If the thought of moving into a 40-year-old ranch home that hasn’t been touched since the late ’70s is distressing, meet the energy and determination of Sonya and Josef Edwards.
When the couple moved into their Lakewood home two years ago, they knew they had a major project on their hands.
“We bought it from original owners, so we bought it in that condition,” Josef says. “It had all the original wallpaper, and the pool was original from 1960, so it was kind of like a green lagoon.”
But the house, he says, “had really good bones, so we didn’t have to do any structural changes.” And the layout of the 2,900-square-foot house, with three bedrooms and three baths, “was exactly what we wanted.”
Since the move-in, the Edwards have renovated nearly every room in the house, in addition to refurbishing the pool and re-landscaping. They’ve replaced flooring and wall finishes, added built-in bookcases and recently finished renovating the kitchen, probably their last big project.
“We put new tile [flooring] and countertops in the kitchen,” Sonya says. They also replaced all the appliances.
Married a year before they purchased the home, the couple each brought unique insights to the decorative process.
Josef is a Dallas antique dealer. Having worked in the antique business since his college days at UT-Arlington, he now owns and runs a Design District antique trade showroom, Debris, and also operates a retail antique store named Found. Sonya, on the other hand, has her own creative pursuits. Originally trained as a muralist, she now paints mostly abstract still-lifes.
Because of their careers, their house “is based on art,” Sonya says. “Everything we buy is art-related, and we’re trying to collect local artists.”
The couple’s creative endeavors also allow them to liven up their home with things they love, without characterizing it as any particular style.
“We love the eclectic look. It’s definitely fun and whimsical,” Sonya says.
They both also love to collect, and this affinity adds to the whimsy. The couple collects books, art pottery and Josef has a large collection of framed, early-20th century mottoes.
“I’ve probably got 30 of them,” he says, adding that the sayings offer a mix of both “optimism and pessimism.”
They also collect an assortment of furniture in different styles — Oriental, Arts and Crafts and English Georgian — as well as candlesticks and candle sconces. The latter items are put to good use when the Edwards entertain.
“We do parties once or twice a year where we do the whole house in candlelight,” Josef says. “We have enough of them to literally light up every room.”
In explaining their penchant for antiques and collectibles, Josef says: “Old pieces have personality. There’s nothing in the house that doesn’t make a statement.”
Sonya’s art is a good example of this. Her paintings, 10 or 12 of which hang on the walls, add color and character to the overall décor. She’s particularly proud of a painting in the dining room.
“It has a texture where you can kind of come up and touch the painting,” she says. “All of my paintings have a quietness about them.”
One of her latest projects includes a return to her muralist roots — she’s painting a scene on one of the walls in the son Ashton’s room. Her work, she says, allows her to do “the two things I love most — painting and being a mom.”
In fact, it was the addition of 18-month-old Ashton to the Edwards’ family that made them even more satisfied they chose Lakewood as a place to make their new home.
“We love our pool, trees and birds,” says Sonya, as she watches Ashton pet their two dogs in the back yard.
“And all the couples we’ve met are so friendly.”
Josef echoes this. After moving here from Oak Lawn, he says, they find Lakewood “much more quiet, much more comfortable, and much more family-friendly,” he says.
“This is a good place to raise a family,” Sonya agrees.
