Room of the Day: A Modern Slant on a Traditional Space

“The place was originally a beige box,” says interior designer Janet Gust. Since 2007 the designer has been helping this young Houston family personalize their spec home room by room. Recently they got around to the family room, and the timing was just right — their two children had aged out of the no-sharp-edges toddler phase. Having worked with their designer for years, the homeowners knew what they liked: midcentury modern pieces, bright color and bold patterns. Inspired by the couple’s first must-have pick — a red Eero Saarinen Womb Chair — and working with the existing traditional architecture, Gust added playful punches of primary color to a dynamic mix of straight lines, crisp circles and dynamic swirls.

Photos by Daniel Ortiz

Room at a Glance
What happens here: Family gathering, lounging, playing and TV watching
Location: West University neighborhood of Houston
Size: 875 square feet (81 square meters)

This iconic Womb Chair by Eero Saarinen was the first thing Gust’s clients fell in love with, so she designed around it. The color, Cayenne, inspired punches of primary colors elsewhere. “The way we use midcentury modern pieces is more evolved today,” Gust says. “They can really be incorporated into a mix of styles.”

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The more traditional architectural elements, including the built-ins, fireplace and ceiling beams, were existing, so Gust worked with them by blending traditional, midcentury modern and transitional styles in an eclectic mix. At 25 feet by 35 feet, the family room is Texas size, so finding the right furniture to fit was a little tricky. “Understanding scale is really important,” the designer says. She custom designed a sectional sofa for maximum comfort and to suit the size of the room. She also designed the coffee table.


Midcentury modern style also inspired Gust to play with bold geometrics and graphics. The coffee table adds chunky straight lines, but its glass shelf and top keep its size from overwhelming the room. Gust had it finished in a brilliant blue high-gloss auto paint.

The throw pillows have a mix of swirls and diamonds. They pick up on the colors of the coffee table and the rug’s stripes. “Stripes were a great way to bring in some pattern without overwhelming everything,” Gust says.

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This round blue and white chair and bright yellow cylindrical shade throw some big circles into the room. The chair is a cushy kid favorite, and it swivels.

A full wall of custom window treatments adds the biggest graphic punch. The fabrics on the chair and drapes have similar squiggly curves.

Round chair: Vladimir Kagan; floor lamp: Twiggy, Foscarini; drapery fabric: Chalonnais Noir, Vervain


Gust styled the shelves to tone down all the wood, mixing family pieces and photographs with accessories with brilliant colors and boxy or curvaceous shapes.

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“Art has played a big role in this house,” Gust says. The homeowners added two circular watercolors by Davey Eldridge to their collection while completing this room.

Artwork: Davey Eldridge, Gremillion & Co. Fine Art; swirly pillow fabric: Corales, Designers Guild


Gust carefully chose throw pillow fabrics that complement the art. These woven pillows play off the texture of the artwork overhead.

Throw pillow fabric: Raffia in Geranium Red, Perennials


A large trunk the homeowners already owned has a home underneath a raffia-wrapped console table. A pair of table lamps provides reading light and more interesting geometry.


Just off the family room, the breakfast nook continues the bright palette of primary colors, with help from the clients’ children, who created the artwork. The oversize pendant plays with scale, while the modernized Klismos chairs add a traditional-meets-modern touch. A bowl with legs and feet continues the playful vibe.

Next up: Gust will be giving the rest of the kitchen a complete overhaul and redecorating the formal dining room.

Pendant lamp: Amax, Fontana Arte, Flos; chairs: Anziano, Donghia

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