Inside the Curated World of Texas Designer Kristin Mullen

Today, I’m thrilled to chat with the incredibly talented designer Kristin Mullen—a kindred spirit in our love for collected style, a self-proclaimed scarf enthusiast, and a true master of timeless interiors. Let’s step inside the curated world of Texas Designer Kristin Mullen.

Hi Kristin – from Tacoma Park, Maryland all the way to Dallas, Texas, tell us a bit about your journey and how design became such an integral part of your life.

I lived on the East Coast until I was seven, and then moved to Amarillo, Texas. My parents were huge lovers of travel, and I devoured books, so I was always immersed in different environments whether they were real or imagined. My mom LOVED decorating, and our houses were always on trend. Interestingly, I never really decorated my own room or had too many opinions about what my mom did with our house. I think that I must have assumed that all moms spent their weekends pouring over wallpaper books or paint swatches and so when I decorated our first apartment in New York City, I ogled the vignettes in the home furnishings department at Bloomingdales and the windows of Ralph Lauren and obsessed over the stripped French furniture and Swedish antiques at nearby stores and I just sort of…did it. I’ve been privileged to travel all over the world, and I know that the influences of Asia, Europe, and England all play a role in the designs that I create.

Inside the Curated World of Texas Designer Kristin Mullen

Photo Credit: Nathan Schroder Photo

You believe that every space has a story to tell and that your role is to give a voice to your clients’ tales. Tell us more about this approach.

I’ve never been attracted to rooms that look too artificial or too done. Like, you know, the pillows on the sofa match the curtains and the stripe on the wallpaper is the same one on the armchairs. You just KNOW that it’s been professionally decorated. I love an interior that feels as though it’s been collected and curated over time because it tells a story of the people who live in that room. My clients all have a perspective about the story that they want to tell in their homes – whether it’s about the colors they want to surround themselves with, whether they want to add a few antiques (hint: they all do!) and where they’ve traveled, what’s inspired them and what their personal histories look like. So, my job is to take all of that information, those likes and dislikes and distill it into a house that only they could own. 

Photo Credit: Nathan Schroder Photo

You love strong colors, whimsy, modern elements, and a touch of fantasy. How do you continue to combine these attributes so flawlessly in your design?

The longer that I do this work, the more I strive to be purposely imperfect. That imperfection is what invites whimsy and fantasy into a room – it’s boring if it’s too predictable or too symmetrical or expected. As for color, that truly is driven by a client’s preference. Some of my clients love the stimulation of strong color, lots of pattern and a good bit of visual interest, while others prefer a calmer palette and fewer visual elements. I do inject modernity in every project that I take on – whether it’s an obvious element like an acrylic waterfall table juxtaposed against a traditional seating area or whether it’s more subtly in creating a lot of negative space around art and decor to allow for a cleaner aesthetic.

Your KMD The Edit online shop just launched in March. Tell us what you love most about the shopping experience and what we can expect to see in this space in the months to come.

What I love most about The Edit is that it invites you into our world – to experience the things that inspire and delight us, and that shape our design philosophy. One way we did this was by creating a set of permanent collections that home in on our love of the European aesthetics of Provence and the Cotswolds, as well as our affinity for French ceramics with our collection “The Plate Rack.”  These collections give our customers the confidence to purchase items within those collections, knowing that they will all coordinate beautifully together. For example, I curated just over a dozen or so fabrics to feature on seating that all blend beautifully together. Additionally, we tailored the experience to customers looking to replicate our designs in their own home with our “Shop the Room” feature. In the coming months, we’ll continue to rotate the featured room, offering fresh inspiration from different spaces. Last, but not least, if customers find that they still need our expertise, they only need to “reach out” to our studio.

Where do you find inspiration and how has this process changed over the years?

I find inspiration everywhere! Whether I am traveling and noticing wonderful architectural details or interesting color combinations, or in the store and shopping for my wardrobe, I am a magpie for details. That has always been the case. And of course, much more recently Pinterest and Instagram provide inspiration, too. For a while, blogs like Cote de Texas were a huge source of inspiration for me and I like to think that our blog provides inspiration for our readers, too. And last, but not least, the great magazines like Milieu, Veranda, Traditional Home, and Luxe are hugely important as are coffee table books encompassing the home, the garden, and architecture.

You’ve been featured in magazines like Luxe and Southern Home (and more!) and have some very impressive projects you’ve worked on. Tell us a few of your favorite accomplishments and why.

I have been very fortunate in my career to be featured in various publications and in a showhouse, but I have to say that the highlight of my career was to be named a Rising Star of Design by Traditional Home. I was about two decades older than the other 9 Rising Stars named by the magazine, so I had to chuckle at the irony. But to be called out by a national magazine as one of the 10 best emerging designers in the country was a thrill I never expected.

Photo Credit: Victoria Saperstein

Describe your signature style (in home, wardrobe, and life) in five words:

Classic

Current

Curated

Understated

Elegant

Let’s talk fashion and Texas! How do your style choices change from season to season?

That’s a great question. We moved here after living on the East Coast for twenty years and in England for three and so I had the most gorgeous cold weather wardrobe, which sadly I only get to use about 6-8 weeks of the year. But for cold weather, nothing but nothing can beat a beautiful jacket or blazer. I prefer mine to cover my entire backside and taper at the waist because it’s what most flatters my figure. This is pretty much a constant for me, year in and year out.

I love, love, love a white blouse. Sleeved or sleeveless, tailored or whimsical, it is a huge go to for me season to season. I like a high collar and will pop the color on my button ups.

