Designer Liz Goldberg updated this Dixon Kirby home with earthy, Southwest-inspired colors, unusual materials and nuanced detailing
by Ayn-Monique Klahre | photography by Abigail Jackson
In this Sunset Hills home, the tones are subtle — cream, stonewashed green, flax, camel — nuanced hues inspired by the Southwest, where the homeowners lived for a time before moving to Raleigh. But the materials are rich, like velvet, boucle, linen and marble, lending an elegance to even the most utilitarian spaces. “I love sticking within a color palette of similar tones, but then adding lots of different textural elements,” says Liz Goldberg, founder and creative director of Raleigh interior design firm CAROLYNLEONA, who designed the space.
These clients, a couple with three young children, are the second owners of this two-story home by Dixon Kirby. They’d lived in North Raleigh for years, but wanted to be inside the beltline and were familiar with the builder. They moved into the house in 2020, just before the pandemic, and, in retrospect, being stuck at home gave them plenty of time to really understand their space. “I noticed where the light was coming in, or would think, If the floors were lighter, the whole room would seem bigger,” says the homeowner.
They enlisted Goldberg and her team to help them make the space their own. “It already had beautiful bones, but we were able to problem-solve based on their lifestyle,” says Goldberg. She and project manager Michelle Silvis worked with general contractor Sigmon Construction to update the home, leaving the floor plan intact but adding strategic storage and decorative details to suit their needs and style. In the primary bathroom, for example, they built a linen closet with an arched top and integrated wooden handles to store towels and hampers. They added custom lockers to one hallway so it could function as a mudroom to hold the kids’ shoes and gear. The team restained the floors in a lighter shade “for a light, airy feel” and tore out built-ins in the living room to emphasize the tall ceilings. They traded out the previous kitchen cabinets for custom ones from Cardinal Cabinets and installed an island with furniture-style accents on its corners. In the adjacent dining room, they added wooden paneling to the ceiling to create a cozier feel.
In terms of paint colors and furnishings, “they didn’t want strong colors or wild patterns — they wanted a soft, peaceful feel,” says Goldberg. The couple agreed that their style was “organic modern” and that they preferred a minimalist approach. “Not too many colors, neutral tones, soft hues — we love those desert colors,” says the homeowner. Based on this, Goldberg worked with a base of creamy white and layered on the earth tones.
With such subtle colors, the home could have felt boring — so Goldberg made sure that each room included interesting materials and nuances in the furniture. In the pantry, for example, the backsplash tile is handmade and intentionally imperfect, for an organic feel. In the dining room, the legs of the table have carved-in stripes that are a visual nod to the fluting on the sideboard nearby. In the living room, two paintings from Alabama artist William McClure drive the point home, says Goldberg: “These abstract pieces seem neutral, but when you get close-up, there are all sorts of interesting details, like little squiggly lines and pops of colors.”
For the homeowners, their space is now the perfect balance between elegant and casual, calm and welcoming. “It feels comfortable, but also elevated,” says the homeowner.
Interior designer Liz Goldberg created a living room that’s elegant enough for guests, but comfortable for family time. “This room is all about entertaining, so we wanted lots of different types of seating,” says Goldberg, pointing out the extra-long sofa, two pairs of chairs and ottomans. The centerpiece is a cascading chandelier made of strips of leather. “It’s a showstopper,” says the homeowner.
In the kitchen (above and below), Goldberg replaced cabinetry, countertops, tile and lighting. The terra-cotta chandeliers are natural on the inside and glazed white on the outside. “I love the way they reflect the light,” says the homeowner.” Goldberg designed the island to be held up with wooden pedestals. They topped it with white marble with flecks of green and purple. Near the kitchen is a pantry finished with hand-glazed tiles.
In the hallway leading to the kids’ bedrooms, Goldberg installed a blush wallpaper and a vintage rug. “It ties the house together,” she says. They covered the stairs in neutral carpeting to make it safer for the children.
Goldberg created a mudroom by installing custom lockers with scalloped detailing for each of the kids (the interiors are painted blue or pink for their respective occupants). “They needed a place for backpacks and everyday things,” she says.
They kept the primary bath the same, structurally, but added functionality. Goldberg added a metal mesh to the inside of the glass in the cabinets — “It blocks the eye and adds texture,” she says — and painted them and added new hardware. They replaced the one large mirror behind the sinks with two smaller oval ones. Goldberg carved out a space in the bathroom for a custom linen closet with an arched top (inside are hampers and storage).
She covered the walls in the powder room in a stone green lime wash. “With all of these light, soft colors in the rest of the space, we felt like we could go bold here,” she says. A trio of mirrors hang in the entryway.
This article originally appeared in the November 2025 issue of WALTER magazine.
