An entertaining soirée
Interior style comes to the forefront during Theta Design Week
Danielle Rollins says it isn’t unusual for friends to drop by, so she always has appetizers and a well-stocked bar at the ready.
Her Atlanta home is known for lavish parties, and Rollins, a bold-faced name on the social scene there, has planned everything from small dinner parties to galas to raise money for charitable causes.
After helping her middle child through devastating injuries suffered after she was struck by a speeding go-kart, Rollins, a Dallas native and frequent visitor to Houston, started a fashion show fundraiser that’s now heading into its 11th year. At one of those events, she was seated next to Oscar de la Renta, who suggested she write a book.
“I think my response was, ‘On what?’ ” Rollins said in a phone interview recently. The late designer meant, of course, on entertaining. Her eventual book, “Soirée: Entertaining With Style” (Rizzoli, 2012), deconstructs party elements — invitations, flowers, menus and more — to guide anyone, from a novice to an experienced hostess, through planning an event. Rollins will be in Houston this weekend for Theta Design Week, the new edition of what was previously called Theta Charity Antiques Show, founded in 1952 by the Houston Kappa Alpha Theta alumnae chapter. This year’s chair, Waverly Gage, said that in the past couple of years the group has worked to adapt their antiques-centric event to a changing market. They added art and interior design to the mix and asked experts to lead walking-talking tours to demonstrate how to mix art and antiques in home décor. The 2017 iteration is even heavier on design,
with national names such as Mark D. Sikes and Bobby McAlpine as luncheon keynoters. Local interior designers will participate in talks, too, including Benjamin Johnston, Paloma Contreras, Sarah Eilers and Bill Stubbs. Event proceeds support several nonprofits — Texas Children’s Cancer Center and Child Advocates, among them.
Rollins will join Sikes at a Friday luncheon and, later that day, participate in a panel discussion on textiles. She’ll also have a vendor booth for her interiors, beauty and clothing lines.
Last spring, she was in Houston for an event and was complimented on the long, breezy dress she wore. “You should start a clothing line,” she was told.
The friend later called to say he’d lined up a trunk show for her, and instead of telling him that she didn’t actually have a clothing line, she thanked him profusely and created one.
She started with a hostess dress and a skirt, then added pants, a jacket and other items — “all based on pieces I wanted for myself,” she said.
Rollins describes herself as self-taught at everything she does. Six years ago, she opened her own design firm, and she’s often asked to lecture on gardening and flower arranging.
With December just ahead, holidays are currently on her mind. For her own modern family — she’s divorced with kids who are 15, 18 and 21; her parents and a goddaughter live with her, too — she created traditions they still enjoy.
When her kids were little, she started having a Christmas morning breakfast that they now look forward to even more than their gifts. She also hosts a Christmas Eve dinner for friends and family.
“I keep those things going because … what makes the holiday special is the gathering of people,” she said, noting that last year she began planning that dinner for eight people and it grew to 28 as her kids kept inviting friends.
The keys to a good party are planning and preparation. She said she walks through her home as if she’s a guest: Is there enough room for servers? Are there enough hand towels in the bathrooms?
If she doesn’t have time to prepare food herself, carry-out or catering are fine, as long as they’re served beautifully.
She urges people to collect party goods over time, buying holiday items when they’re on sale to use the next year or buying dishes in sets of eight that can be mixed together.
“I have a color scheme in my home and build around that. For me, that’s turquoise and blue and persimmon and green,” Rollins said. “Having things with a similar color allows me to mix and match, so if I have two sets of eight plates, then I have 16 that I can mix and match. The more patterns you use, the more forgiving it is. Tie it together by having the same glassware, so something’s unifying on the table.”
All of these details matter, Rollins said.
“It’s the preparation you put into entertaining. Have a pretty centerpiece; it can be terra-cotta pots filled with plants. Have a signature cocktail, have plenty of food, wine and conversation. Dim the lights,” she said. “It tells people you took the time to do something for them because you value their friendship and their presence.”