The Designer’s Journal: Mary Kathryn Wells on Family-Centered Design

For Mary Kathryn Wells, design is about more than just beautiful rooms—it’s about creating homes that tell a family’s story. From laminated wallpaper and breakfast-nook fabrics that survive sticky hands to bean-bag forts and 15 wallpapers across 14 rooms, every choice is made for real life that’s joyful, practical, and full of personality.

“Our goal is always to design spaces that reflect how families actually live,” she shares. “Homes that are vibrant, functional, and completely unique to the people who live in them.”

We caught up with Mary Kathryn to explore her creative process, how she balances bold color and pattern with everyday practicality, and the ways she turns personal stories into thoughtful design moments.

What is your design ethos?

I design homes that tell a family’s story—how they really live, what brings them joy, and what makes them unique. Forget what you see on social media; the only “right” design is the one that works for you.

For one family, we laminated the wallpaper and breakfast-nook fabric so it could stand up to sticky hands, and we skipped a coffee table altogether and made a custom cover for their favorite bean bag—because that’s where their kids built forts. Real life isn’t the problem; it’s the point.

What does your home say about you?

Our home is a love letter to our family. Every inch tells part of our story, from the custom dining room wallpaper made from our kids’ artwork to my husband’s mother's pencil sketches and the rattan palm tree lamp in our living room (we lived on Maui before moving to Nashville). It’s joyful, imperfect, sentimental, and practical. There are 15 wallpapers across 14 rooms, yet it still feels calm and cohesive. Every material was chosen with real life in mind—stain-resistant fabrics, wipeable wallpapers, and furniture that can stand up to three kids, a dog, and daily life. It’s proof that color, chaos, and practicality can absolutely coexist.

What are you working on right now?

We’re wrapping up a colorful historic home in Mobile, Alabama, and have several family-focused projects underway here in Nashville. I’m also refining my studio’s full-service design process to make it even more collaborative and transparent, so clients feel both creatively energized and totally supported from day one.

I’m also still riding the high from my own home being featured in The New York Times; it’s opened so many conversations about what family-centered design can look like.

What’s your favorite way to create a statement-making moment in a room?

Swap out white lampshades for lampshades with color or pattern, add wallpaper, or best of all: turn something personal into art. I blew up my child’s abstract painting and hung it over our mantle.

Can you share your favorite Schoolhouse product?

The TON Cane Chairs in Persimmon! They’re a standout feature in my dining room, which is my favorite space in our home thanks to the custom wallpaper made entirely from our 3 kids’ own artwork and doodles (created in collaboration with New Hat). I love how the bold persimmon color of the chair plays off the wallpaper pattern and the blue glass window walls; it’s a little wild and unexpected, and yet it all sings together perfectly.