Natalie Steen's Houston Home Bursts With Brilliant Color And Nostalgic Mementos

"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, 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 hand-beaded portrait of Steen’s grandmother. “My husband is a seventh-generation 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.”

Malone metabolized all of it into a hyper-personal haven where friends want to come for a party and the family loves to stay in—just as Steen intended it. “I have this selfish motivation of wanting my kids to love being here,” she confesses. “I know the visual isn’t what creates that feeling of home, but for someone like me who seeks beautiful surroundings, I have to think maybe it will help!”

Embrace Maximalism in the Entry

Although the foyer is only a fleeting pass-through, the decorator saw it as an opportunity to immediately set the tone for the rest of the home. “You walk in and know it’s Natalie’s house,” says Malone, who wrapped the walls in Brunschwig & Fils’ Katibi in Multi, a paper that Steen handpicked. Portraits depicting Jamey’s grandparents add saturated tones and generational lore.

Reject Restraint in Your "Good-Time Room"

Given its position directly off the entry, there’s no sidestepping the formal living space, so lacquering it in a look-at-me pink (Benjamin Moore’s Milk Shake, 1165) seemed like the obvious move to both the designer and the homeowners. “We knew this needed to be the party lounge,” says Malone, who chose a paint with muddy overtones to keep it from skewing too precious. “This is the spot where we entertain and put the Christmas tree, where people want to sit and have a drink and chat. It’s a good-time room, for sure,” Steen says. A punchy piece of abstract art freed up the palette to roam the spectrum. The emerald velvet chairs feature cerulean vinyl piping, glossy paprika lamps wear lime-and-white striped shades, and throw pillows in a graphic chartreuse print by UK-based textile designer Christopher Moore settle in beside coral cut velvet ones on the sofa.

Toy With a Textural Mix

“We don’t spend much time in the dining room on a regular day, so whenever we are in there, it’s special—and I wanted it to feel that way,” says Steen about the trimmed-out gathering place, where a print by Oscar de la Renta lends a warm earthiness to the walls. “It’s so fitting for the queen of fashion,” says Malone, who paired the vintage dining chairs (outfitted in green mohair velvet from Schumacher) with a burled wood dining table found at The Collective in Dallas. A large natural woven chandelier from Palecek relaxes the dressier elements.

Loosen Up a Little

While Steen happily indulged a handful of “no touch” elements in the entertaining areas, she was adamant about kid-friendly comfort and livability in spaces that would see a lot of traffic daily. “Everything in those areas starts to get a little more informal and a bit cozier,” says Malone. In the family room, comfy sofas in Galbraith & Paul’s Lotus fabric provide soft spots to land—and stress-free splash zones for inevitable spills. “Incorporating prints is the smartest thing you can do if you have kids—or if you drink red wine or coffee. We can’t always blame the children and dogs,” Malone says with a laugh. “Pattern is like camouflage. You just don’t notice a few little drops here and there.” A custom-cut polypropylene rug adds a simple-to-clean layer underfoot.

Tap Into Another Playbook

The breakfast area took its creative cues from the neighboring den, where the duo prioritized hues that felt distinct from the living and dining spaces. “It was an opportunity to use a new color scheme and different textures and design elements,” says Steen. “When it came to decorating, I knew I wanted it all!” Malone delivered with warm caramels, deep berry blues, and rusty reds, selecting Schumacher’s Dianthus Hand Block Print for the Roman shade and Rapture & Wright’s Moorish Maze fabric for the seat cushions. The photograph of a cowboy at a San Antonio charreada (a rodeo-like event born in Mexico) is by Minta Maria.

Kindle Your Own Version of Calm

The primary bedroom is the only living area on the second floor. “It feels like a little tree house with vaulted ceilings and really fun round windows that let in a lot of natural light,” says Malone. She played up its another-world atmosphere by wrapping the walls in grass cloth by Thibaut and hanging window treatments in Waldingfield in Coral by Sister Parish. The couple’s bedding (including shams by celebrated New Orleans brand Leontine Linens) layers in shades of red, white, and blue for a generous splash of old-school nostalgia. “The space has lots of personality, but it still feels peaceful,” notes Steen.

Turn On the Charm

Because of its proximity to the formal living room, the children’s bath couldn’t just be tacked on to the home’s design like a postscript. Instead, Malone treated it like a second powder bath, framing the tub with a scalloped valance and coordinating curtains in a Morris & Co. fabric and papering the walls in a Sibyl Home print. An emerald cut glass mirror by Worlds Away, something that Steen already had on hand, lends guest-worthy sparkle.

Win Over the Workhorse

“The mudroom should not be forgotten, because you’re going to see it 20 times a day,” advises the designer. Here, that meant outfitting the Roman shade and bench cushion in Quadrille’s Arbre de Matisse print, bringing in a bolster pillow in Lisa Fine Textiles’ Pomegranate, and rolling out a cheery vintage Oushak runner that’s ideal for hiding stains from dirty cleats and juice spills. “Those rugs are great for high-traffic areas,” explains Malone. “They’ve stood the test of time and are made of natural fiber, so they’re easy to clean.”