My Houzz: A Light Touch for a San Antonio Renovation
Elegant finishes and traditional style update an interior designer’s home in Texas
Nicola and Michael McLaughlin bought a 1949 home set on a tree-filled lot in the Terrell Hills neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas, before it had been on the market a day, then spent the next seven months updating the interior. Nicola studied interior design in college and recently launched her own design business. She wanted to make their home look “older rather than newer” with what she calls “a fresh, clean and traditional feel.” The couple ended up making changes to every room in the house during the renovation.
AFTER: The kitchen design mixes traditional style with modern touches, topped off with finishes like Carrara marble countertops and a white subway tile backsplash that wraps around the space from the countertops to the ceiling. It also includes stools made of metal and acrylic, and recessed and sculptural wood pendant lighting.
As in most homes, the kitchen is the room where the couple spend most of their time, especially when entertaining. “Even when we’re having a barbecue or a dinner party in the dining room, we are always in the kitchen,” Nicola says.
Cooktop: Bertazzoni; backsplash tile: Ann Sacks; stools: CB2
As in most homes, the kitchen is the room where the couple spend most of their time, especially when entertaining. “Even when we’re having a barbecue or a dinner party in the dining room, we are always in the kitchen,” Nicola says.
Cooktop: Bertazzoni; backsplash tile: Ann Sacks; stools: CB2
AFTER: The view from the sink still looks looks out over the tree-filled yard, but the couple reconfigured the island and added an arch to the doorway into the dining room.
The McLaughlins worked with Richard Garcia of Reasonable Remodelers for their remodel.
Faucet: Perrin & Rowe collection, Rohl
The McLaughlins worked with Richard Garcia of Reasonable Remodelers for their remodel.
Faucet: Perrin & Rowe collection, Rohl
Nicola tries balance her personal style with her husband’s taste by, in her words, “incorporating edgier pieces that he liked to break the softness of the feminine pieces I already had.”
A neutral but textured patched hide rug anchors the dining area.
Chandelier: Visual Comfort & Co.; custom table and buffet: Jean-Marc Fray
A neutral but textured patched hide rug anchors the dining area.
Chandelier: Visual Comfort & Co.; custom table and buffet: Jean-Marc Fray
The framed wallpaper panels in the upstairs living room were a custom order from the design company De Gournay, and the rest of the room was designed around them.
Nicola was inspired to order the wallpaper when she saw some at a restaurant in New York City the day she received word that the house was officially theirs.
Coffee table: Worlds Away
Nicola was inspired to order the wallpaper when she saw some at a restaurant in New York City the day she received word that the house was officially theirs.
Coffee table: Worlds Away
The framed wallpaper panels adorn each side of the fireplace in the formal living room and are complemented by a painting done by a friend and her mother, who gave it to the couple as a wedding gift. A collection of antique rose medallion china decorates the mantel.
The couple converted one of the bedrooms off the main upstairs hallway into a den for reading and watching television. Since their upstairs living room is more formal — “We don’t drink red wine in there,” Nicola says — this is a room they often use to unwind in at the end of a day by reading or watching television.
The armchairs were upholstered in a plaid pattern that matches the panes of the French window behind them. A colorful abstract painting helps fuse the traditional and contemporary elements of the couple’s style.
AFTER: The McLaughlins added archways to the doorways throughout the main level for more visual interest.
Chest: Jean-Marc Fray
Chest: Jean-Marc Fray
AFTER: The show stealer in the guest bath is the blue-and-white wallpaper. Nicola also added the sconces and overhead Pelle bubble chandelier.
Wallpaper: The Vase in pale blue, Clarence House; sconces: Visual Comfort & Co.
Wallpaper: The Vase in pale blue, Clarence House; sconces: Visual Comfort & Co.
The master bedroom is a light-filled retreat and features Nicola’s favorite white paint color, Marshmallow by Sherwin-Williams. It’s the wall paint she’s used throughout the interior. “I love it because it has some color behind the white. It isn’t so sterile.”
Bed linens: Matouk; Euro shams: Nina Campbell; rug: Alan Petlin Gourmet Floors
Bed linens: Matouk; Euro shams: Nina Campbell; rug: Alan Petlin Gourmet Floors
The chandelier in the master bedroom was already in this space when the couple bought the house, and it’s the only fixture they kept during the renovation. Nicola played off its gold finish with the gold bases on the bedside lamps and the gold frames over the bed.
A rec room in the walk-out basement provides a casual space for the couple to entertain larger groups for movie nights and football games.
“I wanted to have a transitional style, mixing antique pieces with modern pieces as well as traditional fabrics with contemporary fabrics,” Nicola says about decorating this space.
The guest room has a soothing palette of pastels, and luxurious linens keep the whites from feeling stark or sterile.
Just off the dining room and kitchen is one of the home’s most-used spaces: the shaded back deck.
“We have a sound system and an outdoor TV on the back patio, so people love to congregate [there],” Nicola says.
“We have a sound system and an outdoor TV on the back patio, so people love to congregate [there],” Nicola says.
Michael, left, and Nicola sit on their sofa in their front living room.
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
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My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Who lives here: Michael and Nicola McLaughlin and their Welsh terrier
Location: Terrell Hills neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas
Size: 2,500 square feet (232 square meters); three bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
Year built: 1949