New Westheimer Store

New interior design store changes the Westheimer scene: Step inside Studio U

Whether it's an entire house makeover with construction and decor additions/alterations or a few custom-made throw pillows covered in an updated fabric to brighten a single room, a local — and acclaimed — luxury interior design firm is now offering it all.

Studio U — Laura U Interior Design's latest venture — extends beyond its established interior design offerings to fill a void for small-scale projects. Laura U continues to accept requests for large-scale, turn-key services.

Call Studio U interior design "a la carte," as Laura Umansky's husband Michael describes the unique concept.

"We realized that we weren't able to help everyone that came to us," Laura says. "Not everyone is wanting to do-over an entire home. There was a gap, with no options to address one room at a time."

Welcome to Studio U
Studio U is housed in an open floor-plan design, flowing over from the seven-year-old interior design firm's cozy brick-walled office at 1840 Westheimer Road and replacing Laura U Interior Design's former retail space. Laura U's extensive shopping experience is also now online at shopLauraU.com.

Clients can walk in to Studio U with design questions for simple interior solutions, for free, or establish appointments for more extensive consultations.

"Everyone is greeted by a design 'guru' from our design team, which includes professional interior designers, degreed personnel and LEED-certified staff members," Laura says. "The entire Studio U staff is a group of extremely talented designers."

A Bit about Laura
Laura leads that Studio U team and Laura U with expertise. In addition to holding a master's degree in architecture, she is an allied member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and an associate member of AISD. Laura U was recently awarded Best of Houzz and a space on the prestigious National Gold List by Luxe Magazine.

The firm holds more than 19 ASID awards for outstanding interiors including Best of Show 2012. Laura has been recognized as both a Leader in Design by the Houston Design Center and Star on the Rise by the Decorative Center Houston.

Back to the Studio
The space at Studio U, from floor to ceiling, is filled with samples: Hunter Douglas shade and blind options hang from the front windows, for example. The design bar is neatly organized with kitchen and bath hardware and plumbing pieces, wall covering and paint selections, tile and carpet and color-coded fabric swatches from top manufacturers and to-the-trade distributors for clients' perusal and idea-building use. Think Kravet textile, Ann Sacks and Walker-Zanger tile and stone, Elegant Additions, Sherwin-Williams for stains and a rainbow of paint colors and many more.

Clients are welcome to visit and revisit the design bar and library resource room and are designated personal storage trays to keep all samples in place. They may help themselves to a cup of coffee or espresso while pondering end results in a quiet and comfortable environment.

Design packages
Studio U has access to purchase all elements and fulfill services for their clients based on four different packages: “Remodel/Construct,” “Furnish,” “Detail” and “Paint.” The “Detail” plan can be as easy as adding art or other decorative accessories to a room, while “Paint” is handled by the firm's trusted painting and wall treatment experts after clients are happy with their choice.

"Just go to the spa, and we'll take over," Michael says of the "Furnish" option. "Come home, and it's all done, ready for you."

For the “Remodel/Construct” and “Furnish” clients, Laura and Studio U representatives conduct site visits and then prepare, after consultation, professional presentations illustrating two design ideas per room that can be viewed on a large-screen TV in the design bar or conference room. Clients pick their favorite options, and Studio U prepares a final proposal.

Following a flat-fee pricing structure, “Remodel/Construct” and “Furnish” packages are based on room and room type available from “Petite” to “Grand.” Price points range from $1,800 on the lowest end to $6,800 for the largest project.

“We’re happy to work with our contractors and builders or yours,” Laura says.

The turn-key operations continue, she adds. “We’ve now set parameters for those we have time to focus on, which is about 18 per year.”

Laura and Michael recently returned from Aspen, where Laura U completed several large-scale re-dos, and are soon off to Riyad, Saudi Arabia, for another luxe job. In fact, CultureMap featured Laura U’s re-furbishing of a Hollywood Hills mansion just a few years ago.

“So in addition to these large turn-key projects, we’re now available for smaller-scale jobs,” Laura says, with Michael adding, “A lot of people have a simple problem, and we're happy to help.”

