Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/549779
TOWATCH ANNE LEE PHILLIPS CHECKS IN ON THREE DISTINCTIVE ON-THE-RISE HOUSTON DESIGNERS WHOSE RECENT PROJECTS HAVE US LONGING FOR MORE. PHOTOGRAPHY JENNY ANTILL CLIFTON. I f you've dined in one of Gin Braverman's interiors, you already know how it enhanced your experience without intruding. From Oxheart to The Kolache Shoppe on Richmond (a morning haunt of PC editors), Braverman is one of the most sought- after names in restaurant and bar design in Houston. We're dubbing her style neo-industrial, given her ability to make raw industrial design more comfortable. She effortlessly integrates exposed brick, tile, mid-century modern furniture and metal elements to create moody, relaxed spaces. Statement lighting fixtures are trademark Braverman — we're obsessed with the massive geometric pendant she sourced from Hungary for Beckrew Wine House, which won runner-up for Commercial Design — Restaurant in the 2015 PaperCity Design Awards. Gin spent her formative years in New York working on film-set design, then moved to Taipei, where she honed her skills at a commercial design firm. Returning to the United States with a broadened worldview and a new international aesthetic, she founded her firm, Gindesigns, where she employs a talented team, including a finish specialist. Braverman also won runner-up for Residential Interior Design — Bedroom in the 2015 PaperCity Design Awards. M ere months after opening her own firm, Chelsea Cunningham landed every Houston designer's dream project: a John Staub Shadyside home. Cunningham has quite a pedigree — the Houston native and Kinkaid, Georgetown and PaperCity alum studied interior design at the Corcoran in D.C. and the Art Institute in Houston, then spent three years at award-winning Chandos Interiors before opening shop last September. The Staub homeowners, a young couple, enlisted Cunningham right after moving in. Phase one of the project is restoring Staub's signatures, such as full-length windows that disappear into the ceiling, to open the living room to the garden for entertaining, and intricate mantels carved of wood and stone. Gracie wallpaper in the dining room was refurbished after years of decay, and the molding was painted a crisp white, a vast improvement over the dingy green. Cunningham installed wallpapers, lighting and mirrors with geometric elements to play off both the home's octagonal shape and to help incorporate the clients' contemporary art collection into the historic setting. The long-term phase two will encompass a more extensive renovation/restoration. Straightforward and decisive with an impressive knowledge of design, Cunningham is a speed-dial essential for young families in the inner loop. THE SOPHISTICATE THE NEO-INDUSTRIALIST ONES Chelsea Cunningham, Chelsea Interiors Instagram: @Chelseainteriors Gin Braverman, GinDesigns Instagram: @Gindesigns THE COLOR INFUSERS Y ou won't find any "thirsty furniture" in the rooms of design duo Caroline Frantz and Morgan Jones (that's their term for the weathered French country look). All of their rooms are fully hydrated and saturated with color. We took notice when they secured the 2015 PaperCity Design Award for Children's Room, with a punchy nursery with bright green grasscloth-covered walls. In a traditional River Oaks home, a library was enlivened and updated by carefully preserving the mahogany walls, utilizing rich silk velvets in jewel tones on the furniture, dressing the tall windows with a patterned Jim Thompson silk and flanking the fireplace with a pair of equally richly colored taxidermy peacocks. Jones is a master of the collected look, a skill she honed while working at Area, after studying interior design at Harvard's graduate school. Frantz received a degree from Parsons and worked at a commercial firm in NYC before moving to Houston, where she was introduced to Jones via her husband. Jones' style is tailored, while Frantz's leans towards feminine. Luckily, a collaboration between the two creates a perfectly balanced room. Caroline Frantz and Morgan Jones, principals of Caroline+Morgan Interiors Instagram: @CarolineMorganInteriorDesign Chelsea Cunningham at a John Staub home she's designing Gin Braverman inside her project, Beckrew Wine House Morgan Jones and Caroline Frantz in the library in a client's River Oaks home