Brazil-born and Dallas-based designer Juliana Oliveira grew up in a world of design. She comes from a family of architects and engineers. Her father taught her to draw, and she said she grew up surrounded by design magazines and blueprints.
When she moved from Brazil to the United States about 23 years ago, she found herself here in Dallas and she loved it.
“I feel like, ever since, I’ve been a ‘Dallas-ite’,” Oliveira said.
She started out her career in architecture but quickly found that she preferred the design aspect of projects. Now, she’s the owner of Beyond Interior Design, a firm in Dallas that works with both residential and commercial clients.
Oliveira and the design team at Beyond Interior Design work across Dallas, and they also have projects in Plano.
Many of the firm’s projects include minimalist palettes of black and white, with wood details, greenery and the occasional pop of color.
“No matter what project we take, we’re going to come at it with a less-is-more philosophy,” she said.
One of their recent redesigns was a Plano home built in the 1970s (below), that the owners had lived in for 25 years and wanted refreshed. With an effort to make the home transitional but still include modern details consistent with the style of the firm, the team added white surfaces and cabinets to the kitchen, modern chairs with metallic accents and luxe textures like leather and velvet.
1/6A look at part of the Plano project, an example of the design style of Dallas-based Juliana Oliveira.(Matti Gresham)
A major component of Oliveira’s design strategy is the concept of “wellness design”. She said she believes all of life is affected by how we live in our homes. Practically, this means taking into account health in design, like specific lighting choices, air purification, materials of high quality and ties to nature like windows or indoor plants.
A recent project, in the Dallas neighborhood of Wilshire Heights was done for a client who lives a vegan lifestyle and wanted to ensure that no leather materials were used in the design process. True to their style, the team designed a high-contrast set of living spaces with black and white accents and pops of green.
1/4A look at part of the Wilshire Heights project, an example of the design style of Brazil native Juliana Oliveira.(Matti Gresham)
Oliveira said she’s inspired by international design from her upbringing in Brazil and her love of travel. In her designs, she said she incorporates vendors from companies that have roots around the world and said that it has an impact on the uniqueness of their designs.
“It helps us really make our clients home feel special,” she said.