Design gurus are on hand to assist clients at Studio U.

Photo by © Julie Soefer

Design gurus are on hand to assist clients at Studio U.

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gold pony club

Inside the creation of the rodeo cook-off’s most over-the-top tent

Courtesy of Cotton Holdings

The Gold Pony is the ultra-private VIP lounge behind the stage.

The Cotton Q Club is arguably the glitziest and most exclusive tent at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s annual World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest. Hosting nearly 800 invited guests-per-night, the 5,000-square-foot space includes a 50-foot bar, a new pop-up martini bar by Sophie Cocktail & Terrace Bar called “The Stirrup,” the ultra-exclusive “Gold Pony Club,” and a full stage for private concerts. This season, county music acts include Gabby Barrett, Sammy Kershaw, Josh Turner and Braxton Keith.

Aside from the obvious, what sets the club apart from the rest is the sheer magnitude of its operation. Once inside, guests are encapsulated by velvet-draped ceilings illuminated by crystal chandeliers, three-layer tartan-topped carpeting, richly-colored wooden-paneled walls, plus thousands of red roses swathed acrobatically throughout.

To coincide with the year of the horse, five enormous ponies made entirely of red roses have been suspended from the ceilings. The second additions this year hang on either side of the bar in The Gold Pony, the club’s even more exclusive VIP area. The kinetic artworks were created by Houston artist Sneha Merchant —all for a three day fête. This begs the question: how do they do it?

Cotton Holdings and its subsidiaries are well positioned to carry out the entire project themselves — so they do. Never bothered or besmirched by the possibility of running into issues with rental companies, everything at The Cotton Q Club is procured, purchased, and stored in-house. As one would expect from a company that provides disaster relief around the world.

“There is a lot of love and care put into this because we’re not in a hotel, we’re not in someone’s home,” Cotton Holdings chief marketing officer Zinat Ahmed tells CultureMap. “So for us to be able to create this entire infrastructure under a tent — down to the walls and chandeliers — it is much more than throwing a party. It’s about the details that make people feel that they are at a hotel, they are in an extravagant room, they are at The Polo Bar.”

Ahmed notes that a lot of the company’s culture is mixed into the tent, such as what Cotton does as a disaster relief company (including providing food by Cotton Culinary).

“Cotton Logistics puts up tents during a natural disaster. Seeing the Cotton team, whether it’s cleaning or moving things around, welcoming everyone, that’s part of our Cotton GDS — we restore communities after natural disasters. Our synergies in different parts of our day-to-day are here,” she says.

Ahmed’s team has complete creative control over the interior aesthetics of the club. Always sourcing anything that cannot be made in-house to local vendors is something she feels is important. Nothing is rented, not even the furniture or accessories.

“Every single thing, unless it was done by a local vendor, was done in-house: design, signage, execution — even the embroidery,” she explains

Everything is checked over during the summer months so there won’t be any surprises when the cook-off comes back around. Every item is organized, labeled, and stored either in Cotton’s warehouses, Conex boxes, or in special climate-controlled safes — down to the matchboxes.

“We are always prepared and ready to go,” explains Ahmed. “It’s not chaotic at all because we’re used to it — it’s a normal day at Cotton.”

When asked for her favorite parts of the tent this year, Ahmed readily answered that it has to be the five rose ponies in the main area of the club. Secondly, the two commissioned works by Sneha Merchant. Sprinkled in diamond dust, one is a female mallard wrapped in a boa, champagne flute in hand, while the other is a smartly-suited jackalope complete with cowboy hat and martini.

Both pieces are lit by antique sconces Ahmed sourced from Round Top, while the taxidermy Zebra heads are on loan from the Columbus, Texas ranch of Cotton Holdings’ Chairman Pete Bell.

“Every detail, down to the swatches of velvet has been thought of with a lot of love and care,” says Ahmed. “You use that mindset with something like this. So, if you have a mindset like before you deploy to a hurricane, you can do it for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.”

Courtesy of Cotton Holdings

The Gold Pony is the ultra-private VIP lounge behind the stage.

houston livestock show and rodeo home-design cotton holdings