By John Hare, Principal Designer & Owner
I’ve been designing homes across Texas for years now, and I still find myself stopping mid-walkthrough to admire the way afternoon light pours through a wall of windows in the Hill Country, or how a soaring great room in a Dallas estate can feel both grand and inviting at once. This state has a way of humbling you as a designer — you quickly learn that Texas isn’t a place where you impose a single style on a home. It’s a place where you listen to the architecture, the land, and the way people actually live, and let the design grow from there. That philosophy is at the heart of everything we do at Core Design, my full-service interior design firm specializing in high-end, bespoke custom interiors.
Why I Believe Texas Deserves a Different Kind of Design Firm
I’ve always believed great design is never one-size-fits-all, and nowhere has that belief been tested — and confirmed — more than here in Texas. Between sprawling Hill Country ranches, sleek modern estates in Austin and Dallas, and classic Southern-influenced homes throughout Houston and San Antonio, no two projects I’ve worked on have ever called for the same solution twice.
What I care about most is understanding a home before I ever start designing it. The quality of natural Texas light, the scale of a great room built for gathering, the way a covered patio blurs the line between indoors and out — these are the details I build every design decision around. When clients come to me, they’re not getting a template. They’re getting a home shaped specifically around how they live.
What “Full-Service” Means to Me
So many clients find me after searching for “interior designers near me in Texas” because they’re tired of piecing a project together themselves — one vendor for furniture, another for lighting, a separate contractor they have to manage on their own. I built Core Design to be the opposite of that experience. When you work with me, you get a true partner from start to finish:
- Custom Furnishings & Bespoke Design — I love commissioning custom pieces and sourcing one-of-a-kind rugs and art that simply can’t be replicated elsewhere.
- Lighting & Architectural Detailing — Lighting design that highlights the architectural soul of a Texas home, from statement chandeliers to well-placed accent lighting.
- Plumbing & Fixture Selection — Finishes chosen to feel like a natural extension of the home’s design language.
- Contractor Coordination — Over the years I’ve built relationships with local Texas contractors and craftspeople I trust completely, and I bring them onto every project.
- Project & Procurement Management — I handle the ordering, tracking, delivery, and installation, so my clients don’t have to think about the logistics at all.
Designing for Clients Who Aren’t Always Here
A lot of my clients are busy professionals or homeowners splitting time between multiple properties across Texas and beyond, who want a beautifully finished home but can’t always be here in person for every decision. I get it — and I’ve built my process around that reality. We do video consultations, and I’ll ship material samples directly so clients can see and feel finishes for themselves, wherever they happen to be. Distance has never once stopped me from delivering a home my clients are proud of.
My Design Philosophy: Bespoke Down to the Last Detail
If there’s one thing I believe after all these years, it’s that true luxury lives in the details you can’t buy off a shelf. A custom headboard scaled perfectly to a primary suite. Stone hand-selected for a kitchen renovation. Bench cushions cut to the exact dimensions of a favorite reading nook. Those are the moments I love most in this work — where a house stops being a house and starts being someone’s home.
Let’s Start Your Texas Design Journey
If you’re looking for a high-end, full-service interior design firm in Texas — one that will treat your home with the same care I’d want for my own — I’d love to talk with you. Take a look through our portfolio, and when you’re ready, reach out and let’s schedule a consultation. I’d be glad to walk through your home with you and start imagining what it could become.
Because here in Texas, your home deserves to be as extraordinary as the landscape around it.
John Hare Principal Designer & Owner, Core Design Full-Service Interior Design | Texas





