good will hunting

Houston designers shop this River Oaks store for eclectic accessories

Tucked away in an adorable collective of jewel box boutique spaces for local independent businesses sits Hunt & Bloom. This blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shop is a fantastical emporium of all things kitsch. In just under three years, proprietor Will Hunt Lewis, with his encyclopedic knowledge of all things interiors, has made himself indispensable to Houston’s top designers — the designer’s designer, if you will.

A long and storied career in buying and merchandising for top brands like Jonathan Adler, One Kings Lane, and Kravet, as well as a successful store and events business in his home state of Mississippi, primed Lewis for his current position as the authority in well-curated taste. Lewis is often called upon to contribute to blue chip design media outlets such as Martha Stewart Living, House Beautiful, Architectural Digest, Veranda, Southern Living, Forbes, and more, and Houstonians should revel in the thought that we get to keep him right in our backyard.

A single visit to Hunt & Bloom will make any and every maximalist feel right at home. The shop is a delightfully-tiny wonder, but hours pass like minutes while discovering everything from majolica oyster plates to weathered vintage garden gnomes. One thing’s for sure: this shop is no sparse, gallery-chic showroom, and Lewis wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m more, is more, is more, is more,” Lewis says of his quirky, off-the-beaten-path boutique. “I love color! I am the opposite of that kind of ‘California Cool’ aesthetic, even though it’s gorgeous. I love a beautiful, natural linen sofa, and I love neutrals and that sort of thing. I tried to be a minimalist, and sleek and cool in one of my NYC apartments. That lasted for about five minutes — and that’s just how it is.”

A designer’s designer

Antique and vintage finds nestle among capsule collections from makers both stateside and across the pond. Stately coffee table books, candles, trays, matchbooks, and a plethora of beautifully-made ceramics and barware fill every nook and cranny, floor-to-ceiling shelving, and antique buffets and tabletops in this classically-moody space.

“I love to mix in new with old,” Lewis tells CultureMap. “That’s what I wanted this store to be about, mastering the mix of incorporating old pieces with new pieces.”

This masterful mix of old and new is what keeps top Houston designers clamoring for Lewis’ wares. Taking place quarterly, his wildly popular Tastemakers on the Hunt series invites in-demand designers like Creative Tonic’s Courtnay Tartt Elias, Kara Childress, and former Luxe Interiors editor Paulette Pearson to curate capsule collections from the store’s inventory that fans may then shop online. Lewis’ next tastemaker is none other than Nashville-based designer, author, and internet personality Stephanie Sabbe, who has over 80,000 Instagram followers.

Helping homeowners

Those familiar with the successful Hunt & Bloom website can attest that the store carries decor, gifts, and trinkets for any budget — the same can be said for the store.

“As a merchant or courier, I want to have things that anyone can come here and buy,” says Lewis. “So whether you’re looking for aspirational, or entry-level, I’ve got a price point where you’re not going to come in and say: ‘This is not for me.’ I never want someone to feel like that. There is really a reason that I have the things that I have; I want someone to come in and pick up anything.”

All too often, homeowners struggle with the task of filling shelves, bookcases, China cabinets, and even coffee tables in a way that appears studied, thoughtful, and well-traveled. Hunt & Bloom offers shoppers the opportunity to have Lewis curate these spaces in a way that appears both lived-in and personal, finding the perfect pieces to complement cherished family heirlooms and collectibles that may have lost their pride of place.

An advocate for what he has coined “the art of slow decorating,” Lewis laments that homeowners feel pressure to buy items for the sake of filling spaces as quickly as possible: “If you have built-ins, they don’t have to be full right away.” The all-too-common practice of making a Supermarket Sweep through the local Home Goods is not something that Lewis believes benefits anyone, much less a home’s interior design goals.

“What does that do besides fill space,” he says. The notion prompts Lewis to recall a quotation that was displayed in the corporate offices of Jonathan Adler in NYC: “Don’t buy it if your heirs won’t fight over it!” So, filling spaces with meaningless items is deemed a bad investment of both time and resources. “Who’s going to be fighting over all that stuff,” asks Lewis. “Nobody. So take your time and find pieces that you love, not pieces that you have to have right now because it has to be done — because you don’t actually have to.”

In addition to furniture and decor for every day, Lewis goes all out for the holidays. While Christmas is when holiday staples such as Spode and Radko are out in full force, he makes sure to stock party supplies, gifts, and decorations for shorter-lived celebrations like Valentine’s Day. Currently, the shop is full of fervor for Fall! Velvet pumpkins, pheasant feathers, and a dedicated “Spooky Shop” of vintage-inspired table decor are ready to adorn new terrains.

