Pretty at Peacock Alley — Texas Design Week Dallas Kicks Off

Texas Design Week Dallas kicked off with a morning panel on all things pretty — and, as moderator Chesie Breen noted, “There is no more fitting a showroom for ‘pretty’ than Peacock Alley.” The Dallas purveyor of luxury linens for bed and bath hosted design-loving pretties for mimosas, coffee, pastries and a panel discussion on the elements that create a beautiful room from those whose opinions on the subject are, in fact, the authority.

The lineup included Shelley Johnstone, one of House Beautiful’s New Wave Designers, in from Lake Forest, Illinois; Leslie Martin, M + M Interior Design, a 2021 Traditional Home Rising Star of Design, in from Chicago; and Dallas’ Cathy Kincaid, who has received, among other accolades, the coveted Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) John Staub Award.

Both Johnstone and Martin (who, along with sister Kim Meardon make up M+M Interior Design) had rooms in this year’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House Dallas. Johnstone’s study, wrapped in brown-and-cream ticking stripe with a custom Casci plaster panel, and M+M’s vaulted reading room with cozy seating vignettes in textiles by Soane Britain and Penny Morrison were among this year’s standouts.

Kincaid, a show-house veteran who created the magical Alidad- and Veere Grenney-inspired dining room for Kips Bay’s Dallas debut in 2020, gave priceless design advice on everything from lighting (each room needs three sources of light: a chandelier, lamps and sconces) to layering (lots of pattern in a room has a sedating and unifying effect). And, of course, linen.

“You can’t have a pretty room without pretty linens,” Kincaid said. “And Peacock Alley makes the best.”

Welcoming guests was Peacock Alley’s Katherine Nicholson and Grant Jackson.

PC Seen: Sydney Warrington, Lloyd Princeton, Susie Kwiatkowski, Tara Arikawe, Tina Jeppesen, Chuck Steelman, Vivian Ospina, Paola Rozo, and Axton Reilly.

Thank you to our Texas Design Week Dallas sponsors: Dallas Design District, HN Capital Partners, Monogram, New Orleans Auction Galleries, The Container Store, MOUS, Tribute Goods, Neiman Marcus, Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek and The Joule.