Dec 17, 20176 min read

Our Brand New Studio Is Officially Open For Business

Updated: Sep 7, 2020

Wheeewww! I can breathe a sigh of relief, as all the planning and hard work on the new design studio culminated in our open house last Friday, December 8th! It was such a special, and quite emotional day, as friends, clients, fellow-designers, and well wishers showed up to celebrate with me. I received flowers from Facebook friends all over the country, and even from Canada and Australia! I am still amazed at how our design community has been so supportive of each other, and they turned out in droves for my open house celebration.

Opening a design studio is no easy feat, especially when I was going for something very unique and bold. But I had this grand vision, and I was so happy to see it through. But now the real work begins! Now is when it will prove to be a worthwhile investment in Casa Vilora Interiors. Read more about where it all started here. I will get into some of my big plans for the studio in a future blog post, but for today, I just want to show y’all pretty stuff! Sound good?

Get ready to be amazed with how much color can fit into one 1450sf space! ready?

The Tour

I wanted to create a space that was welcoming and felt more like a real living space, that also shows off my work. Although I work in any style my clients could dream up, I personally love lots of bold color, pattern mix and a range of textures. I really wanted to show my design range with the decor, and still have lots of work space to get work done for my clients. This is still a fully functional design studio, and the work spaces were very important to me.

I created a living room vignette, a dining room vignette, a bedroom vignette, a kitchen vignette, and the rest as work space. I even decked out the small powder room as a representation of my design aesthetic

Ready for the tour?

Let’s begin in the front of the studio with the living room vignette

Casa Vilora Interiors Katy Interior Designer

I have been asked what came first – what inspired the decor of the space, and believe it or not, it is the black leather chandelier (barely visible in this shot). I found it while at Las Vegas Market earlier this year, and had to have it. It was unique and exotic to me, and so I decided to bring it into the space. I have also wanted to do a tiger striped sofa, but the truth is, most clients would say “absolutely not!” to a tiger striped sofa, so I knew it was a great opportunity to prove that it could work beautifully in a well designed room. From there, I decided to go with lots of color to take the edge off the tiger striped sofa. Some of my favorite colors came to mind – raspberry, emerald green, indigo and orange. I also wanted to reuse the original artwork I previously owned (the gallery wall), and all those colors were in the artwork.

Grasscloth is a favorite material of mine because I love the rich texture. The emerald green took on the role of a neutral and grounded the entire vignette, along with the indigo rug. I brought in the mirrors to simulate windows because I really wanted to add custom drapery to the walls. The custom raspberry silk panels with the accent trim add such a rich and luxurious look to the room. I love an eclectic mix, and so everything from the denim wing back chair, to primitive acacia wood stools, to my bold black and white horizontal stripes, to porcupine quills, to chinoiserie, makes for a bold eclectic mix.

The white lacquered coffee table, the steam trunk end table, and lamp are some of my favorite pieces. But really, this is a mix of all my favorite things.

The window display area was my chance to go bold with horizontal black and white stripes. This was meant to draw the eyes of passers by in. The support column had to stay for structural reasons, and I made sure that it looked like it belonged. I love my little bugs under glass collage on the wall. They are actually real bugs doing really cool stuff.

The solid petrified wood table is front and center in the window, and is a real conversation piece, but I decided to soften it with the orchid arrangement

You may recall the chair in the window as the one I used in the previous showhouse I did in July. It is back by popular demand 🙂

One of my favorite comments from the patrons to the Open House is that the colors in the dining room vignette remind them of the Caribbean. Little did they know that I actually grew up in Jamaica, and more and more some of these influences show up in my designs.

The Ibex head tables, which are reproductions based on a vintage design, was the starting point in this room. I already owned the table bases which I used in the last ASID show house I did back in July, and they were too interesting to put into storage. I also brought in the citron grasscloth that was a color pulled from the very bold chinoiserie fabric on the host chairs. The black and white zebra rug gave some movement to the floor and the bold teal drapery makes for a great back drop. The glass chandelier is a favorite piece in the space, and I get a lot of comments on it

I have a weakness for birds; especially flamingos, and I was thrilled to find the piece that is above the vellum sideboard. This vignette is one of my favorites

I am sure you can probably guess what inspired the bedroom vignette? Yep, the mural wallpaper. I saw this a few years ago and fell fast and hard. I wanted the bedroom vignette to be very peaceful and calming, and this paper was it! Then like magic I found the beautiful french upholstered bed. That was a must have for sure! The credenza was also a great discovery. The agate effect on the front pulled in all the same colors used in the room.

I kept it simple by just leaning a few pieces of art on the two bamboo-look nightstands. I love sheep and llamas, so when I found the artwork, I just had to bring them in.

I kept the bedding simple in mostly white and added custom monogrammed euroshams for a bit of a luxurious feel

The kitchen vignette was a major undertaking. I plan to have a lot of events at the studio, so a semi-functional kitchen was very important (the range and hood are non-functional). It started with the gorgeous porcelain countertops with waterfall island furnished by Vivaldi Stone Boutique and fabricated by Siri Granite.

I kept the cabinetry in simple white shaker style, and let the cement tile backsplash do the talking. That has to be my favorite!

The flooring, which runs throughout the rest of the space is a porcelain wood look tile

The small powder room was the perfect place to go bold. I decided on matte black walls with gold accents on the classic molding details. The flooring is a geometric marble hex tile based on a vintage design. I loved the vanity the moment I saw it with the greek key detail of the legs and the marble slab as the countertop.

The mirror is one that I have owned for a long time, and spray-painted it gold. The snake art is not for everyone, but I still brought it in because of the boldness and graphic detail. Yes, a black toilet! Some love it, some hate it….at least the city inspector thought it was kinda cool

Some of the work areas and a view into the entire space. The built-in storage was painted out in a favorite shade of gray and yellow and house the fabric sample books. The fabrics are hung from plumbing pipes spray painted in gold. Lots of room on the large tables to spread out plans, drawings, and fabrics as we create awesome designs for our clients.

This space is a dream come true, and I am so happy to invite clients and prospects.

We are located at 6193 Highway Blvd, Suite 207 Katy TX 77494.

We are still looking to hire a part time Administrative Assistant and Certified Kitchen and Bath Designer. Please send us your resume if you have any interest, or share with anyone who might be looking.

We are still running our special promotion on design consultations until the end of the year. $297 for all consultations in January. A $100 saving from our regular consultation fee. It makes the perfect stocking stuffer for anyone on your list. Click here to learn more