I rarely wore jeans before I moved to Texas and now it’s my pant choice almost daily September through May. This is where I will dabble in trends on cut and length, wash and color etc. Since I have an hourglass shape, finding a good cut and fit for me is a challenge but I do love finding something that’s comfortable and stylish and wearing the heck out of it.

From May to September, I am in a dress just about every day. I love how cool they are, how easy they are to throw on, and the color and the pattern of them. Paired with sandals, they look polished and professional. I won’t wear dresses that are too ruffled, puffed or ruched as they are a bit too juvenile in style for me, but I love to see them on my co-workers.

And I have a problem with scarves, I have to say. I wear them year-round as they are my wardrobe MacGyver kit. I have gossamer thin scarves to wear with solid dresses and wool ones to wrap around a white blouse and pashminas to wear year-round as a wrap for air conditioning or as an accent in colder weather.

Photo Credit: Victoria Saperstein

Share with us five favorite items (clothing/bags/accessories) from your closet right now. 

1. My basket-weave bucket bag, which was a Round Top find from SOHO McKinney. It goes with everything and always garners compliments.
2. A blue and white striped blouse from A Shirt Thing. It is a favorite in my closet that looks effortlessly sophisticated and hangs just right.
3. A huge blue and camel silk scarf from Souleiado in France that goes with everything.
4. A knee-length camel leather jacket from Worth that is ages old and still looks amazing.
5. My wild card is a full-length Samantha Sung ballgown length chintz skirt I wore to my oldest son’s wedding and just about every other wedding I’ve been to since!

How has living in Texas influenced your wardrobe?

Texas has taught me to dress in light layers and always be prepared for an unexpected weather event. So, I am never without a lightweight jacket and scarf in tow – and I do have such a penchant for a pretty scarf! Stylistically, my style hasn’t changed much over the years despite living in different climates and locales.I rely on a closet filled with classic staples – the perfect white button down, a great pair of jeans (I love Frame), and a handful of blazers I can swap out between seasons. I keep my accessorizing simple and have collected a handful of pieces that I adore from my travels that I wear consistently. 

What do you love most about living in Texas, and what do you miss about the East Coast?

I miss the flora and fauna of the East Coast! Not to say that Texas bluebonnets are anything to scoff at – there’s nothing like Texas wildflowers. But my gardens in my homes on the East Coast were much lusher and more sprawling thanks to the climate. My backyard garden now is still lovely, but I rely more on container gardening which is more forgiving in the Texas sun.

Outside of design, what are some of your other passions?

I love watching lacrosse! My two youngest sons played lacrosse at a high level, and I just love to watch the sport. Of course, you cannot call yourself a Texan without loving football – or is that just me? I love to cook and have containers of fresh herbs to rely on. I really adore entertaining – every aspect of it, from cooking to setting a beautiful table, to arranging the flowers to choosing and pouring the wine. It’s a passion that’s reflected in our new website -maybe a bit too much – but I love taking care of people and entertaining is my love language.

Tell us about your favorite hair and skin care products. 

Like so many other things, the French do skincare exceptionally well, and I love everything I’ve purchased from the skincare company Filorga, the NCF Shot, the Time Filler Intensive, Time Filler Night Creme, and theTime Filler 5XP .Definitely don’t sleep on their potions and lotions next time you find yourself in a French pharmacy. For my hair, since I allowed it to go grey/silver, I love Oribe products for grey hair. They smell amazing and do wonder for my hair.

What does a normal day look like for you, balancing your career and your personal life?

Truthfully, no two days are the same in my line of work! Some mornings, I am hitting the ground running off to site visits for clients wearing jeans and mud-proof tennis shoes, and on other days, our team is huddled around the front table of our studio, collaborating on website design ideas, drawings for clients, or general business to-dos. The only constant is coffee!

I would say that I am working on getting the personal /work life balance improved. I am hopeful that over the next year I can do a better job at that. My husband is amazing and so understanding about the demands on my time, as are my children. But my goal is to set aside more time for my family and doing the things that I love.

If you could give your younger self any words of advice, what would they be?

I think it would be to be ready. Life doesn’t play out on a single continuous strand and that you need to stay flexible in your hopes and dreams for yourself and your family. God has a plan for you, and I assure you that you have no idea what it is, all you can do is be full of gratitude, count your blessings and be ready.

Share your words to live by.

Honestly? A couple of phrases come to mind. The first is to “embrace the suck” as they say in the military. If you are going to have to go through a difficult time, embrace it, make friends with it, and find out how you can grow from it. If you can do that, you will have a very fulfilled life. And also, “man plans, and God laughs”. It’s true and I can say that I must have provided a great deal of amusement to the man upstairs for a very good chunk of my life! And lastly, I think you must, must, must find humor in your life. It makes even the worst situations feel tolerable and the best ones incandescently wonderful.

Get Kristin’s Style

Thank you all for joining me for a glimpse inside the curated world of Texas designer Kristin Mullen. From the moment I discovered her on Instagram, I had a feeling we might be kindred spirits. A heartfelt thank you to Kristin for sharing her design process and classic personal style with us—it was truly inspiring. Honestly, I think I need to plan a shopping trip with her soon!

You can follow Kristin here

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinmullendesigns/ 

The Shop: https://kmdtheedit.myshopify.com/ 

The Blog:  https://www.kristinmullendesigns.com/blog 

Website: https://www.kristinmullendesigns.com/ 

For more fun you can find all of my Ageless Style interviews here.

I will be back on Thursday with some simple spring updates to my home. Have a great day!