WHEN KRISTIE McGowan and her husband purchased their home in 2015, they had two young children and she was in the middle of completing a PhD in Textile Technology Management at NC State. The couple had just finished renovating their previous home, so when they decided to buy again, they agreed to make major changes after she finished her dissertation.
“We painted the walls white and the interior windows black, just to have a fresh start,” says McGowan. “The only other thing we did as paint the ceiling in our bedroom. It’s Palladian Blue by Benjamin Moore, which was a color we’d used in our last house. I just wanted that color somewhere. I love it so much.”
McGowan, whose PhD led to a career in textiles and fashion, is passionate about color. When her degree was complete, she quickly jumped into transforming the home for their family. They started with small touches, like custom stain on the hardwood floors and gradually changing lighting to fit their style, but soon began to add bolder creative flourishes.
“I had the idea for the ceiling in our dining room as soon as we moved into the house,” says McGowan, who designed the star-shaped coffered ceiling and worked with their trim carpenter to bring the look to life. “That ceiling is so striking that it still makes my heart pitter-patter.”
Creative thinking and selecting based on what she’s innately drawn to was McGowan’s method for designing the entire space. “Nothing in my house has been selected with a plan; it’s evolved organically and authentically,” she says, noting how much she’s drawn to color, patterns, and textures.
“I just buy what I love and it all works.” This philosophy is perhaps most evident in the wallpaper selections throughout the home. The dark floral paper in the home’s powder room was her first installation. Designed by an American-born artist living in the Netherlands, the paper choice was a nod to McGowan’s own experience, having spent a year in high school as an exchange student in the country. “That was the first wallpaper I’d ever had installed in a house. It obviously snowballed from there,” she says with a laugh.
Now, the many gorgeous wallpapers found throughout the home are one of its numerous notable characteristics. A cloud paper by Cole & Son adds a sense of movement to the kitchen walls, a bright blue-and-white hydrangea paper by Schumacher brightens the mudroom ceiling, and a metallic gold paper called Daydream by Hygge & West adds sparkle in her daughter’s room. “I feel like wallpaper is one of those things that, even if there’s nothing else in the room, can make it feel complete—and it gives such a vibe of the family and people who live there,” says McGowan.
While she loves to create spaces that reflect the personalities of the individuals living in them, McGowan has also worked to build a home that is functional. “I really believe that beauty and function should coexist,” she says. “It was important to me that we have spaces for everyone in the house—and not just the people.”
With that in mind, the family built a permanent crate and built-in food-and-water station for their dog, Ruby, in the mudroom. McGowan also worked with her trim carpenter to design a stylish dog gate featuring acrylic panels at the bottom of the stairs, keeping the then-puppy off the steps while still allowing for the antelope runner to be visible from the front door.
These kind of custom design touches stand out in the home, but the most personalized feature may be the art collection. In addition to several noteworthy pieces, like the colorful Pop Art by Nashville artist Gina Julian hanging over the living room fireplace and the flying elephants by artist Elizabeth Foster in the primary bedroom, the home includes many original works by McGowan herself.
“It’s just because I can be a little bit impatient when I want something on the walls and don’t want to commit to too much money,” she says. To create the gallery wall in the dining room, for example, McGowan spread out papers on her back porch with her children, now ages fourteen and eleven, and, together, they painted them before framing them on the wall. “They’re bright and colorful, and I just needed something that could fill that wall. I get so many inquiries about them, though, that I’m making prints of them to sell.”
Her favorite pieces, however, are the two amusing dog portraits by Canadian artist Kari Serrao that hang in the kitchen. McGowan first came across the artist’s charming woodland creature portraits on Instagram and reached out about creating similar ones of their family dogs. They turned out to be thoughtful statement pieces that draw the eye and tell the story of a playful family. “Everything in our home has been done thoughtfully,” says McGowan, who loves how every room in the space has come together. “I want it to be a place where my kids feel love and warmth, and guests feel comforted. I’ve tried to create a feeling of solace and creativity for the whole house.”