The Right Space 

A couple’s new home provides a canvas for creative design

Todd and Dana Kale didn’t move far after realizing their four-person family had outgrown their 2,300-square-foot cottage-style home on the 3300 block of Wentwood in Preston Hollow. The couple decided to move one block to a French-inspired home on the 3300 block of Villanova. It took about a year and a half for custom homebuilder John Young to build the 5,300-square-foot home. Todd says he knew from the beginning it would be his wife’s home, not his, in terms of design.

“Look, I knew when she started doing all the design work that whatever happened, our home would be great,” he says. Dana, a selfdescribed home-decorating magazine “freak,” worked with a decorator to pick out colors and furniture for their antiquechic home.

Butter yellow paint covers the walls downstairs and reflects off hardwood floors and 24-inch limestone tiles. The front room is decorated with an antiqued mirror, cream and blue needlepoint rug, glass-top coffee table, couch, painted hutch, and two Ethan Allen chairs Dana inherited from her mother and then had whitewashed and reupholstered in a cream-colored fabric.

“I love painted furniture — old, crusty antiques and the chipping effect,” Dana says. Her front room also features a lot of something that her decorator told her is actually a faux pas: black and white photos of her children. “We had a decorator who said people don’t put pictures of their kids in the formal living room, but I love them. I don’t care,” she says with a laugh. Besides, the front room is where her children, Caroline (16) and Nick (13), lounge and read books when they’re taking breaks from track and hockey/baseball practices, respectively.

Window treatments are something you won’t find in most rooms of their home. Though Todd says he would like the house a little darker, Dana loves to let the light in, which the three floor-to-ceiling windows in her front office certainly do. Double doors lead into her workspace, where a real zebra rug (her pro-animal-rights daugh- ter does not approve) covers the floor, the windows have eyebrow arches, and a solo bullseye window glimmers right next to her bookshelf.

The desk is covered with Kale Naturals, a grooming line Dana says she was inspired to create for males who have surpassed the “cartoon body wash” phase. The abundance of light flowing through her office windows is important for this entrepreneur, whose first retail customer was Ken’s Man’s Shop in PrestonRoyal. Kale now also sells at Neiman Marcus.

At the edge of her desk sit two sturdy chairs she had custom designed for her office, and they too are upholstered in cream fabric. Dana’s favorite room in the house is her dining room, which features a family-style table with eight upholstered chairs in a green/gray/blue velvet floral fabric.

“I couldn’t visualize what she was trying to do with the dining room chairs, and I thought they’d be horrible,” Todd says. “But she told me to trust her, and it turned out great.” Against one wall sits a massive Hungarian buffet featuring cherub heads. Dana had it painted light gray and placed a gold oval mirror from the Round Top Antiques Fair on top of it. On the other end of the room hang three large framed philodendrons and water lilies that the couple receives many compliments on.

A small patio off to the side of the dining room, showcasing rose vines, can be entered through double doors that let in more light. The idea behind the patio was for a bartender to serve drinks when the pair entertains guests, but that has yet to happen.

Instead Todd entertains and feeds his family in one of the rooms in the house into which he had significant input — the kitchen. Todd specifically wanted a Thermador stove equipped with six gas burners and a griddle. The kitchen also features a large multiuse island with several drawers, four wicker stools and a built-in microwave low enough for children, but discreet enough to hide spaghetti splatter. Three medieval-looking custom pendant lights hang above the island and were modeled after the chandelier on the other side of the kitchen.

One of the two spiral staircases that lead to the home’s second floor. The Kales painted the walls butter yellow throughout the downstairs to amplify the light.

What’s under that chandelier is impressive: a large handmade banquette and breakfast table where the family dines each morning. Above the banquette is a large antiqued mirror — another obsession of Dana’s, she says.

Beside the kitchen is the bar, which emulates the kitchen’s cabinets in its clean white colors. A wine bar is built in to the lower cabinets; the upper ones hold liquors. Take a few steps and you’re in the family room, which features a view of the pool, another oval antiqued mirror and a brilliant floral painting unobstructed by a frame. A velvet gray and blue couch with green and gold velvet throw pillows sits behind a coffee table painted green to match — Dana likes a lot of green and blue. The rug has a few other colors in it, but the pops of red bring together the painting, couch and table. There’s another velvet couch that’s special to the Kales: the playroom upstairs holds a massive maroon velvet couch the couple bought when they were first married. It’s one of the pieces Dana can’t part with because of the memories (or maybe because her son and his friends can flop on it with their burgers and not make her wince).

The Middle Eastern pillows on the couch add something special to the otherwise simple playroom. Dana found the brilliantly colored pillowcases for $25 apiece, though she’s seen them go for $300 elsewhere. Across the hall is her son’s room with dark powder-blue walls and Fatheads of famous football players. The rest of the walls are decorated with hockey paraphernalia, and his bed is covered with a deep brown throw.

