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The formal living room has pops of blue in the draperies. The nearby family room/den brings in more color with chairs upholstered in bright apple green fabric.
Blue and white wallpaper blend with antiques in the pretty but unfussy dining room.
The casual breakfast area has blue-and-white print draperies. The fabric repeats in the kitchen window shade.
This black lacquered antique chinoiserie cabinet came from Paul Bredthauer’s mother, an avid antique collector. Blue and white porcelain and fresh flowers help make it work in a transitional style room.
Gorgeous marble tile in a geometric pattern covers the floor in the foyer and powder bathroom.
The powder bathroom got a big makeover, and is now one of Jenni’s favorite rooms in the home.
Blue and white wallpaper blend with antiques in the pretty but unfussy dining room.
The pretty blue and white print fabric in the window shade repeats as draperies in the nearby breakfast area.
Calacatta marble and brass hardware are part of the kitchen updates.
A small room that was once Paul’s man cave was updated with bright fresh colors as an office for Jenni, who works from home.
The chinoiserie cabinet is a true “cabinet of curiosities, with drawers and cubbies for stashing things away.
This black lacquered antique chinoiserie cabinet came from Paul Bredthauer’s mother, an avid antique collector.
In the 24 years that Jenni and Paul Bredthauer have lived in their Wilchester home, they’ve hosted dozens of football reel sessions for their three sons, entertained friends in their couples’ supper club, and hosted many holiday dinners and parties.
As a young married couple, the Bredthauers bought this two-story house on the city’s west side in part because it’s where Jenni grew up and she thought it was the perfect place for their children — Ben, now 31, Max, 28, and Will, 26 — to be. Paul grew up in Memorial, so he was all in when it came to that part of the town.
The house was built in 1967 and still looked pretty much as it had the day its first owner walked in. But in the late 1990s, low ceilings, poor lighting and small rooms weren’t what worked anymore.
The Bredthauers raised the ceilings as much as they could, added ceiling lights and opened up the kitchen by removing a wall that separated it from the breakfast area. That did a lot to improve the flow of the house, and for a while, it was enough.
About a decade ago, the Bredthauers added some space onto the back, creating a laundry room and mud room off of the kitchen/breakfast area and stripped the garage to the studs to reinforce it and its foundation so they could add a room with a full bath above it. That addition took the home to a little over 4,000 square feet.
Above-the-garage spaces are popular for guest suites, home offices, teen hangouts or, in this case, parent hangout spaces.
A few years ago, the couple decided to give their home a refresh, brightening things up and adding more color. They did it in phases because they wanted to live there during renovations, finishing recently with a family room/den.
Interior designer Genna Weidner of Weidner Hasou & Co., a design firm and home goods boutique on Memorial Drive, has worked with the Bredthauers for more than two decades, so she understood when Jenni called asking for a big refresh.
“Everyone wanted that subtle gray, tone-on-tone monochromatic look for years. Now, I feel that everyone enjoyed that phase and they’re over it,” Weidner said of the Bredthauer’s home that had a lot of white furniture. “Why not embrace color and bring in greens from outside and bring in the sky blue we enjoy on sunny days?”
Weidner still likes to mix light neutrals with colors so there’s a contrast and no room feels to heavy. And, she notes, the colors popular now aren’t the jewel tones from 20 or 25 years ago — they’re brighter and fresher.
“One thing that is so much fun working with the two of them is their energy. We’ve had this relationship for so long that they trust my eye,” Weidner said. “If I try to take them in a different direction, they’re willing to try it.”
The Bredthauers did go lighter in the kitchen, with calacatta marble counters, white cabinets and brass hardware and lighting. A pretty blue and white print window shade adds a little color, and they used the same fabric for draperies in the nearby breakfast room.
A nearby pantry was reinvented with a popular purpose: as a wine closet and bar. They went with peacock blue paint and dark wallpaper, and now it holds a tall wine refrigerator. Its contents are still a work in progress, but Paul is happy with its new direction.
The family room/den is where they spend a good deal of time, sharing morning coffee before they head off to the gym and work — Paul, 57, is an executive vice president at McGriff, and Jenni, 57, is an accountant for the Spring Branch Memorial Sports Association. They often return to this spot for a glass of wine in the evening.
Another favorite spot is the suite above the garage, where they go to watch TV or stream movies and other shows.
Their formal living room, off of the family room at the front of the house, is a lively mix of antiques and more contemporary things.
Paul’s mother was a true collector of antiques, buying things for her own home and often buying things she thought would be perfect in the home of her children or other family members.
That’s not a problem for Jenni, who has always appreciated antiques and frequently shops at Back Row Home, a store of which her sister, Kelly O’Donnell, is a co-owner.
This room has an antique, black lacquered chinoiserie cabinet. Behind its ornate doors is a series of doors and cubbies that could make it a cabinet of curiosities. Weidner gathered blue and white Chinese porcelain vases and ginger jars in different shapes and sizes and paired them with coral, shells and another found objects.
To make it feel a little more contemporary, they added sconces and stools on each side. Acrylic rods hold vivid blue draperies and brass lamps top metal-and-marble side tables.
Jenni has always done her work from home, and a small office, that years ago was Paul’s man cave, was given a feminine touch with a new coat of paint, with the trim painted a deep turquoise. Antique chairs have new upholstery in a green-blue print and frames painted the same deep turquoise as the trim. An antique desk brings even more character to a space full of personality.
The dining room, too, is a mix of styles, a fresh look with blue and white wallpaper and white draperies blending with an antique table and chairs. Pops of color here include soft yellows and oranges in the contemporary art that Jenni and Paul have adding to their home lately.
They also replaced the hardwood floors that were in the home, opting for a couple of other options in specific places: reclaimed Chicago brick in the kitchen/breakfast area and mud room, and marble tile in a geometric pattern in the foyer and powder bathroom.
The tile is a prime example of the wide array of tile on the market, patterns that look great and don’t always cost a fortune.
They started with one tile picked out for the foyer and powder bath, but it was really expensive. Then they found another they loved just as much but came with a better price tag. It’s white, light and dark taupe marble laid into a geometric pattern that’s just gorgeous and blends perfectly with an antique hall table and gilded mirror at the back of the foyer.
And while the powder bathroom might be small, it’s mighty on style. The back wall is covered in antiqued mirror and the marble counter is on a brass frame with exposed brass pipes and a brass faucet.
Diane Cowen has worked at the Houston Chronicle since 2000 and currently its architecture and home design writer. Prior to working for the Chronicle, she worked at the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune and at the Shelbyville (Ind.) News. She is a graduate of Purdue University and is the author of a cookbook, "Sunday Dinners: Food, Family and Faith from our Favorite Pastors."
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