Light Meets Texture In A Dreamy Monochromatic Houston House
Author: Lara Hallock — Photographer: Pär Bengtsson
A Craig Alan painting oversees the formal living room, home to the Mario Bellini Camaleonda sofa from B&B Italia and Artilleriet’s Etcetera lounge chair. Audo Copenhagen’s Plinth cubic marble tables sit atop a rug by designer Nina Magon.
“A space should look beautiful even if there’s not one piece of furniture in it,” interior designer Nina Magon reflects. When approached by a homeowner to work on her and her husband’s monochromatic abode in Houston, Magon’s savvy in playing with light, texture and scale had the chance to shine, resulting in a dwelling that’s all at once sophisticated, modern and warm. The two women had met at social events and through mutual friends over the years, but their collaboration sparked when the client visited the Nina Magon Lounge in Zadok Jewelers, where she got an immersive sense of the designer’s luxury global aesthetic. “The room is bold and striking, and that’s what I like,” the wife notes.
When Magon came to the house for a visit, she was greeted by a double-height entry with a majestic, curved stairway envisioned by the client. “I was amazed when I saw the grand staircases at the Four Seasons in Shanghai,” the owner reminisces. “Their dramatic shape was my ultimate goal.” Clad in a Venetian plaster, the staircase was also inspired by Old Jaffa, a neighborhood in Tel Aviv, where she was raised. The international influence resonated with Magon, who was born in Canada, has Indian roots and has collaborated with famed global brands such as Balmain and Cosentino. “As soon as we walked in the home, we both agreed on emphasizing that neutral, European-style palette,” Magon recalls.
A chandelier immediately came to the interior designer’s mind in order to balance the expansive entryway, but the client was already having one commissioned. As it turns out, they were both thinking of the same glassmaker based in Prague. “We have very similar tastes,” Magon says with a laugh. “We even drive the same car.” In the process of completing the fixture, the duo took two trips to the Czech Republic together. The voluminous pendant that now adorns the foyer features varying sizes of opaque white and transparent spheres, which appear to hover in midair. “All of the different aspects add a little bit of interest, so it doesn’t look boring,” the designer describes. That sentiment carries throughout the home, which is a feast for the eyes despite a minimal color palette. The soft lines of the formal living room’s velvet-covered sofa, for instance, offset the weight of rectangular marble coffee tables of differing heights.
