Designer Blair Burton Engineers An Austin, Texas, Ranch Revamp

If it’s possible to feel at home in a construction zone, Blair Burton does. “My dad was a builder, so I’d always lived in houses that were being redone,” says the Texas interior designer. The proverbial apple didn’t fall far from the tree, and Blair and her husband, Michael, spent years living (and working) amid the organized chaos of their own renovation projects. But in a timely pre-pandemic move, the pair—who have two children and a black goldendoodle named Boomer—decided to put down permanent roots in late 2019, scooping up a unique two-story ranch in Austin’s Westover Hills neighborhood. 

“It had been on the market for five days, which was a long time in this part of Austin then,” Blair says. Admittedly, their expectations were low regarding the condition of the 1960s home. The dated interiors and funky exterior paint job, which reflected a 1980s reno, met some of those assumptions. But the Burtons also recognized its potential. For Michael, it was the wide driveway—big enough for a half-size basketball court for the kids—that sold him. For Blair, it was the solid architectural bones. “The house had tons of natural light, and the front living room had big floor-to-ceiling windows, which are really hard to replicate today because of the cost,” she says.

There was only one problem: The family’s current home had already sold, and with their new yen for permanence, the Burtons were also through living in an active construction site. This meant they had to work fast. Performing what amounted to a design-build miracle (a feat that would have been nearly impossible to pull off just a year later with the arrival of COVID-19), Blair and her team completed a total overhaul in just three months. “The renovation wasn’t down to the studs, but it was close,” she says. The project’s scope stayed within the home’s existing footprint, which helped their timeline. But other than a single sconce in her husband’s closet in the primary bedroom, which was formerly a wet bar, nearly every square foot and existing finish was reenvisioned through the lens of Blair’s breezy yet sophisticated Hill Country style.

Keeping longevity in mind, the designer prioritized updating elements that would be inconvenient or expensive to change later, such as flooring and lighting placement. The 12- by 12-inch faux-stone tiles that had been installed during the 1980s revamp were among the first things to go. In their place, Blair added wide-plank French white oak floors throughout the home. “They’re in a warm, true oak color,” she says. “I chose a finish that could go cool or warm as I changed up things like furniture and window treatments over the years.”

Structurally, the kitchen and the adjacent family room, where the Burtons spend most of their time, reflect the most significant changes. Blair enlisted her father’s help reconfiguring the closed off kitchen and refinishing the old orange-hued oak cabinets. “I didn’t want to open up the whole house,” she says. Instead, they opted for a roomy galley kitchen that complemented the existing layout. Fresh paint, new countertops, and an updated backsplash made from hand-painted terracotta tiles round out the inviting spot.

To increase connectivity between the kitchen and family room without losing the distinction between the two, she removed the better part of a wall but added a structural column and breakfast bar. Custom built-ins painted Benjamin Moore’s Wrought Iron (2124-10) amp up the family room’s cozy factor, while walls in Benjamin Moore’s White Dove (OC-17) keep it from feeling too dark. Here, Blair leveraged her signature combination of natural textures and art to maximum effect. “I’ve got a mohair sectional, velvet chairs, and grass shades. There’s a vintage wool rug on the floor and hundred-year-old pressed botanicals on the walls,” she says. These are some of the clever moves that she employed to rework awkward spaces, deftly navigating the home’s trickiest corners with a designer’s eye for creativity and livability.