Their daughter’s room is Todd’s favorite room of the house and what he calls a miniature apartment. The walls are the same powdery blue, yet covered with a picture board, photos of Audrey Hepburn, and “Spotty Dog” paintings, based on a purple-and-blue spotted Dalmatian stuffed animal she got when she was 5 and still keeps on the middle of her bed. Large windows overlook the front of the home, and colorful umbrellas hang from her ceiling. Off to the side, she has her own study nook, which almost didn’t come about, Todd says. The spot where her desk now sits was supposed to be taken up by pipe chases, but Young worked around it.

The couple’s room is another favorite of Todd’s, yet it is very minimal.

Two light purple velvet chairs and a stool sit on one end of the room’s newly laid hardwood floors, and their bed with its custom cream headboard sits at the other.

Happily for Todd, there are pull curtains on the windows and a dark wooden armoire that Dana hasn’t gotten around to painting. “She makes fun of me because I grew up with everything in dark wood,” he says. “When we got married I thought it would be a good idea to combine our light and dark furniture. Like most men, I never put any thought into what interior design can do.” The powder-purplepainted bathroom is literally an area where the couple won’t meet. The sinks and mirrors are on separate sides of the bathroom, and they have their own walk-in closets. “He won’t share a closet with me — he thinks I’m messy,” she laughs.

Though at first they didn’t have the same vision, Todd is happy with the results of their home: an organized, minimalistic and open space in which they can share their lives (except in the bathroom) until their kids leave for college. When they do, that’s another story — perhaps one that will take place in Santa Monica.

Lakehill Summer Camps

Spanish Immersion PK & Kindergarten

Dallas

950 Tiffany Way, Dallas 75218 / 214.324.1481 / dallas-academy.com

Founded in 1965, Dallas Academy’s mission is to restore the promise of full academic enrichment to students with learning differences in grades 1-12. A meaningful connection with each student is established to overcome barriers to success. Dallas Academy offers students an effective program and strategies to meet the special educational needs of bright students with learning differences, while including the activities of a larger, more traditional school. Classes are small, with a student-teacher ratio of 6 to 1 where students are encouraged, praised, and guided toward achieving their goals. Diagnostic testing is available to students throughout the community.

Dallas luTheran school

8494 stults rd Dallas / 214.349.8912 /dallaslutheranschool.com PREVIEW DAY on April 4 at 8:30 AM. Come learn more about DLS, a school that serves families and their students from 7th through 12th grade. DLS strives to be a Community of Grace that develops young people to be Christian leaders. A full complement of athletics, drama, music, and clubs allow students to develop outside the classroom as well. Over 97% of our seniors attend the college of their choice. DLS is a one-to-one school where each student and faculty member uses an iPad. Financial aid is available. Contact Betsy Bronkhorst with questions. Enrollment is now open for 2013-14.

firsT bapTisT acaDemy

1606 patterson st. Dallas / 214.969.7861 / fbacademy.com All School Open House –April 18th at 9:30am. RSVP to admissions@ firstdallas.org! First Baptist Academy serves students PK-12th grade, and has provided a rigorous academic program and Christcentered environment for 40 years. A platform for education and building a relationship with Jesus starts with the youngest students. During Interim Week, Middle School students attend a spiritual emphasis retreat and participate in mission projects, and Upper School students choose from mission and educational trips, both local and abroad. Competitive sports and fine arts programs allow students to excel athletically and creatively.

The highlanDer school

9120 plano rd. Dallas / 214.348.3220 / www.highlanderschool.com Founded in 1966, Highlander School offers an enriched curriculum in a positive, Christian-based environment. Small class sizes help teachers understand the individual learning styles of each student. Give us a call for more information.

lakehill preparaTory school

leading to success. 2720 hillside Dr., Dallas 75214 / 214.826.2931 / lakehillprep. org Kindergarten through Grade 12 - Lakehill Preparatory School takes the word preparatory in its name very seriously. Throughout a student’s academic career, Lakehill builds an educational program that achieves its goal of enabling graduates to attend the finest, most rigorous universities of choice. Lakehill combines a robust, college-preparatory curriculum with opportunities for personal growth, individual enrichment, and community involvement. From kindergarten through high school, every Lakehill student is encouraged to strive, challenged to succeed, and inspired to excel.

School Of

conTemporary balleT Dallas

5400 e. mockingbird ln. Dallas / 214.821.2066 / schoolofcbd.com We’ve relocated to 5400 E Mockingbird Ln. 75206. Five new beautiful studios across from Mockingbird Station, servicing Lakewood, M Streets, Park Cities, Uptown, Downtown, SMU, and more! Adults and Children’s programs ages 2+ in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop & Contemporary. Morning, Afternoon & Evening classes available, Beginner thru Advanced levels! Adults get in shape with one of our Dance Fitness classes: Dance Workout, Just Barre, Zumba, Samba, Pilates Mat, Ballet Boot Camp, Ballroom, Let Your Yoga Dance & MORE!