City Style: How an Artwork Obsession Helped Shape This Space

Interior designer Jennifer Kizzeeopens in a new tab got a text from a client late one night. She had just finished renovating a Galveston, Texas, beach home for the young couple. But the text wasn’t about the weekend getaway house. The husband wanted to talk about a new project with Kizzee. “He said they had just bought their forever home but needed my help,” Kizzee relays and notes that they had a very different look in mind for this space. “We had to pivot from a coastal aesthetic to a more modern look. He asked for a New York penthouse that feels classic but has Art Deco touches mixed in.”

The couple’s new townhouse was in an area of Houston called The Woodlands. Conveniently, Kizzee’s eponymous design studio is located between Galveston and Houston, so she and her team take on projects throughout southern Texas. The couple chose the gated neighborhood for its access to nature with abundant biking and walking trails. Built in 2012, the 2,000-square-foot home was significantly smaller than the 5,000-square-foot house the couple was moving out of.

Since it’s just the two of them (plus two dogs), the location and house size felt perfect. However, they disliked the bland, builder-grade interior. They hired Kizzee to take the house down to the studs and reinvent it. “It wasn’t like let’s paint it, hang some lights, and call it a day,” Kizzee says. “Everything came out: walls, vanities, tile, everything. Every single space was tailored and carefully designed; we curated every piece that’s in there.”

Inspired by New York penthouses in pre-war buildings, Kizzee started with the entry and installed a classic checkerboard tile floor. “We knew from our client meetings that he wanted something refined, but not stuffy,” she says. “With that in mind, we went with flooring that’s very classic but also makes the entrance a little grander.” The two pieces of furniture in the hallway—a settee tucked under the stairway and the sideboard across from it—are both vintage pieces found by Kizzee’s team.

The black-and-white tile flooring reappears in the kitchen—providing continuity and also solving a major challenge. The new cabinet layout had exposed gaps in the existing hardwood floor that couldn’t be seamlessly replaced. “We started building models for the kitchen with different materials,” Kizzee explains. “When we plotted the checkered floor, we were like, this is it!”

With the flooring decided, a sophisticated mix of walnut, black and white cabinetry, and paneled appliances completes the look. Kizzee selected Cambria’s Inverness Everleigh for the counters, island, and the backsplash behind the La Cornue range. “The kitchen is very European influenced,” she says. “Everything was custom made by our cabinet maker to take a tiny kitchen to the next level.”

In the dining nook, Kizzee improved the flow by designing a built-in banquette nestled along the room’s two long windows. “The previous owner had a large table in the space,” she says. “To get into the kitchen, you had to push through all these chairs.”

To establish a division between the dining area and the living room, Kizzee installed a coffered ceiling in a classic square pattern, but made the architectural feature out of drywall, which keeps it from looking too traditional or rustic. Her inspiration for the room’s décor came from a painting her client found. “He was obsessed with it, so we designed the living room around that,” she says. “Then we filled it with texture and beautiful furnishings, so it’s elegant and elevated, but still fun.”

The primary bedroom and bathroom are next-level luxe. Kizzee repeated the brass accents found throughout the house—she freely admits she’s not a nickel or chrome lover—in the bedroom’s lighting and accents. In the bathroom, the plumbing fixtures and lighting are brass, with custom cabinetry and Cambria’s Inverness Swansea for the counters. “We specify Cambria probably 90 percent of the time,” she says. “It’s a superior product that’s going to be your best friend for durability but also gives you the best look.”

Kizzee managed to get her clients into the fully renovated home in just eight months. “It took a little village to get it done,” she says. “They’re very pleased because we understood their vision, and we really ran with it and gave them this beautiful home.”