Amy Adams. Photography Jenny Antill
- Posted:
- June 27, 2012
When fashion designer Nicole Musselman tells you she likes the yin and yang of things, she isn’t just spouting New Age babble. A love of juxtaposition touches every facet of her life, particularly when it comes to her home. Works by L.A. artist James Gilbert get equal billing with her 7-year-old son Henry’s Miró-inspired school projects. Highly textured rugs punctuate the concrete floor. Vivid splashes of color contrast the sleek white furniture. Contemporary classics comfortably coexist with flea-market finds. And witty touches such as the is-it-a-goat-or-a-dinosaur? sculpture by Patrick Page Sutter cut the austerity.
For more than eight years, this quintessential So-Cal blonde has owned Koch (pronounced “cook”), a line carried at both Cabana and Calypso in Dallas. Burgeoning business has meant relocation to an airy studio space in Bishop Arts, a scene Musselman favors due to its preponderance of great restaurants.
Mom, son and rescue dog Murphy have been in the circa-1969 modern house for less than a
year. And while it’s still a work in progress, the space already exudes the kind of lived-in appeal that makes guests feel like pulling up a chair alongside Musselman’s patio chaise longue. She logs plenty of hours there listening to music, flipping through magazines for inspiration, jotting down ideas in her ever-present Moleskine notebooks and keeping a watchful eye on Henry as he swims in the pool. Following, she gives us a piece of her mind.
Breakfast: A smoothie and a wheatgrass shot.
Current Koch design you’ve been wearing most: Our gray silk Inez tank dress with flip-flops and lots of Casey necklaces by Maddy McKinley for Koch. Also our Dickinson boy shorts and hand-printed T-shirts.
Fragrance: Skin Trip.
Next vacation: La Jolla to see family.
Can’t. Throw. Away: Old notebooks, letters and my son’s schoolwork.
First concert: Billy Joel.
Last book: Steve Jobs biography.
Don’t-have-it skill: I wish I could sing! It doesn’t stop me, but for the sake of others’ ears, I wish
I was good.
Hard habit to break: Diet Coke.
Next purchase for the casa: Saarinen dining-room table or a piece of art by Robert Lazzarini.
Fave blogs: Honestly WTF, Texas Style and Substance.
Comfort food: Red Hots and Hot Tamales.
Interior designer crush: Kelly Wearstler.
Career aspiration at age 6: Singer.
Watch-Repeat-Watch-Repeat movie: Old School or Seems Like Old Times.
If my house had its own iTunes account, this is what it would download: “Miracle Worker” by SuperHeavy; “It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over” by Lenny Kravitz; “MoneyGrabber” by Fitz & the Tantrums; “Tore Down à la Rimbaud” by Van Morrison; “Run the World (Girls)” by Beyoncé; “Long Black Veil” by Dave Matthews Band; “Nickel Bags” by Digable Planets; “MacArthur Park” by Donna Summer; “Undiscovered” by James Morrison; and “Lay Back Down” by Eric Lindell.
IMAGES:
Nicole Musselman
Henry and rescue dog Murphy
Alex Winnubst with Musselman at the Koch studio
Henry Boykin
Inside Koch
Henry Matisse née Boykin
Fishery trinkets designed by Maddy McKinley