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Shared bedrooms are more common in\u00a0other countries, but fairly uncommon in\u00a0Dallas\u00a0\u2014 where everyone wants to\u00a0have their own space. Michelle Nussbaumer designed this bedroom at\u00a0her Mexican hacienda.<\/p>\n
Courtesy Michelle Nussbaumer<\/p>\n
There are lots of things that Dallas homes get right: stylish yet functional interiors, bold use of color, the connection between indoor and outdoor spaces, to name a few. But just as a trip abroad can reveal different ways people live, exploring the ways people around the world design their homes can offer a fresh perspective.<\/p>\n
We wanted to know if there are design decisions we\u2019ve come to accept without question, and whether there are better ways to decorate. We asked a list of well-traveled interior designers with an eye for international style to tell us what Dallas houses get wrong, and what we can learn from decorating traditions around the world.<\/p>\n
Too much house, not enough yard<\/p>\n
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In other countries, outdoor spaces are cherished in a way they often aren\u2019t in the U.S., says Michelle\u00a0Nussbaumer. And they\u2019re authentic: \u201cThey would never have fake, plastic grass in Europe or Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n
Courtesy Michelle Nussbaumer<\/p>\n
Everything\u2019s bigger in Texas, and the size of our homes certainly proves that point. But perhaps sacrificing outdoor space for square footage isn\u2019t the best approach. \u201cPeople here tend to overscale the house to the lot, in my opinion,\u201d says designer Michelle Nussbaumer<\/a>. She\u2019s lived all over the world and currently has homes in Dallas, Mexico and Switzerland. Nussbaumer traces the issue of oversized houses to a lack of value for green space. In Europe or Mexico, she notes, al fresco living is a natural part of everyday life. \u201cThe minute the weather\u2019s nice, people want to be outside \u2014 and they don\u2019t care if there\u2019s a mosquito or a flying insect.\u201d\u00a0Nussbaumer also hates to see artificial turf, which she says is too prevalent in Dallas. \u201cThey would never have fake, plastic grass in Europe or Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Everyone gets their own room<\/p>\n Ten Plus Three designed this shared bedroom in Mexico.<\/p>\n Stephen Karlisch\/Courtesy Ten Plus Three<\/p>\n Gonzalo Bueno of the firm Ten Plus Three<\/a> works between Dallas and Monterrey, Mexico, where he grew up. (In Monterrey, his firm goes by the name \u201cTreceavo\u201d). His clients here in Texas frequently request separate bedrooms, and even separate bathrooms, for all their children \u2014 but this is uncommon in Mexico. Even in the biggest and most luxurious homes, shared bedrooms are more common. He shared a bedroom with his brother during their youth. \u201cBy having the children share their spaces, they learn valuable lessons, like sharing and respecting other\u2019s needs and privacy,\u201d says\u00a0Bueno. \u201cIt also fosters closeness and helps them adapt to living with others as an adult, too.\u201d<\/p>\n This shared children\u2019s bedroom in Mexico looks to the outdoors.<\/p>\n Stephen Karlisch\/Courtesy Ten Plus Three<\/p>\n Open-concept kitchens and unused dining rooms<\/p>\n \u201cIn Mexico, open kitchen concepts are not a common layout of the house,\u201d says Bueno. Nussbaumer sees the same thing in Europe. \u201cThe kitchens tend to be much smaller. The refrigerators are much smaller; they do not have big, American refrigerators. \u2026 People go to the market daily and buy what they\u2019re going to cook that night,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In the most luxurious homes in Mexico, a prep kitchen is a common feature. This is \u201cwhere the real cooking happens,\u201d Gonzalo\u00a0Bueno says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Douglas Friedman\/Courtesy Ten Plus Three<\/p>\n Across the world, kitchens get a more utilitarian treatment and aren\u2019t typically connected to the main living spaces. Bueno says that on the rare occasion that he sees a home in Mexico with an open-concept kitchen, there\u2019s typically a prep kitchen \u201cwhere the real cooking happens,\u201d tucked away elsewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n A true dining room is another design feature that Nussbaumer says Dallas homeowners deprioritize. In other parts of the world, it\u2019s a must.\u00a0<\/p>\n Courtesy Michelle Nussbaumer<\/p>\n Perhaps part of the reason the open-concept kitchen is so common in the U.S. is because it\u2019s a natural, and more casual, gathering space. Designers have told us time and time again that the kitchen is \u201cthe heart of the home,\u201d the central hub where everyone eats, bonds and relaxes. It\u2019s not that those interactions don\u2019t happen around the world, but the layout of homes is much more intentional, with rooms designated for those aspects of life. The kitchen is for food preparation; the dining room is for gathering for a sit-down, shared family meal. \u201cSometimes in America, everybody\u2019s got so many different things going on, different schedules for different people, children have a game or an event, and so people have to eat sometimes at different times,\u201d\u00a0Nussbaumer points out. \u201cIn Europe, they really sit down to a meal together, always.