Skip to content

Top Navigation

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Food and Recipes
  • Culture and Lifestyle
  • Style
  • Holidays & Occasions
  • Home
  • Gardening Ideas
  • News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living Books this link opens in a new tab
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Southern Living

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Explore

    Explore

    • The Best New Haircuts to Try in 2022

      The Best New Haircuts to Try in 2022

      Here are the haircuts you'll be seeing everywhere this year. Read More
    • How To Season A Cast-Iron Skillet

      How To Season A Cast-Iron Skillet

      Learn how to season this Southern kitchen staple in five easy steps. Read More
    • 50 Thoughtful Messages for a Meaningful Thank You Note

      50 Thoughtful Messages for a Meaningful Thank You Note

      Not sure what to write in a thank you card? Here's how to show your gratitude with a handwritten note. Read More
  • Food and Recipes

    Food and Recipes

    See All Food and Recipes
    4 Easy Ways to Tell if an Egg Has Gone Bad

    4 Easy Ways to Tell if an Egg Has Gone Bad

    It’s not all in the senses, but they sure can help.
    • Recipes
    • Quick and Easy Dinner
    • Kitchen Assistant
    • Casserole
    • Holiday and Occasion Food
    • Slow Cooker Recipes
    • Desserts
    • Healthy and Light
    • Side Dishes
    • Party Food and Drink
    • Appetizers
    • Meat
    • Breakfast
    • BBQ
    • Drinks
    • What's Cooking
  • Culture and Lifestyle

    Culture and Lifestyle

    See All Culture and Lifestyle
    70 Cute and Funny Nicknames For Your Best Friends

    70 Cute and Funny Nicknames For Your Best Friends

    Let your besties know how much they mean to you with these unique nicknames.
    • Quotes and Sayings
    • Biscuits and Jam Podcast
    • Travel
    • Pets
    • Healthy Living
    • Coastal Living
  • Style

    Style

    See All Style
    The Coziest Winter Nail Colors for January 2022

    The Coziest Winter Nail Colors for January 2022

    The beginning of a new year often has us all feeling like starting off fresh by taking on better habits, getting rid of old ones, and—most commonly—changing up our look. While others are hitting the squats and going into the salon for a pixie cut, why not start slow and steady with a cozy winter manicure in a color that feels new to you? It takes only a little courage to step outside your usual OPI Lincoln Park After Dark or Essie Bordeaux, which is all you need to kick 2022 off on a fanciful foot.  From new wintry takes on classic dark nail colors to unique pops of color that'll have you feeling the opposite of boring, these are the best nail colors to try this January and tick off all the way into spring. 
    • Beauty
    • Hair
    • Fashion
    • Short Hairstyles
    • Nails
    • Medium Hairstyles
    • Skincare
    • Long Hairstyles
  • Holidays & Occasions

    Holidays & Occasions

    See All Holidays & Occasions
    • Thanksgiving
    • Gifts
    • Christmas
    • Mother's Day
    • Hanukkah
    • New Year's
    • Easter
    • Mardi Gras
    • 4th of July
    • Weddings
  • Home

    Home

    See All Home
    16 Kitchen Design Trends Southern Designers Predict Will Be Everywhere in 2022

    16 Kitchen Design Trends Southern Designers Predict Will Be Everywhere in 2022

    There's no denying how the pandemic fundamentally changed the world—including how we live (and work) inside our homes. An overall trend toward celebrating the history and originality of our homes is displacing ultramodern aesthetics and sharp lines as we all look to create cozier, colorful, more personalized spaces that better suit our lifestyles. We're turning away from big-box stores and toward vintage items—first, out of necessity due to supply-chain issues, and now, for design reasons—to add charm and character to every room in the house, including the kitchen. Here, interior designers from around the South share their predictions for what's trending in kitchen design for 2022 and beyond.
    • Home Decor Ideas
    • Idea Houses
    • Kitchen Design
    • Before & After Photos
    • Bathroom Design
    • Curb Appeal
    • Bedroom Design
    • DIY Home Decor
    • Color Palettes & Paint
    • House Plans & Builders
    • Inspired Communities
  • Gardening Ideas

    Gardening Ideas

    See All Gardening Ideas
    If You Keep Finding Ladybugs in Your House, Here's What You Need to Know

    If You Keep Finding Ladybugs in Your House, Here's What You Need to Know

    Plus a few strategies for keeping them out-of-doors
    • Container Gardening
    • Gardening Flowers
    • Fruit, Vegetable & Herb Gardens
    • Garden Pests
    • Plant Guides A-Z
    • Indoor Plants
    • Fall Plants
    • Landscaping Ideas
    • The Grumpy Gardener
  • News

