When you want style tips, go to the pros. Buckle up, Buddies, today we’re going to meet an iconic blonde whose only ambition is making life a little prettier.
Malina Pearson is a stylist that rides horses and remodels homes. She also used to drive the freaking coolest Volvo Station Wagon, unironically.
She’s cute and classic and so is her style. It’s a little timeless with a full appreciation of old things. She gets it honestly, too. Her grandmother owned an antiques shop and her Mom always ran a vintage side hustle. As a kid, Malina and her brother would wake up early on the weekends and help their mom set up at the latest flea market. Malina loved it, too. “Oh, I had the BEST costume collection.” A collection she inadvertently left in Houston when they moved to Dallas. TRAGEDY.
Let’s skip ahead a few years to when she put that impeccable eye to work. She’s a stylist and even though she’ll downplay it – I won’t – she’s pretty freaking sought after. She helped launch the Pottery Barn Teen Catalog, put together the original Anthropologie Catalog and has a few other big names under her perfectly-selected belt.
After years of photoshoots in some of the most incredible homes you’ve ever seen, Malina collected more than a few ideas. She saw what worked, what didn’t and then put it to work in the complete remodel of a Ranchette set on two acres in South Dallas. She did it all and GC’ed the job herself. She picked out the finishes, the paint colors, the hardware, everything. Not a shocker, it sold in a second.
Her next big project? Her own home. She bought a little cottage over in North Oak Cliff and spent a full year gutting it, rewiring it, replumbing it, raising the ceilings, adding a new roof and all new finishes. It is now, and forever, a little plot of perfection.
After that, she had one whole spare minute to breathe, so she talked her parents into buying the cutest little Dilbeck. It was completely original except for the kitchen that Malina thinks was updated in the 1960s.
This job wasn’t a remodel though, it was a restoration. She stayed very true to the era and put everything back exactly the way it was meant to be. The porch railing was rotting so they rebuilt it and added complementary railing out back. The kitchen was restored, but it needed a few extra cabinets, so they built exact replicas of those, too. Then they replaced the Saltillo tile with an updated version.
If you’d like to see it in person, you can. It’s currently an Airbnb and doing quite well. Over the holidays a family booked a stay and Malina’s Mom has a garage full of vintage, well, everything, so she decked that little house out. In fact, the entire Airbnb is filled with Malina’s Mom’s stuff…things she had in her own ranch, the kitchen table Malina grew up with, art that’s from the era and on and on.
Which is a great time to mention, Malina’s own style in a word is “authentic.” She’d rather die than buy anything with a faux patina or a Navajo blanket with a polyblend. And no, she didn’t say she’d rather die. I added that. THEATRICS.
For Malina, when you step into a home, you want to know that person and see their personality reflected in every room. Personal touches layered with the classics because that’s one of Malina’s other best tips. Unless you want to remodel your home every four to five years, stick with timeless finishes and let your accents come in the form of furnishings. You know, things you don’t have to rip out to replace.
Plus, TIEBACK, that’s where the personality comes from. Malina is all in on Instagram. It’s opened us up to a whole new world of style. It’s giving people the courage to not be so prescriptive or follow a strict mid-century modern or desert chic checklist. HELLO, she also clued us into the name of that style – Marfa-chic or Desert-chic. Like damn, we see it everywhere and now we know what it is.
What shops does she love locally? That’s easy. Neighborhood has an incredible collection of couches, pottery and art. Benny Jack Antiques has a little bit of everything. Follow along on Instagram for their latest and greatest. OR hop on I-45 and head down to Houston to pop into Malina’s favorite shop in the country, Kuhl-Linscomb. If you didn’t think you could love her anymore, here’s where you will. “Kuhl-Linscomb is a fucking dream mini-department store with rugs, clothing, books, beautiful down-filled couches…” Say the f word once and we’re friends for life. ALSO, GOALS, y’all. All of us, including Malina, have a dream of someday owning the perfect, oversized, extra comfy couch. Some. Day. Isn’t is gross when people break up a word with a period? Too bad. I just did. THE END.