\u00a0And so, therefore, they do need an actual dining area for that.\u201d<\/p>\n New, new, new<\/p>\n LEFT: Callie Windle stores the sample library she uses in her work in an\u00a0antique linen press. \u201cI\u00a0think it\u2019s perfectly beautiful and wonderful even though the crown on\u00a0it\u00a0is\u00a0kind of\u00a0crooked, and it\u00a0makes the doors not shut properly, \u201d she says. RIGHT: This patterned slipper chair belonged to Windle\u2019s grandmother. It has moved with her from one home to the next, and was used in her cousin\u2019s home, too.<\/p>\n Stephen Karlisch<\/p>\n One of designer Callie Windle\u2019s<\/a> biggest complaints about interiors in America, especially in Dallas, is that they lack signs of age. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing old or tattered or messy or patinaed,\u201d she says. \u201cEverything is brand new \u2026 or if they\u2019re antiques, they\u2019ve been perfectly refinished.\u201d When she looks at homes in France and England, she sees pieces that have been passed on for generations, pieces that bear the signs of wear. Those imperfections make a space comfortable to live in, she says. She\u2019s observed that many American houses seem to have all-new furniture and decor every few years. \u201cI think that\u2019s a very strange way to approach decorating,\u201d she shares. \u201cI want to see the same pieces in rooms again and again, in my rooms and my homes, and in the homes for clients.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n For design projects in England, Nussbaumer has \u201cshopped\u201d in the attics of family houses for furniture that\u2019s been passed down\u00a0for generations. She\u2019ll reupholster those pieces and give them new life, instead of buying something. This approach is both meaningful and helps homeowners showcase their distinct style. \u201cIn Europe, I would say that people are really a little bit more individualistic in their design choices, and they don\u2019t look at what others are doing quite as much,\u201d\u00a0Nussbaumer says. \u201cI think that comes from their culture, because they don\u2019t necessarily go buy everything new. They use things they have. They use things from their family.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A jumbled identity<\/p>\n Dallas is a city of mixed identities \u2014 Texan but not as Texan as Fort Worth, southern but not as southern as Atlanta, metropolitan but not as big of a metro as New York City, etc. \u2014 and all of the designers we talked to see that reflected in the architectural styles of our homes. Windle says she\u2019s drawn to homes around the world that are \u201crooted in place,\u201d but it\u2019s hard to find a clear architectural identity that\u2019s unique to Dallas.<\/p>\n Think about it: We have English-inspired Tudor houses, Mediterranean manses, Spanish Colonial casitas, glass-walled contemporary designs, and Texas ranch-style homes that look like they were plucked straight from the countryside. For those of us accustomed to that mix, it\u2019s all part of the charm. But there are some potential downsides.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look at other cities: Charleston has this really strong narrative. It knows exactly what it wants to be; there\u2019s no ambiguity,\u201d says Philip Thomas Vanderford of Studio Thomas James<\/a>. \u201c[In Dallas] there\u2019s been a lot of lack of really strong identity, and sometimes when there\u2019s a lack of really strong direction, everything becomes really trend driven.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Nussbaumer notes that in other countries, like Switzerland or Italy, residential architecture is\u00a0governed by rules that ensure the styles work with what is already there. \u201cThey really want the neighborhood to have that same consistency and beauty,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u201cIn America, we\u2019re also lucky because people can think of all different kinds of ideas that they have and bring that to the table. Maybe that\u2019s great, but I don\u2019t know that it looks good in the whole neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, many Dallas historic and conservation districts do work to ensure a sense of cohesion. Even where those kinds of requirements don\u2019t exist, it\u2019s a philosophy worth borrowing: considering not just how a home stands out, but how it fits in.<\/p>\n Love homes, gardens and design? Get more good stuff from Abode by following us on\u00a0Instagram<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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