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bigger upholstery furnishings were hers, and we streamlined rooms by editing out other pieces and adding side tables, lamps, and accessories." Dorsey blended a variety of different styles of furnishings and meaningful objects, including a large art collection, to bring the client's personality and style into the mix. "Ultimately what I love to do is collect and add collections to a space, and that's what we've done here," he says. Dorsey is known for interiors that are defined by a quiet palette. For this house, he created a monochromatic black-and-white color scheme of pale linen and bouclé-upholstered sofas and chairs, accented with vintage black leather seating and bronze-metal tables. Black-and-white interiors can sometimes feel cold, but "these feel warm because of the limestone, the green from outside, the hardwood floors, and overall distressed vintage quality," Dorsey says. The entryway sets a casual, minimal tone for the rest of the house with a few carefully placed objects. Previously, artwork covered the walls going up the staircase, which made it feel formal and cluttered. Dorsey pulled one painting from the collection to place next to a sculptural cast-bronze chair by Houston designer Kelly Gale Amen, which he bought from Sputnik Modern in Dallas. The spare grouping created a minimal yet striking focal point at the base of the stairs. "It's simple and clean and allows the space to stand on its own," he says. The living room is big enough to have multiple seating areas with an ample mix of modern and traditional furniture. In one elegant niche, the homeowner's Chinese armoire and an antique French stool upholstered in tiger-stripe velvet are set off by a 10-foot-long high-back sofa of Dorsey's own design, along with thin-legged metal side tables with minimalist appeal. In a bright corner flanked by windows, Dorsey brought in a white-marble Saarinen table by Knoll for the client to use as a desk and pulled up one of her antique "Trends and styles change, but if you put together great bones, it looks beautiful forever." — Architect David Stocker A sitting area in the living room includes a mix of the homeowner's antiques and new contemporary pieces such as bronze and Lucite tables. 71