Driftwood is Hill Country acreage south of Dripping Springs, the land of wineries, barbecue and long gravel drives, where a house often shares the property with a barn, a guest house and a pool house. We're River Jane & Co., an interior design studio in Spicewood about 55 minutes north, and we design ranch houses and custom builds in Driftwood. Start with a free 15 minute call.
- From our studio
- About 55 minutes, 25 miles
- First step
- A free 15 minute call
- Consultation
- About an hour, in your home or virtual, depending on the project
- Design Strategy
- From $999, plan in 7 to 14 days
- Call or text
- 512-883-3767
One property, several buildings
On Driftwood acreage, the design job rarely stops at the main house. There's a guest house for visiting parents, a pool house with a bath, maybe a barn with a studio upstairs or a workshop that needs to be more than a shed. People who build out here usually build all of it within a few years.
Plan them together from the start. Pick one family of materials, like a limestone, a wood tone, a metal finish and a paint palette, and use it in different amounts in each building. The main house gets the most refined version. The guest house can be a little more relaxed. The barn studio can go rustic. They'll feel related without looking copied.
- Use the same exterior light fixture on every building for a unified look at night.
- Give the guest house its own small kitchen or coffee bar so guests feel independent.
- Put a full bath in the pool house. You'll use it more than you expect.
Farmhouse without the shiplap overload
Modern farmhouse is everywhere in Driftwood, with black windows, board and batten, metal roofs and big porches. It's a great look outside. Inside, it tips into cliche fast: shiplap on every wall, sliding barn doors on every closet, and signs that say gather.
Keep the farmhouse feeling but make it grown up. Plaster or smooth walls instead of shiplap, with maybe one wood wall where it counts. Real antiques and vintage rugs mixed with good new upholstery. Unlacquered brass or iron hardware. Limestone or handmade tile in the kitchen. The house should feel like it's been there a while.
Big views, big sun, big sky
Open land means open sky. Driftwood houses tend to have big windows looking across pasture and hills, and nothing blocking the afternoon sun. Porches help, but west facing rooms still get hot, and fabric fades fast.
Plan the porches and windows together. Deep porches on the west side do a lot of the work. Where there's no porch, The Shade Haus has cordless Roman and roller shades from $299 a window and motorized shades from $399 a window. Pick sun rated fabric for anything near the glass.
Hosting in wine country
Living near the wineries and The Salt Lick means friends visit, and they stay. Driftwood kitchens and dining rooms get used for big dinners and long evenings. A long table that seats ten, a kitchen island with room to lean, and a bar or butler's pantry that keeps the mess out of sight.
Outdoor dining is part of it too. A covered porch with a real table, overhead lighting and fans, and a path from the kitchen that doesn't cross the living room. Porches count as rooms in a Design Strategy, which is $999 per room to start. Nearby, see Dripping Springs and Bee Cave.
Dust, mud and dogs
Acreage means caliche roads, mud after a rain and dogs that go everywhere. The finishes inside have to take it without making the house look like a barn.
Wide plank oak with a matte, oiled or low sheen finish hides scratches and dust far better than a glossy floor. Flat weave or wool rugs can be taken outside and shaken. Grout a shade darker than white keeps tile floors from looking dirty in a week. Leather and performance fabric on the seating, washable slipcovers on the chairs people drop into after chores, and a boot bench at every door that gets used.
- Choose a floor finish with little sheen. It hides dust and paw prints.
- Put a washable runner at every exterior door.
- Pick a darker grout for mudroom and laundry tile.
