HOUSE of DOODADS

Funky furnishings and sentimental keepsakes rule this Texas tastemaker's razzle-dazzle digs

- BETSY CRIBB WATSON

"I LOVE COLOR,  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 handbeaded portrait of Steen's grandmother. "My husband is a seventhgeneration 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."