but I hate a rainbow,” says Natalie Steen. “I like it when three shades work together in an unexpected way, but don’t give me all of them at once.” The Houston resident’s decisive eye is a hallmark of her weekly style newsletter, The Nat Note (thenatnote.com), a collage-like amalgamation of fashion and home finds currently piquing her interest. Fanciful hues and wild patterns are both givens. Feathers, fringes, and other festive trims make frequent appearances. This is the joyfully unconstrained land of “More is more.”
In 2021, she and her husband, Jamey, bought a 1951 brick ranch that had once belonged to his sister and brother-in-law. When it came to decorating it, Steen took a similarly free-spirited approach, snapping screenshots of anything and everything that caught her attention—“a room, a hotel, a certain fabric she saw, a little vignette,” recalls her friend and designer Lila Malone. “It was so fun working with Natalie. She had lots of furniture that we re-covered, some cool mirrors, and a variety of lamps. We called it the ‘house of doodads.’ Every little knickknack has a tale to tell or is from somewhere interesting.”
The couple’s art collection, developed with the help of Jamey’s consultant sister, supplied another source of inspiration, from a pair of brightly rendered landscapes peppered with cacti to a hand-beaded portrait of Steen’s grandmother. “My husband is a seventh-generation Texan. He has a very rich and well-documented family history, whereas in my case, my dad and grandparents came to the U.S. as Cuban exiles,” says Steen. “When they left Havana, they could only bring the bare minimum and had to start over. I find that a lot of what I’m doing as I’m thinking about our house and what to fill it with is trying to tell my family’s story while honoring my husband’s, because ultimately it’s my kids’ story.”
Malone metabolized all of it into a hyper-personal haven where friends want to come for a party and the family loves to stay in—just as Steen intended it. “I have this selfish motivation of wanting my kids to love being here,” she confesses. “I know the visual isn’t what creates that feeling of home, but for someone like me who seeks beautiful surroundings, I have to think maybe it will help!”
“We don’t spend much time in the dining room on a regular day, so whenever we are in there, it’s special— and I wanted it to feel that way,” says Steen about the trimmed-out gathering place, where a print by Oscar de la Renta lends a warm earthiness to the walls. “It’s so fitting for the queen of fashion,” says Malone, who paired the vintage dining chairs (outfitted in green mohair velvet from Schumacher) with a burled wood dining table found at The Collective in Dallas. A large natural woven chandelier from Palecek relaxes the dressier elements.
from above
148 REJECT RESTRAINT IN YOUR “GOOD-TIME ROOM”
Given its position directly off the entry, there’s no sidestepping the formal living space, so lacquering it in a look-at-me pink (Benjamin Moore’s Milk Shake, 1165) seemed like the obvious move to both the designer and the homeowners. “We knew this needed to be the party lounge,” says Malone, who chose a paint with muddy overtones to keep it from skewing too precious. “This is the spot where we entertain and put the Christmas tree, where people want to sit and have a drink and chat. It’s a good-time room, for sure,” Steen says. A punchy piece of abstract art freed up the palette to roam the spectrum. The emerald velvet chairs feature cerulean vinyl piping, glossy paprika lamps wear lime-and-white striped shades, and throw pillows in a graphic chartreuse print by UK-based textile designer Christopher Moore settle in beside coral cut velvet ones on the sofa.
While Steen happily indulged a handful of “no touch” elements in the entertaining areas, she was adamant about kid-friendly comfort and livability in spaces that would see a lot of traffic daily. “Everything in those areas starts to get a little more informal and a bit cozier,” says Malone. In the family room, comfy sofas in Galbraith & Paul’s Lotus fabric provide soft spots to land—and stress-free splash zones for inevitable spills. “Incorporating prints is the smartest thing you can do if you have kids—or if you drink red wine or coffee. We can’t always blame the children and dogs,” Malone says with a laugh. “Pattern is like camouflage. You just don’t notice a few little drops here and there.” A custom-cut polypropylene rug adds a simple-to-clean layer underfoot.
The primary bedroom is the only living area on the second floor. “It feels like a little tree house with vaulted ceilings and really fun round windows that let in a lot of natural light,” says Malone. She played up its another-world atmosphere by wrapping the walls in grass cloth by Thibaut and hanging window treatments in Waldingfield in Coral by Sister Parish. The couple’s bedding (including shams by celebrated New Orleans brand Leontine Linens) layers in shades of red, white, and blue for a generous splash of old-school nostalgia. “The space has lots of personality, but it still feels peaceful,” notes Steen.
