Dripping Springs calls itself the Gateway to the Hill Country, and it's also an International Dark Sky Community, so how a house glows at night matters here as much as how it looks by day. River Jane & Co., an interior design studio about 40 minutes away in Spicewood, designs custom homes and updates across Dripping Springs. The first step is a free 15 minute call.
- From our studio
- About 40 minutes, 20 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
Lighting for dark skies
The night sky is one of the reasons people move out here. Good interior lighting helps keep it that way, and it makes the house feel better too. A room lit only by bright recessed cans spills light through every window and feels like a store after dark.
Layer instead. Lamps at seated height, sconces on the walls, under cabinet lights in the kitchen and dimmers on everything. Warm bulbs rather than cool white. Exterior fixtures that point down and are shielded. Shades on big windows that you can drop at night. The house glows softly, and the stars stay visible from the porch.
- Put every room on at least two lighting circuits.
- Choose warm white bulbs for living spaces.
- Pick shielded, downward facing exterior fixtures.
Master-planned homes: Belterra, Headwaters and Caliterra
A lot of Dripping Springs families live in master-planned communities. Belterra has been around long enough that many homes are due for a first update. Headwaters and Caliterra are newer, so owners there are usually furnishing, picking selections or making a builder house feel personal.
In an older Belterra house, the update usually starts with the kitchen and main living area, then the primary bath. In a newer home, it's about furniture scale, lighting and adding enough warmth and texture to take the edge off the builder finishes. Our new-build interior design page covers the selection side.
Casitas and multigenerational living
Dripping Springs lots often have room for a casita, and many families use one for visiting parents, grown kids or a home office. A good casita feels like its own small home.
Give it a bedroom that fits a real bed and nightstands, a bath with a walk-in shower, a small kitchenette and a sitting area. Use the same palette as the main house in a simpler form. And think about access: a wide door, a no step shower and good lighting on the path from the main house make it work for every age.
Older homes near Mercer Street
Around the historic center of town there are older, smaller houses with real character: wood floors, porches, simple rooflines. They don't need to look like a new Hill Country build to feel current.
Keep the floors and the porch. Open the kitchen a little if the structure allows, and work the storage hard, since older closets are small. Choose finishes that suit a simple house: painted cabinets, butcher block or soapstone, a plain subway or handmade tile, and light fixtures with an old farmhouse feel rather than something shiny and new.
Big glass on Hamilton Pool Road
Custom homes on acreage off Hamilton Pool Road are often modern Hill Country builds with walls of glass looking across the hills. That view is the point of the house, and it brings a lot of sun and a lot of reflection at night.
The Shade Haus has motorized shades from $399 a window for tall glass and cordless Roman or roller shades from $299 a window elsewhere. Tall glass is one of the first things we look at in a Design Strategy, priced from $999 per room. Nearby, see Driftwood and Bee Cave.
