“Couple's vintage Casa View home showcases style on a budget”

Couple's vintage Casa View home showcases style on a budget

Posted: 07 Jan 2011 04:24 PM PST

06:24 PM CST on Friday, January 7, 2011

By BRITTANY EDWARDS COBB / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

In a world where weddings cost as much as a home down payment, Erin Davis and Ben Smithson opted for a mortgage over matrimony.

"We bought a house instead of a party," says Davis, 27. "We'll have a wedding one day."

Their current commitment is a 1955 Cliff May midcentury-modern home in East Dallas' Casa View Oaks neighborhood. Although they were unfamiliar with the area, the avid entertainers fell in love with the low-slung one-story's open layout – and the fact that they could upgrade from their Uptown lease for just $80 more a month.

"Neither of us was familiar with East Dallas. Ben's from Plano, I'm from North Carolina," Davis says. "But we liked this house because it's made for entertaining. It's like a fishbowl. You can see everywhere."

"I liked the optional privacy," Smithson says. "You can read in your underwear in the bedroom or see the entire neighborhood from the living room."

Luckily for the couple of three years, the home had been completely remodeled and needed little work other than a small foundation fix and some paint. The previous owner was an investor who brought the home back to life with a new kitchen (outfitted by Ikea), refinished hardwood floors, modern bathrooms and updated appliances.

"There's not a lot I would change if we did the remodel," says Davis, who has an interior architecture degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. "I probably wouldn't have chosen dark kitchen cabinets, but after living with them, I really like the look. The bathrooms are brilliant. I couldn't have done them better myself."

Where Davis and Smithson have made their mark is in the decor department. Even though they graduated from a one-bedroom apartment to a three-bedroom house, they didn't need to look far for furnishings, as Davis is a designer at home-decor wholesaler Global Views.

"I can't sleep until everything is decorated," says Davis, who has been with the company four years.

Most of her pieces at home are hand-me-downs from relatives, such as the entryway's antique rocking chair and traditional wood console. To bring them up to date, she reupholstered the rocker by hand and drenched the table in a new coat of turquoise paint.

"I would call my style mod-grandma with a very colorful flair," she says. "But I have an appreciation for all styles."

"My style is 'yes, ma'am,' " jokes Smithson, 32, a grad student studying emerging media and communications at the University of Texas at Dallas. To date, he's only banned one wish of Davis': a cowhide rug spackled with silver paint.

It's no surprise that several items throughout the house are from Global Views, including a retro-inspired wood sunburst mirror, a pair of white leather and teak chairs, and abstract turquoise and cream rug. Most items, though, were found at Ikea, Target, the Salvation Army and flea markets around town.

Although the couple mostly shops on a budget, Davis and Smithson splurged on key items such as DwellStudio linens for the master bedroom and the dining room's mix of Panton and Eiffel base chairs from Design Within Reach. They didn't scrimp on paint, either – Benjamin Moore Chelsea Gray for the living room, Blue Spa in the media room – but did the dirty work themselves.

Another project that they poured some sweat into was the laundry room's art wall – it's packed floor to ceiling with framed concert posters, family photos and prints scored in Paris and Denmark. With no television in the living area (the home's one tube is tucked away in a back room), the couple opts for such conversation-starters.

"We're no-TV-in-the- living-room people," Smithson says. "You don't come over to our place and stare at the television. You drink some wine or beer, eat cheese and chat."

Brittany Edwards Cobb is a Dallas freelance writer.

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Furniture Bedroom

Friday, January 7, 2011