Room of the Day: Seaside Dreaming in a Texas Study

Catherine Dolen calls this room a study, but it’s really much more than that. “It can be a workspace, but it could just be a place for reading, for conversation, for a glass of wine after dinner or a nice place to relax,” says Dolen, the owner of CDA Interior Design in Dallas.

When Dolen was asked to design this room for the Waco symphony’s 2013 show house, she eschewed the wood paneling, leather furniture and globes of the typical study in favor of something lighter and a bit more fanciful — furnishing it with downy-soft pieces that inspire contemplation more than concentration.

Photography by Bill Bolin

The first time Dolen saw the room, she realized its proportions could prove challenging, given its small footprint and 12-foot ceilings. “I don’t like rooms that make you feel like you’re standing in a well,” she says.

To accommodate the room’s height, she used tall pieces, like the built-in bookcases and Swedish secretary, and filled the upper reaches with shells, prints and a celestial chandelier, to bridge the gap between the furnishings and the ceiling. At the same time, she kept the focus at eye level, hanging a large pair of shorebird prints smack in the middle of the bookcases. “Using those two prints gave me that really strong focal point and allowed the eye to rest as you looked at all the items on the bookcase; it makes it a little less busy,” she says.

Because the bookcase is so large, Dolen arranged the shelves in a symmetrical fashion, bringing a little order to the conglomeration of objects filling it. The mirror-image urns on either side act like brackets, containing and controlling everything that’s stashed in between. Many of the items were pieces Dolen had already collected. “It’s better if accessories have some kind of meaning,” she says, “as opposed to a bunch of things you buy and put together.”

Bookcases: custom; chandelier: vintage



The house as a whole had a seaside cottage motif, so Dolen incorporated shells and utilized a beachy palette of grays, browns and blues. Woven silk wallpaper from Schumacher echoes the color of the stained alder floor and the bookcase backs, but is balanced by generous dollops of white, so the room doesn’t feel too ponderous.

Dolen found the patio chair at an estate sale and had a cushion made to fit the seat. “I wanted to have a chair that was unexpected,” she says. “I like to have something a little whimsical in a space.”

Wallpaper: woven silk, Schumacher; secretary: Wisteria


Ample linen chairs are paired with a playful periwinkle ottoman and sultry silk curtains that seem to stretch for miles. “I think silk taffeta draperies go in any room, anywhere,” Dolen proclaims. “The hand is beautiful, and they have a little shimmer.”

Equally indispensable, in Dolen’s mind, is the white cowhide rug. “It’s one of my favorite things to use,” she says. The color is compatible with any room decor and contrasts nicely with a wood floor, and the rug offers a shapely way to define a seating area — creating an island of calm amidst life’s commotion.

Curtains: Perception silk taffeta, RM Coco; chairs: TCS Designs; ottoman: custom; cowhide rug: available through CDA Interior Design

URL: Room of the Day: Seaside Dreaming in a Texas Study http://www.decor-ideas.org/cases-view-id-22976.html