Autumn Appeal

A Neutral Palette And Warm Textures And Finishes Combine For An Autumn Vibe All Year Long.
 

- Margie Monin Dombrowski

WHAT A DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE PAINT COLORS and finishes can make. When Rachel Paxton, editor and designer of the website Maison de Pax, and her husband were shopping for a new home in Austin, Texas, they were surprised by what they found inside this two-story house with a traditional, white-brick facade.

“It was head to toe yellowish beige with a Tuscan feeling—lots of faux travertine tile and warm buttery ceilings and walls,” says Rachel. “It’s just not our style. I love warm wood tones with lots of whites and grays, so a big part of what we did was changing the palette of the space.”

So she set out to redo all of the colors and finishes of the home to make it appeal to her taste and to function well for a family. All the upstairs rooms had a pale beige carpet, for example, which wasn’t going to work for their family, which now consists of four kids, ranging in age from seven weeks to seven years. “I’m not going to be able to keep carpet that clean with a bunch of kids,” Rachel says. “Before we moved in, we replaced all the beige carpet with wood floors.”

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