Phoebe Chongchua's Live Fit Magazine

There’s a down-home kind of feel when you enter the Austin residence in La Costa. The home is decorated in a southern style. Mary is an interior decorator so I knew visiting her home would be a visual delight. Her husband, Timothy, works in the mortgage business and has his own creative design talents.
 
“I was the head grunt. I was in charge of writing checks and lifting heavy things and every once in a while I would put in my two cents,” said. Timothy Austin.
 
Among other things, his contribution amounted to a wall in the game room dedicated to cigar boxes. It looks similar to restaurants that use wine corks or the entire bottle as decorations. “I had this idea of putting these cigar boxes and turning it into a wall,” said Timothy. “I’ve yet to see another one like it.”
 
Mary’s favorite room is the parlor—a tastefully-decorated room that helps give this home its Southern feel. The wood flooring, the French doors, higher ceiling, Turkish tiles all give an air of New Orleans style. Eclectic pieces of furniture, such as a large bright red telephone booth, add a unique look. Many of the pieces of furniture in the Austin home come from ideas they discovered while traveling.
 
“It looks like an English telephone booth but it stores wine and you can open it up—there’s a shelf that pulls out and you can serve wine on it,” said Mary Austin.
 
The home is decorated in immaculate style. No area is left un-nurtured. “One of the other things I love about the parlor is that it has French doors and you walk out on to the ‘porch’ and that’s not a common word in Southern California,” said Timothy Austin.

 

The front porch features a pretty walkway surrounded by a decorative wrought-iron fence with trailing vines and the American flag hanging proudly.
 
While that is a picturesque view, the backyard rivals it. A cozy cabana-style sitting area reminds you of a warm summer afternoon at a five-star resort. Mary placed drapery around the cabana to help keep the bright sun out. She used a decorative chandelier to add light in the evening hours. She also carries the theme inside by using outdoor lighting fixtures in rooms such as the bedroom to create an intriguing visual.
 

 

 

 

 

“The closer you look, the more you see in this house,” said Timothy Austin. That’s the result of Mary’s attention to detail. Decorating requires getting to know the style of a home, the feel of the people living in it, and the ultimate desired outcome. Mary gave three important tips to help others get started.

Paint your ceiling the same color as the walls or a shade or two lighter instead of painting it white—it helps the room look larger. Declutter before you add more. For instance, don’t start decorating for the holidays by adding more, first take away some of things and then add the holiday décor. Her third tip is to use a variety of textures from leather to suede—they create interesting appeal. The Austin home is proof of that.