Have you ever walked into a house and known that the cabinets look nice and expensive but you just can’t quite put your finger on why? The obvious answer is the finish, right? High end wood or a lacquer paint. And sure, the finish makes a big difference. But it’s not the main differentiator. Warning: once you know this information, you can’t unlearn it. Sorry in advance if it makes you hate your cabinets. THE THREE CABINET TYPES By and large, most cabinets come in one of three flavors: Standard Overlay Full Overlay Inset Let’s break these down and talk about why you ..read more

After two decades of living with a "builder basic" kitchen, these empty nesters decided it was high time to give their 2300 square foot abode the kitchen they had always dreamed of. THE STORY This was never going to be their forever home. The plan had always been to move to something bigger. But as time has a habit of doing, life was busy with three kids and the timing was never quite right. They loved their location and schools and never found that home worth making the jump. Now, with the kids out of the house, the house no longer felt too small. They decided to love the home they wer ..read more

Welcome to a mouth-watering journey that brings two of my favorite things together - carbohydrates and design. Today, we're revealing TLD's first-ever restaurant design for a delightful kolache franchise, The Kolache Shoppe, in Celina, Texas. Honestly, every project we work on is special, but this was an extra treat as we got to partner with some of our dearest family friends and new entrepreneurs Courtney and Jake, plus Courtney’s parents, Cindy & Gary. Courtney's twin sister, Chelsea, also just happens to be a former client AND my current right hand gal at Team TLD for 2 years! Truly, a ..read more

Welcome to our latest adventure in home transformation, where we are tackling not one, but two small bathrooms for teenagers in a home where the 1980s aesthetic lingered far longer than big hair and side ponies ever did.   THE STORY Imagine trying to fit a pro-basketball-sized teenage boy into a shower built for someone a foot shorter (and who possibly doesn’t have elbows?), or attempting to add a touch of mature charm to a young lady's bathroom without veering into "little girl" territory. That's exactly the challenge we faced in this project. The clients, eager to kickstart the ren ..read more

Tell me if this sounds familiar: You’ve been dreaming up a big change for your home – maybe it’s a renovation or furnishing or adding on – and you’re finally ready to pull the trigger! So exciting. Your next thought: Can this be done, like, tomorrow? Perhaps you catch yourself and realize that a giant change probably will take a minute. So your next question is… How long will this project take? That, my friend, is why we’re here. And as you might imagine, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer here, because all projects are different. The main differentiator is SCALE. It stands to reason that a b ..read more

With interest rates still hanging out high and home prices not really coming down, we are getting asked this question more than ever before. Is it better to renovate and/or add-on to my current house, or should we just move? Obviously it’s a HUGE decision. Should you pour your resources into your existing home, or cut bait and buy a bigger house that fits your needs? Clearly there is no one-size-fits-all solution here. However, here are a few questions to ask yourself if you find yourself wrestling with this decision to gain some clarity. LOCATION There are a few things you really can’t chang ..read more

We are so excited to be included in Redfin's article on the best of 2023 Design Trends! We hope you enjoy the article and some photos of our favorite projects that feature these trends. We've condensed it a bit here to our favorite trends that we anticipate hanging around into 2024, so if you want more you can head to Redfin to read the full article. In the dynamic world of design, 2023 unveiled a captivating tapestry of innovation and style, ushering in an era of creativity and expression. From the revival of ancient techniques to the embrace of cutting-edge materials, this year wit ..read more

When you love your neighborhood, but hate your house...what do you do? This is the problem our clients were struggling with when they reached out to us. Their house was in an amazing location in a desirable neighborhood with awesome schools for their 3 kids. BUT the house was lacking in the function department. And the aesthetic department. And, therefore, the happiness department. We took on the ultimate challenge with this 1979 single-story Far North Dallas home. It had a layout so bizarre, it could make your head spin: gloomy rooms, a closed off circuitous layout, a pair of atrium light tu ..read more

Post contains affiliate links. Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year! With the holidays fast approaching, it's time to start thinking about what to get your loved ones. Now, we know what you're thinking, "Another gift guide? Yawn." But trust us, this isn't your ordinary, run-of-the-mill list. We're not going to suggest a generic tie or a boring kitchen gadget (well, maybe just one or two). No, no, no. We've scoured the internet, put in the research, and come up with some seriously cool and unique ideas. And, of course, everything we've picked lines up with our ultimate mission: to hel ..read more

Last month, we spent a glorious 3 weeks in E urope and it was (not surprisingly) incredible! We visited 4 countries – Ireland, Scotland, England, and France – and I’m sharing what we did, where we stayed (and where we would stay next time!), and where we ate and drank. As an Interior Designer, I plan projects for a living. Planning is my zone of genius. BUT I’ve never been to Europe, and I knew that I didn’t have it in me to read all the travel blogs and scour the internet to craft the best itinerary. We enlisted the help of a travel agent to do a lot of the heavy lifting for us in building o ..read more