    News

    See All News
    • Celebrities
    • Local News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living Books this link opens in a new tab
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Southern Living
  2. Home
  3. Home Decor Ideas
  4. Blue and White Is Always Right: See Inside This Family-Friendly Dallas Home

Blue and White Is Always Right: See Inside This Family-Friendly Dallas Home

Southern Living May 2021 Cover
By Southern Living Editors Updated April 07, 2022
Skip gallery slides
FB
Amy Berry Designed Dallas Home with White Exterior with Blue Shutters
Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Jenny O'Connor

Sometimes you just know. When a Dallas couple was looking for a guide to help hone their style, they were sure Amy Berry was that person. They shared with her their dream of creating a home that blended traditional decor with family-friendly touches, choosing foundational pieces that were timeless, and using color so it always felt like spring inside.

Only one piece of the puzzle was missing: the actual house. But they knew Berry could help with that too. After touring a few homes together, the choice emerged. The stately brick house with Colonial and Georgian touches in Dallas' Greenway Parks neighborhood was a little older than many they looked at, but Berry's clients knew her next-gen take on the classics would liven it up for them and their two young girls. "They love traditional design, florals, pattern, and color," Berry says. "I was just happy they liked the same things I did!"

The in-sync quality of their relationship led to easy yeses during the redecoration: French blue as the through line in the color palette, what Berry refers to as "bright and happy" accent hues, fun and fearless deployments of wallpaper to dress up blank walls, and heirloom-quality pieces resting side by side with a handful of contemporary picks.

Because the owners are realistic about possibly relocating someday, Berry says she put every decision through a "now and later" filter. "For them, the question was 'How do we fill each room without putting a bunch of money into the house itself?' " she says. "Finding pieces that will work in other spaces is so important." That meant including comfortable sofas with traditional lines and upholstery versatile enough to slide right into any future home and investing in items they'll keep forever (like the dining set) rather than renovations. Colors and patterns throughout rejuvenate the home.

Start Slideshow

1 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Make A Welcome Statement

Amy Berry Designed Dallas House Neutral Entryway with Blue Front Door
Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Jenny O'Connor

Berry's best tip for giving old-school style a new look? Turn up the volume a notch. "This design is traditional in that the patterns are timeless, but the colors are a bit younger and brighter, even the whites," she says. The entry's rug—a classic motif that's cast in an updated blush-green-and-orange colorway—shows off the plan right at the front door.

1 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Pick A Pretty Pattern

Amy Berry Designed Dallas Home Formal Dining Room with Chartreuse Wallpaper and Blue Accents
Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Jenny O'Connor

With go-anywhere furnishings locked in, Berry turned to color and pattern to add visual interest to the walls. "Wallpaper instantly filled up those rooms that would have stood out as seeming unfinished or blank," she says. Thanks to openings into the living and family rooms, the dining room's chartreuse Quadrille San Marco paper energizes the adjacent spaces too. Was it a risk? "It didn't feel like one," Berry says. She sprinkled that same green throughout the rest of the house so the paper wasn't a one-off move.

2 of 12

3 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Invest Selectively

Amy Berry Designed Dallas House White Living Room with Pops of Color
Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Jenny O'Connor

Spend your money on big-ticket items that need to be comfortable—like sofas, chairs, and a dining set, says Berry. It's okay to scrimp on the rest. While shopping for this family, she zeroed in on pieces with traditional lines then upholstered them in long-lasting indoor/outdoor fabrics in solids and stripes. "Simple patterns aren't hard to move around if you need to switch things up," she says.

The long living room's dimensions called for visual trickery. "The sofa isn't exactly centered on the fireplace opposite it, so making it white like the wall helps camouflage it," Berry says.

3 of 12

Advertisement

4 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Go Off Script Once or Twice

Amy Berry Designed Dallas House Breakfast Nook with Tulip Table and Wooden Chairs
Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Jenny O'Connor

The occasional well-placed contemporary accent piece shakes up the home's formal style in a way that's in step with the owners' personalities. "That mix is important so the house feels less serious," says Berry. In the breakfast nook, the modernity of a marble-topped tulip table is balanced by a set of casual wood chairs. A pretty collection of botanical-print plates doubles as artwork in the sun-filled breakfast nook.

4 of 12

5 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Find Room For The Unexpected

Amy Berry Designed Dallas Home Yellow Powder Room
Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Jenny O'Connor

A small, contained room is just the spot for a change of scene, as the yellow-papered powder room shows. "When people like color, the powder room is an easy place to put something bright and fun," Berry says.