Hunt & Bloom welcomes the community to enjoy their recurring book signing events, artisan pop-up shops, and floral workshops. Also worth checking out is their new collaboration with Helenita Home. The store is also a top three finalist for a coveted ARTS Award for Best Home Accents Store for the Western US Region — impressive!

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Hunt & Bloom is located at 2600 Persa Street, Houston, TX, 77098.

Courtesy of Hunt & Bloom

Lewis has stocked every nook and cranny with gifts and home decor.

home-design shopping hunt & bloom

party down

Design-focused Houston rentals company adds boutique hotel flair to events

Courtesy of Helm House

Furniture upholstery is fully customizable.

The season for end-of-summer parties is approaching. As Houstonians prepare to pack away their swimwear, white linens, and tiki torches, end of summer fêtes are ramping up. Trusted event planning company Planned With has recently launched its sister company — the custom event rentals outfit named Helm House — just in time to make a splash.

Unlike traditional event rental companies, Helm House focuses on design-forward pieces that are fully customizable — down to the upholstery. Each piece in their finely-curated collections can be reupholstered on-the-fly, should a client require something a little more jazzy. Browse fabric collections from Nuage Designs, trimmings from luxury design house Samuel & Sons, and fun options from Chasing Paper to get a truly one-of-a-kind look.

In order to offer truly unique designs, the team at Helm House regularly shops the antiques fair at Round Top for accessories and lighting. Fixtures and other pieces are available from artists like Ken Bizzell of KB Design. His handcrafted works made of recycled tire rubber and other materials are a constant standout in the Excess tents during the fall and spring shows.

“We don’t want to do it cookie-cutter,” says co-founder and director of design Hannah Goetz. “We want it to be very niche, special, and unique. Really one-of-a-kind pieces that you can’t find anywhere else.”

Helm House will paint, paper, or vinyl wrap just about anything in its inventory, even offering custom vinyl designs for tabletops. The design team, led by Goetz, has taken the guess work out of the selections process by finely-tuning preset collections, should clients want a one-and-done experience. Helm House is certainly the first events company in the Houston and Austin market to allow clients to shop by vibes.

“We have collections. So, on the website there are ten collections, and for each of them there is a lounge set up, bar set up, and a dining set up,” explains Goetz. “You can just go on the website and it’s configured and designed and can be added to a wishlist. It’s just easy premade items if you want something pre-designed or even just to get some ideas. But each collection has those three spaces that people can just shop for. If a client really wants to customize fabrics or any pieces for the bars or tables, pillows, or anything like that, then we can provide that for them.”

One of the things that clients appreciate is the ability to work with an in-house interior designer. That being said, there are no pieces in the collections that aren’t design-forward, but with the ability to fully-customize any aspect of the project, it’s easy to get a little lost along the way.

“It depends on the client, but we are a full design house, so we offer those services to clients,” says Goetz. “If they need help with the actual design of the event, then we will present the full design space and say exactly where things are supposed to go. Then we will actually help implement all of the furniture on-site at the event.”

All of this flexibility comes at a price, of course. Helm House typically has a $5,000 minimum per project. As seen in the photo above, a table for six rents for $350. Customers can add a custom vinyl topper for $100 and place settings from $40-60 per seat, meaning place settings for a table of six run from $240-360 per day.

While clients are more than welcome to use their own event planners, the Helm House team’s experience with their sister company gives them a leg-up on other event rentals companies. Traditionally, the rental company will send items to the venue with a single delivery driver with no knowledge of the project. However, Helm House insists on being on-site for the delivery and to have the ability to make any necessary minor adjustments.

“We’ve found that people aren’t usually on-site who are actually part of the rental company, and we want to make sure that everything is placed where it should be, but also just that we are taking that off of our client’s hands,” explains Goetz.

Founder and CEO Emily Rudelson (Full disclosure: Rudelson once worked for CultureMap) wants to provide a rental experience that allows clients to feel that their space offers something different — better sight lines, frames, fabrics, and place settings and linens that feel anything but temporary.

"We started Helm House because we felt there was a void in the market. We were constantly inspired by the incredible design in restaurants, hotels, and boutique spaces, but that same level of thoughtful furniture simply wasn't available for events,” explains Rudelson. “Helm House was built to change that: bringing hospitality-inspired design to the event industry through elevated, design-forward rentals that can also be customized. From fabrics and finishes to one-of-a-kind details, we want every client to have the opportunity to truly make it theirs.

“As the founder of Planned With, I also love that I now get to furnish our own events with pieces we truly believe in, while Helm House operates as its own independent rental company serving planners, designers, brands, venues, and clients across Texas. We believe rentals shouldn't feel rented; they should feel like they were designed specifically for your event.”

Courtesy of Helm House

Furniture upholstery is fully customizable.

home-design parties business