Relocating to Dallas for Work? How to Design Your New Home Before You Arrive

Dallas continues to attract some of the country’s most prominent companies—and the executives and professionals who work for them.

With Morgan Stanley establishing a major new U.S. hub in Dallas and other financial and corporate organizations continuing to expand their North Texas presence, more professionals are discovering what those of us who live here already know: Dallas is an exceptional place to build both a career and a life.

But an executive relocation comes with a long list of decisions.

Where should you live? Should you buy an existing home or build? What should you bring with you? Will your current furnishings work in your new home? And perhaps most importantly, how do you create a home that feels settled and personal when your career may require you to hit the ground running the moment you arrive?

The good news is that you don’t have to wait until you move to begin designing your Dallas home.

In fact, we often find that the best time to start is before you arrive.

If you’re relocating to Dallas, you can begin working with an interior designer months before your move. Space planning, furniture selections, renovation decisions, purchasing and other aspects of the design process can often begin remotely, while a local design team manages details at your new home.

(Portfolio: Eclectic University Park Traditional Furnishing and Renovation)

One of the misconceptions about interior design is that the process begins once you have the keys to your new house.

It doesn’t have to.

If you’ve already purchased or leased a home in Dallas, much of the design process can happen remotely. Floor plans, architectural drawings, photographs, video walkthroughs and virtual meetings allow us to begin understanding the home—and you—long before moving day.

We can develop furniture plans, establish the overall design direction, identify pieces you already own that should make the move and begin sourcing furnishings, lighting, rugs, art and accessories.

For busy executives, this can turn months of post-move decision-making into a much more streamlined transition.

(Portfolio: Preston Hollow Modern Minimalist Furnishing)

A relocation is also a wonderful opportunity to edit.

Not everything from your current home necessarily belongs in your next one. Some pieces have sentimental or monetary value and absolutely deserve a place. Others may have worked beautifully in your previous home but simply aren’t right for the architecture, scale or lifestyle of the new one.

Before paying to move everything across the country, determine what truly belongs in your next chapter.

We can review existing furnishings remotely, obtain dimensions and photographs, and determine which pieces should be incorporated into the new design. From there, we can create a plan around what you already love while identifying what should be purchased new.

The result isn’t a replica of your former home.

It’s a home that feels familiar, but intentionally designed for your new life in Dallas.

(Portfolio: A Home in Full Swing)

One of the exciting parts of relocating to Dallas is discovering how much the home can become part of your lifestyle.

Many Dallas-area luxury homes offer generous entertaining spaces, large kitchens, outdoor living areas, pools, game rooms, wine rooms, home offices and guest suites—spaces you may not have had in quite the same way before.

That means your existing furniture may not simply transfer room for room.

A larger great room may require a completely different furniture plan. A covered patio might become a true year-round living space. A dedicated office can be designed for both high-level work and virtual meetings. Extra bedrooms can make visits from family and friends significantly more comfortable.

Rather than asking, “Where will our old furniture go?” we prefer to ask:

“How do you want to live in this home?”

That’s where great design begins.

(Portfolio: Lakewood Eclectic Home Update)

Your new home should support the life you’re moving toward—not simply accommodate the belongings you’re bringing with you.

Perhaps entertaining will become more important. You may want a sophisticated bar or wine room for hosting colleagues and friends.

Maybe your family is looking forward to having more outdoor space, in which case the patio, pool and outdoor kitchen deserve as much attention as the rooms inside.

If you’re traveling frequently, you may want your home to function as a retreat when you return. If you’re working from home several days a week, your office needs to feel every bit as polished and considered as your corporate environment.

Luxury isn’t simply about beautiful materials or expensive furnishings.

True luxury is having a home that works exceptionally well for the way you live.

(Portfolio: Modern Industrial Meets Luxury Loft Living)

This is one of the biggest advantages of beginning the interior design process early.

Custom furnishings, specialty lighting, rugs, window treatments and other pieces can require significant production time. Waiting until after you move to begin making selections can mean living with empty rooms—or temporary solutions—for months.

Starting before the move allows design development, selections, purchasing and production to happen while you’re managing the other aspects of your relocation.

Depending on your timeline and the home, we can also coordinate receiving, delivery and installation so that a significant portion of your home is completed shortly before or after you arrive.

Imagine walking into your new Dallas home and feeling like you actually live there—not like you’ve just landed there.

(Portfolio: Northwood Hills Home Renovation and Custom Furnishing)

If you’re building a custom home or purchasing a property that requires renovation, involving your interior designer early is even more important.

There are hundreds of decisions involved in creating a luxury home: flooring, cabinetry, countertops, plumbing, lighting, millwork, hardware, wall treatments, paint, tile and countless architectural details.

Those decisions ultimately affect the furnishings, and the furnishings affect those decisions.

Approaching the home as one cohesive design—from construction through the final accessory—creates a much more polished result and can help prevent costly changes later.

(Portfolio: Uptown Condo Renovation and Furnishing)

Dallas isn’t one lifestyle.

From established neighborhoods with beautiful estate homes to walkable areas closer to the city’s business and cultural districts, Dallas and its surrounding communities offer distinctly different experiences.

Where you work certainly matters, but so does how you spend your time when you aren’t working.

Do you want proximity to restaurants and the arts? A larger property and more privacy? Golf? Walkability? Strong indoor-outdoor living? Easy access to airports? Space for extended family?

Those lifestyle considerations should influence not only where you choose to live, but also how we design your home once you get there.

(Portfolio: Modern Industrial Meets Luxury Loft Living)

A corporate relocation represents a significant transition, particularly when it involves moving your family across the country.

Your home should be the easy part.

At Nicole Arnold Interiors, we work with busy executives and professionals who value exceptional design but don’t necessarily have the time—or desire—to manage hundreds of details themselves. Our full-service approach allows us to guide the process from initial concepts and construction selections through furnishings, procurement, installation and the finishing touches.

And much of that process can begin while you’re still living in another city.

So, if a new opportunity is bringing you to Dallas, welcome.

You take care of the career move. We’ll help make Dallas feel like home.