How Alessandra Branca Brought Chic Interior Design to a Texas Hotel

Renowned interior designer Alessandra Branca curated a Benjamin Moore color palette for the bungalow, with bold results.

The exterior of a luxury cottage with dark, gray-painted siding, red shutters and front door, and a front porch accented with red and white striped curtains. The exterior of a luxury cottage with dark, gray-painted siding, red shutters and front door, and a front porch accented with red and white striped curtains.

How Alessandra Branca Brought Chic Interior Design to a Texas Hotel

Renowned interior designer Alessandra Branca curated a Benjamin Moore color palette for the bungalow, with bold results.

Halfway between Austin and Houston, you’ll find tiny Round Top, Texas. Every fall and spring, the town hosts a must-go antiques fair attended by thousands of design enthusiasts. It is here where native Texans John Cone and Greg Fourticq opened their Red Antler Bungalows in 2022.

With the expert oversight of Chicago-based designer Alessandra Branca, the owners now welcome guests to the “Branca Bungalow,” a charming space where design elements from Italy and Texas come together, buoyed by the power of premium Benjamin Moore paint and color, both inside and out.

Designer Color Palette: The Branca Bungalow

Italian-born Alessandra Branca curated a stunning Benjamin Moore paint color palette to create a fresh, modern rendition of an early Texas farmhouse.

"Paint is the last place you should save money. You've made this huge effort. You've put time into deciding what you're gonna do. Well, now you need to do it right.”

Alessandra Branca, Interior Designer

Photography by: Becky Luigart-Stayner. Styling by Sara Clark. Florals by Jimmie Henslee.
Interior designer Alessandra Branca stands on the front porch of the bungalow she designed, framed in red and white striped curtains with a charcoal gray home exterior and bold, red-painted front door behind her.

The Interior Designer: Alessandra Branca

In a story originally featured in Veranda, renowned interior designer Alessandra Branca, seen here, shares behind-the-scenes insights on her colorful project.

Of the red and white striped entry, Branca says the curtains add richness but are also practical, “helping control light on the west-facing porch and enhancing privacy.”

The exterior, painted in ultra-premium Aura® Exterior, is ready to stand up to Texan heat waves thanks to the paint’s UV- and fade-resistant properties.
A kitchen with red-painted walls, white trim, a white-topped kitchen island, black countertops, and black-painted doors.

Bold Red Color Makes the Kitchen Pop

If a deep red paint color isn’t the first hue you think about for the kitchen, you’re not alone.

"I was really nervous about the kitchen," owner John Cone laughs. He was quickly converted by Branca.

"We have an open living space, a living room with an area for cards or dining, and then a kitchen," she recalls. "So, all three areas are open to each other. We have white cabinets, we have a black island. I thought, why don't we have fun with the walls?"
A close-up of white-painted built-in kitchen cabinetry with brass handles, a black countertop, and white-painted shelving holding breakfast cereals and other knick-knacks.

Primary Colors Contrast in the Kitchen

The kitchen’s red shiplap brings inviting contrast to black countertops and striking black-painted doors. Branca made a statement with the deep, romantic My Valentine 1330 in Regal® Select Interior, counting on its proprietary stain-release technology to stand up to everyday spills and scuffs with greater durability and washability than ever before.

The rich red kitchen interior echoes the Moroccan Red front door and shutters found on the bungalow’s exterior. Other ravishing reds that Benjamin Moore color experts recommend for the kitchen include:
A cheery living room with a vaulted white shiplap ceiling, central fireplace, a plaid couch, and walls in faux-wood design wallpaper.

Perfectly Painted Ceilings Heighten the Look

Calling it “a playful version of wood paneling,” Branca used a golden yellow, faux wood wallpaper from her own Casa Branca collection. She specified Insl-X® Aqua Lock® Plus Primer for its exceptional sealing properties “underneath” the wallpaper throughout the bungalow, citing its high-quality protective barrier as critical to success.

On the vaulted ceiling, Branca paired her faux-wood wallpaper look with a bright white paint with pink undertones—Gardenia AF-10, from the Benjamin Moore Affinity® Collection.

Other white hues Benjamin Moore color experts love for ceilings include:

If you are looking for a super flat finish for your ceiling, be sure to check out Waterborne Ceiling Paint.
A bathroom with white-painted lower cabinetry, blue and white wallpaper, copper bathroom fixtures, and a bouquet of wildflowers in a white vase on a white countertop.

The Essential White Bathroom, Accented with Blues

Clean, sophisticated off-white paint colors are always a classic hue for the bathroom. At the Branca Bungalow, the lower cabinets in Gardenia AF-10—a bright white with soft pink undertones—follows suit. Accented by blue and white Casa Branca wallpaper and copper fixtures, and a decorative pop of color on the painted door, the small space boasts style to spare.

Homeowners and designers alike can be overwhelmed when it comes to choosing white paint colors. Benjamin Moore makes it easy to explore the myriad subtleties of white, all in one place, with the Benjamin Moore Off-White Collection. Want more tips? Hear from interior designers—including Alessandra Branca—who share their essential, go-to white paint colors in this video.
"You can tell the quality of the paint on this house…It looks very fresh and vibrant—it's almost like you can dive into it."

John Cone, Co-Owner, Red Antler Bungalows

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