The quiet season for gardening makes the perfect season to focus on interiors — and to attend Austin’s annual Tribeza Interiors Tour. After a two-year pandemic hiatus, the tour resumed last Sunday, and I was there for it. I’ll feature highlights today and tomorrow for my fellow design aficionados and those who are simply curious about what other people do with their homes.

CG&S Design-Build: A rainbow-bright Rollingwood house

One of my favorites on the tour was Genie Norris‘s exuberantly color-confident home in the Rollingwood neighborhood. Genie is a color consultant, and drew on her textile collection to spin out a sherbet-hued rainbow throughout her home.

According to Tribeza:

“CG&S Design-Build’s client Genie Norris, being a color consultant, painted the façade in bright cheery colors: Indigo, Avocado, Scarlet and Pink. Genie’s love for color started with her interest in old textiles introduced to her by her mother. And it was a specific 1970s quilt that inspired the renovation journey that she and her husband have been on for the past several years. Genie and Randy approached CG&S Design-Build to do a whole house renovation: new outdoor living and pool as well as a third story ‘crows’ nest’ to enjoy the downtown view.”

In the kitchen, a graphic artwork of watermelons echoes green cabinetry painted Sherwin Williams “Composed”.

I love a banquette and have one in my own home, so I especially enjoyed this curved version with a plush, burgundy back and fabric cushion that matches colorful, abstract Seafield wallpaper from Bluebell Gray.

In the mudroom, an old-fashioned screen door — sans screen — opens into a butler’s pantry.

A spacious sitting room off the main bedroom is inviting with seafoam-green armchairs and a large watercolor mural or wallpaper. This room overlooks…

…a deep covered porch that runs the length of the back of the house. Light wells in the porch ceiling bring sunlight into the interior of the house while the deep roof keeps the porch shaded and dry. Ceiling fans and built-in heaters, plus an outdoor fireplace, offer comfort no matter the season.

Inviting porch furnishings (Riviera Lounge Chairs by Jonathan Adler and Annie Selke‘s Bowline Navy indoor/outdoor rug) and oversized clay sconces on the fireplace wall add style. A generous sliding door erases the separation between indoors and out.

A large dining table with red Lucite chairs and a bench swing round out the seating options.

Colorful waterline tile reminded me of B. Jane’s pool tile — the inspiration, perhaps? ZigZag planters from Pieces seem to shimmy at one end of the pool.

In a side yard, two large galvanized cisterns collect and store rainwater from the roof.

At the sitting room door, I noticed this lovely tole sconce with cattails and lotus flowers. Update: Genie tells me her tole sconces (she has a pair) are vintage, probably from the 1950s, from D&W Lighting in Austin.

In a nook under a staircase, a piano gets star treatment with blue paint (Sherwin Williams “Really Teal”) that arcs out on the hardwood floor, like a stage spotlight. A metal floral sconce by Sazerac Stitches illuminates this charming music niche.

A colorful staircase with risers papered in Faye Jennifer Designs peel-and-stick vinyl and spindles painted Sherwin Williams “Gypsy” brought a smile to my face.

Doors throughout the home are fearlessly painted different colors along hallways and even within one room.

Jungalow’s Aja wallpaper brings tropical pattern and color to a guest room. A quilt layers more cozy color, and bird-shaped bedside lamps add whimsy.

In a hall bath, cassette tape wallpaper (Mixed Tape by Rebel Walls) runs up the slanted ceiling, and teal-and-black penny tile spells out Journey’s lyric “Don’t stop believin’,” which I managed not to photograph. But it’s there!

In the husband’s office, a zigzagging, Missoni-inspired carpet and blue-cushioned window seat with red frame inject more fun color. A bar cart with copper mugs stands ready for making Moscow mules.

On a Murphy bed with a rising-sun painted headboard, a Chuck Norris pillow adds a humorously manly touch.

To learn more about Genie’s deliciously colorful and whimsical home, read “Rollingwood Color Masterclass on Tribeza Tour” on CG&S Design-Build’s website.

Britt Design Group: Torchy’s Tacos founder’s house

The tour featured a total of 7 private homes, including a 13,000-square-foot mansion (!) on Lake Austin owned by the founder of Torchy’s Tacos, Mike Rypka, and designed by Britt Design Group.

Rypka’s extensive art collection fills the home, including a moss installation by Articulture and a Banksy-inspired piece with neon message, “Follow your dreams.”

Artwork featuring Prince’s face…

…morphs to letters that spell “PURPLE” when viewed from one side…

…and “Purple Rain” from the other. This was one of many rock-and-roll decorating moments on the tour as a whole.

There’s a little Betty Crocker here too, in the form of retro mixers and vintage box turned into a table lamp. There was so much more I didn’t take pics of because it was a crowded first stop, and I was just taking it all in. To see more of this art-collector’s estate, read The Vibrant Home of Torchy’s Tacos Founder Mike Rypka at Austin Monthly.

Housemill Design: Tarrytown house

More serene, down-to-earth interiors were chosen for the Tarrytown home designed by Housemill Design.

Tom Petty in the office

In a teen’s bedroom, world map wallpaper makes an eye-catching accent wall.

Glynis Wood Interiors: Old Enfield house

In a 1938 home in the Old Enfield neighborhood, Glynis Wood Interiors created a cocktail room with rock-and-roll vibes via black walls and black-and-white photos of musicians and movie stars. A taxidermy zebra head adds Out of Africa style.

A wheeled, bamboo bar cart showcases the owners’ collection of tequila. In the window, a neon sign — one of many neon pieces spotted throughout the tour — spells out tequila in turquoise.

Pretty tequila bottle

I spotted my friend Lucinda Hutson‘s beautiful book Viva Tequila! (out of print but available secondhand) on the mantle.

Cute donkey painting in a hall

A rustic-elegant hall bath

Note the handmade sink.

Banana leaf wallpaper, a sunburst mirror, and more zebra print add exotic style.

The primary bedroom is serenely colored, with beachy texture and a shell mirror.

In the primary bathroom, more shells and coral are beautifully displayed in a privacy-providing wall case.

A wider view

Looking outside, you see a rectangular pool with rustic green waterline tile and a braided-river-rock ribbon in the stone coping — gorgeous details. A neon pool sign with a diving woman adds a fun accent amid palms and bamboo that got hit hard by the December deep freeze. The Bismarck palm is probably a goner, alas, but the rest should return. With woven round lights hanging from a live oak, this looks like a lovely outdoor space to enjoy at night too.

An exuberant floral wallpaper contrasts with a ceramic moose head holding trucker caps — feminine meets masculine energy? — in a guest room.

I love the green tile and deep window on one bathroom wall.

In a teen girl’s bedroom, a neon sign over the bed announces, “i woke up like this.” Cafe-style string lights run around the ceiling, creating a soft glow.

A niche by a window offers a modern-bohemian lounge space with a Moroccan pendant, black walls, graphic curtains, and textured white bedding with a few colorful accent pillows.

Lucky girl to enjoy this luxurious en suite bathroom with glossy black shower tile and scalloped gray-and-white floor tile.

A closer look at that stunning floor tile — and my bootied feet!

In Part 2 I’ll show a jewel-box goth design and scenes from the remaining homes on the tour. Stay tuned!

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Digging Deeper

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

Experience the Surreal Garden at Zilker Botanical Garden, an enchanting neon-art display throughout the gardens, with food and drink, music and dancing, surreal performers, and interactive art sculptures. Surreal costumes encouraged! 25% of event proceeds benefit the Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy. Runs April 6 (VIP Night), April 7-8, and April 13-15, from 6:30 pm to 11 pm.

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.