnut tapered legs from thirteencolonies on Etsy)
Couch pillows – Ikea
Pendelton Wool Throw – Instagram
Coffee Table – We built it & stained ourselves (Legs are from SolidBuilt on Etsy)
Macrame Plant Hanger – MacrameDesigns on Etsy
MCM Lamp – Mod8FurnitureMarket on Etsy
Tall Cylindrical MCM Lamp: DFW Mid Century Modern & Retro + Art FB Group
Walnut Bar – Rerun in Portland, OR
Floral Chair – Justin, TX Craigslist
Tiered Side Table – St. John’s Vintage in Portland, OR
Short Side Table – Goodwill in Beaverton, OR
Mt. St Helens Watercolor Painting – Steph Untz, friend & artist currently residing in Okinawa painted from a photograph Daniel took when he summited St. Helens
Record Stand – Denton Mini Mall II
Record Console – DFW Mid Century Modern & Retro + Art FB Group
Green Geometric Painting – painted by Heather
Framed map of Portland – gift from Lisa Randolph
Plant Stand – made by our friend Kris Nokes- Plants & pots – 90% Ikea, 10% Lowes
Gold Birds – Modern Motif Vintage