A well built, quality furnished, traditionally styled home is bound to be beautiful. But it won’t necessarily get comments like this: “Every time I visit, I see something different that I didn’t notice before. It will probably take at least 20 trips for me to take it all in.” That’s what a visitor told Damon Abshire about his new Graywood home.

She wasn’t referring to a lot of “stuff.” In fact, there’s nothing that’s superfluous. The wow factor is due to the fact that quite a bit of thinking has gone into designing every inch of the large French Country style home. Kevin Blalock is the builder. Michael Murphy, the designer. The house has a total of 4,300 square feet of living space and every single room has its own style and function. Yet every room blends effortlessly with the next.

It’s a look that almost didn’t happen. Abshire didn’t think he needed any help. His close friend thought he did, and contacted local interior designer Molly Quinn. “He was a little leery at first and said he would try me, but strictly on a trial basis,” Quinn recalled.

She gained his trust with her ability to recommend items out of the ordinary, to allow him to be the final decision maker, (though she offered the options) and by making the process easy. “We worked back and forth a lot on our IPads,” Abshire said. Molly also helped by spending time with lighting designer Randy Lanza and plumbing designer Katy Hooper.

Quinn describes the overall effect of the house as cohesive, rather than coordinated. “Achieving this kind of balance has everything to do with contrast and nothing to do with it matching,” she said.

That could be considered one of Quinn’s trademarks. She’s able to mix ingredients that most would consider counterintuitive. For instance, the master bath features touches of chrome, brass, nickel and bronze. The kitchen cabinets are stained and painted. Rough-hewn beams stretch across some of the home’s openings. Doorways are arched in other places. The bar nook features wrought iron.

But Quinn is perhaps best known for her mantra: “Every room should have something antique, something unexpected and something funky,” she advises.

Funky? In a traditional house? Yes, according to Quinn. Modernizing the traditional is a perfect way to keep it fresh. Whether it is the immediate impact of the Burchell zebra skin rug in the entryway or the subtle presence of the Australian custom made cabinet handles that use bone, this house is testament to the fact that not playing it safe can reap great rewards.

Unexpected. One of the best design stories of the house is the range backsplash. The counter surface and backsplash of the kitchen is Italian Carrera marble, but Quinn and Abshire brainstormed about using another finish that would be more practical behind the range and break up the mostly white marble. Though they didn’t expect it to turn into a major focal point sure to be imitated by others, the solution is a copper panel that has a patina created by Custom Iron by Josh, a local company.

Other unexpected details include the texture of the brick bedroom wall and hints of warmth and personality. The bathrooms have cross-stitched towels created by a family friend. On the refrigerator is a drawing by a niece. The media room features a hand-made rug purchased at an ICCS auction.

Fine antiques and local memorabilia dot the rooms of this Graywood home: Abshire’s 18th and 19th century clock collection, Stiffel Hollywood Regency companion lamps, a 100-year-old patchwork rug and a shadowbox framed letter jacket from Ernest Broussard, Sulphur High School Class of 1930.

Quinn doesn’t overlook even the smallest detail or how those details work together as a whole. “Most people forget about the fifth wall,” she says, about the house’s ceiling as an important area. “It’s OK to have a flat ceiling and crown, but it’s also OK to have a coffered, cathedral, vintage tin and domed ceiling.” If this house is any indication, it’s a good move to have all those types of ceilings in a single house. Quinn also goes beyond the traditional white ceiling paint, using subtle shades of the same color used on walls – except in the dining room where she used black on the oval domed ceiling. The effect of the large crystal chandelier spilling from this ideal backdrop is stunning; it is similar to the way a jeweler uses black velvet to show off diamonds. When asked why black isn’t used more often in this manner, Molly answered: Many clients are afraid to put black’s power to use in their homes.

According to Quinn, fear can really cause people to lose out on creating a style that’s truly their own in many ways. It’s not easy to make seemingly unrelated details work together, but the end result can be very satisfying. It’s not only a fine way to help separate one well built, quality furnished, traditionally styled house from the next, but gives each of us an idea of what we can do to make the place we call home uniquely our own.

“The biggest thing for this house is that the outdoor and indoor living space had to work together as much as possible. The client wanted to have great views from inside out and back into the house as well.” — Michael Murphy