The Design Shop
Melissa Powell
Interior Design
Interior design under one roof with New Leaf Custom Homes and Design Shop Architecture.
Refined but livable, elevated but warm.
Interior design is often introduced after the architectural plans are finalized, and construction is already underway. At The Design Shop, interiors are integrated in a more thoughtful and flexible way.
The Interior Design team typically comes in before the architectural plans are complete, allowing clients to begin making interior selections with a strong foundation already in place. From there, the design team is able to work through finishes, fixtures, furnishings, cabinetry details, lighting, and other selections that bring the home to life.
Because architecture and interiors operate under the same roof, those selections are not treated as an afterthought. Our architectural drafters can incorporate interior selections directly into the plans, so clients are able to see how each detail relates to the home as a whole. This means you can better understand things like the size of a light fixture in relation to a room, how cabinetry details align with the architecture, or how design decisions will look before construction begins.
That integration creates a smoother, more informed process. Interior selections can be coordinated with the architectural plans, and any needed adjustments can be worked back into the drawings with greater clarity and communication.
Melissa Powell leads the firm across both architecture and interiors, and that dual perspective shapes the way The Design Shop approaches every home. Each material, finish, fixture, and furnishing is considered not only for how it looks, but for how it supports the way a family will live.
Why The Design Shop is on our list
Interior design that begins at the architectural stage produces a different kind of home than interior design that begins after move-in day. At Design Shop, the interior vision and the architectural vision are developed together, by a team that communicates across disciplines without a single email or phone call to an outside firm.
If you are building or renovating a custom home in Dallas and want interiors that feel genuinely considered from the foundation up, this is a team worth knowing.
Q
Tell us who you are and what you stand for in your work.
A
Our practice brings architecture and interiors together under one roof, with the ability to collaborate closely with our sister companies, New Leaf Custom Homes and Pools by Design, when a client wants a more seamless experience from concept to completion.
On the interiors side, we stand for thoughtful design and a highly tested process. Our work is refined but livable, elevated but warm, and always rooted in the way each client truly lives. We are not designing for a photoshoot. We are designing for the life that happens every single day inside the home.
“Refined but livable, elevated but warm, and always rooted in the way each client truly lives.”
Q
Tell us about a working relationship that felt exactly right. What made it work?
A
A working relationship that felt exactly right was with a client building a custom home where we were involved from the very beginning, architecture, interiors, and overall vision together.
What made it work was the trust. The client came in with clear inspiration and confident personal preferences, but they also gave our team room to guide the process. They were engaged, responsive, and thoughtful in their feedback, which allowed the process to feel truly collaborative instead of transactional.
“When clients give the team room to guide, the process becomes truly collaborative instead of transactional.”
Q
How do you design for the way a family actually lives, not just the way a home looks in photos?
A
We strive to understand each client's vision and the rhythm of their home through thoughtful questionnaires, client meetings, and inspiration research. Through that process, we uncover family dynamics, daily routines, motivations, and long-term goals for the home.
From there, we help guide decisions based on budget, livability, durability, maintenance, and how everything will actually function day to day. A beautiful finish that cannot withstand how a family lives is not a beautiful finish. We make sure the home looks as good in year ten as it did on move-in day.
“A beautiful finish that cannot withstand how a family lives is not a beautiful finish.”
Q
Where do you believe thoughtful investment makes the biggest difference in a home's interior?
A
Materials and finishes are where we see the biggest difference between a home that holds up and one that does not. The choices made at the selection stage touch every surface a family interacts with daily. When those decisions are made thoughtfully, with durability and timelessness as the guide rather than trend, the home rewards the investment for years.
Furnishings are the other place where investment pays long-term dividends. Because our team handles furnishing and styling as a continuation of the design process rather than a separate engagement, every piece is selected with the full picture in mind. The scale, the palette, the way a room will be used. Nothing is chosen in isolation, and nothing arrives as an afterthought.
“Nothing is chosen in isolation, and nothing arrives as an afterthought.”
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