For seven years, Rainey Richardson and her husband Tom were happy living in Houston’s Heights neighborhood—until they weren’t.

During COVID, the couple bought a vacation home in Austin. When the market was right, they sold it—and suddenly found themselves asking what they’d loved about it so much.

“It had tons of natural light, a pool, and a hot tub,” says Rainey Richardson, principal of the award-winning Rainey Richardson Interiors. “That added a lot to our world. You can’t put hills in the background here, but what you can do is have those things that you can replicate.”

Their three-story Heights brownstone in Houston had no room for a swimming pool. And so, the search for a new home began, with a wish list that included a pool, a dedicated man cave for Tom, and a short drive to their offices at the Houston Design Center on Old Katy Road.

In 2024, they found a 3,400-square-foot Harvard Homes spec home in Oak Forest—four bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms—but it needed some work. For six weeks, Richardson, who founded Rainey Richardson Interiors 26 years ago, worked alongside Tom—also her construction manager—to make the newly built home their own.

As a designer, Richardson knew exactly what it needed: “The floor plan was most important. It’s excellent for entertaining with lots of open space, and the natural light is really good,” she says. “When you walk up the front steps, you’re in an alcove, a dedicated entryway, so you can’t see the way into the house. I love that.”

The home came largely dressed in light, neutral colors typical of spec construction—a choice that often helps buyers envision the home as a blank canvas. Richardson infused it with color and personality, starting with a front entry featuring a small under-the-staircase cubby painted Sherwin-Williams Iron Ore, a dark and moody shade of black that’s immediately arresting.

The tone carries into the dining room, where Thibaut wallpaper with a black background and an ebony-stained dining table offer a stylish contrast with chairs covered in peachy-pink textured mohair. A new Kelly Wearstler chandelier hangs overhead, under a ceiling covered in tongue-and-groove paneling.

The kitchen was already solid, but Richardson added warmth and shine with pendant lights outfitted with woven shades, brass hardware and plumbing fixtures, and a wooden vent hood replacing the original plaster.

In the living room, the traditional fireplace got an upgrade—Ann Sacks micro-mosaic tile, a white oak mantel, and built-in cabinets framing each side. Automated shades cover the square windows, and new lighting, including a chandelier from Hudson Valley’s Archie collection, brightens the space.

New and old coexist throughout. The Richardsons were intent on infusing their new digs with furniture and other mementos from their prior home that were meaningful to them. “I’m not just discarding furniture and starting over. As I get older, I realize how destructive it is to the environment just to throw away furniture,” Richardson says. “If you buy really good furniture, you have it reupholstered.”

In the primary bedroom, she repainted the walls blue and incorporated a canopy bed, a sparkling chandelier, new wood flooring, and artwork from Santa Fe, New Mexico, for a cozier feel. 

The powder bathroom got a makeover, too. The Richardsons removed wainscoting that made the room feel too “farmy” and incorporated new wallpaper, lighting, a counter, and plumbing fixtures.  

Of the most coveted spaces, the backyard now has the pool that started it all, and inside, the man cave that “Tom uses a lot” rounds out the space. The library, with its built-in cabinets and display shelves, is a new addition where the Richardsons spend time reading quietly, falling into conversation, and lounging with their three dachshunds—Lil Focker, Mini Cooper, and Sadie Girl. It’s another room that reminds them of how they’ve turned a largely blank space into a dream home.

“My house makes me really happy,” Richardson says. “It’s the first house that I feel is truly and completely a reflection of me and what we value.”