5 of 12

6 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Contrast Finishes

Amy Berry Designed Dallas House Neutral Family Room
Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Jenny O'Connor

The family room is a master class in unstudied polish, but there's no complicated secret to nailing the details. Berry says, "It's like having a checklist. Did you add something old and something wood? Are you representing all the finishes?" She pairs items like the organic texture of a rattan side table with a glossy garden stool to keep the eye moving and interested.

6 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Go Custom When Necessary

<p>A custom rug not only delivers on the size the family room requires but also lets the piece neatly mirror the unique shape of the space. Four wicker armchairs surround a smooth white-painted wood game table, making the space perfect for family night.</p>

A custom rug not only delivers on the size the family room requires but also lets the piece neatly mirror the unique shape of the space. Four wicker armchairs surround a smooth white-painted wood game table, making the space perfect for family night.

7 of 12

8 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Repeat The Theme

Amy Berry Designed Dallas Home Bedroom with Blue and Green Accents
Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Jenny O'Connor

French blue (the homeowners' favorite color) stars in virtually every room. It's bold and strong in some spaces, like the living room, and softened in others, like the primary bedroom, where Berry toned it way down on the Schumacher wallpaper so it would read as a neutral and balance the floral fabric upholstering the bed (Lee Jofa's Grenville). "It's quieter but still gives them a pattern so their walls don't feel forgotten," she says. Brass accents in the lighting and nightstands add a bit of patina and glamour while complementing all the cool blues and greens in the palette.

8 of 12

9 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Sneak In Some Budget Pieces

Amy Berry Designed Dallas Home Pink Little Girls Bedroom
Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Jenny O'Connor

The candy-sweet girl's bedroom pairs a fancy flowery wallpaper (Bob Collins & Sons Inc.'s Bamboo Floral) with retail finds that look more high-end by association, like an Anthropologie chandelier and Pottery Barn bedding. The daybed is the investment piece here, since the homeowners can continue to use it as their daughter grows. "You don't have to start from scratch," Berry says. The home's previous owners left the ivory drapes when they moved out. She took them down, put a coordinating pink trim on the valance, and hung them back up.

9 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Know A Good Thing

Amy Berry Designed Dallas Home White Playroom with Blue Accents and Stuffed Animals on the Wall
Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Jenny O'Connor

The playroom's tongue-and-groove walls were in great shape and fit the casual style of the space, so all Berry ordered was a coat of fresh paint. The clients moved these window treatments from their old nursery and Berry shortened them to fit the room's dimensions. "I tried to use as much of their things as I could." Toys are a playroom must, so Berry's rule of thumb is to keep play spaces as clean-lined and neutral as possible and to fill the space with plenty of baskets for quick tidying.

10 of 12

11 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Add Pops Of Color

Amy Berry Designed Dallas Home Neutral and Blue Guest Bathroom
Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Jenny O'Connor

Even in the subdued guest bath, Berry managed to work in a hint of the home's signature blue hue in the window's playfully patterned Roman shade. While the rest of the room veers toward neutral territory, colors within the rug match the shade's vibrancy, keeping the bold accent from standing out too much. Marble floor tiles installed in a running bond pattern are a new take on a common material.

11 of 12

12 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Go With The Space

Amy Berry Designed Dallas Home Back Patio with Climbing Ivy
Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Jenny O'Connor

The generous patio and landscaping was move-in ready when the couple bought the house so they did little more than pull large potted plants into the seating areas. Custom cushions dress up a patio set from Ballard Designs. "Outdoors, I tend to stick to blues and greens, like the sky and grass," says Berry. 

12 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Southern Living Editors

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 12 Make A Welcome Statement
    2 of 12 Pick A Pretty Pattern
    3 of 12 Invest Selectively
    4 of 12 Go Off Script Once or Twice
    5 of 12 Find Room For The Unexpected
    6 of 12 Contrast Finishes
    7 of 12 Go Custom When Necessary
    8 of 12 Repeat The Theme
    9 of 12 Sneak In Some Budget Pieces
    10 of 12 Know A Good Thing
    11 of 12 Add Pops Of Color
    12 of 12 Go With The Space

    Share & More

    Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print
    Southern Living

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • About Us
    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Books from Southern Living
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    MeredithSouthern Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporation. Southern Living is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporationthis link opens in a new tab All Rights Reserved. Southern Living may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Southern Living. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.southernliving.com

    Sign in

    View image

    Blue and White Is Always Right: See Inside This Family-Friendly Dallas Home
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.