My Palace in Dallas: Emmanuel Neira & Katy Vestal (EK spaces)

“Solitude requires you to move past reacting to information created by other people and focus instead on your own thoughts and experiences – wherever you happened to be”

— Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism

Hello folks, HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2023 has been nothing but a wild rollercoaster ride for me and 2024 is about to be so great for all of us I can just FEEL IT! If you’re reading this I hope you are as excited for what’s to come your way and enjoying everything that is around you — People and space alike, especially your home. Has your space changed since last year? Did it feel more like home to you?

I started My Palace in Dallas during the height of the pandemic, and it was born from pure curiosity: I want to know, I want to see, and, most importantly, I want to document what the people around me have become after these unprecedented years. They can be artists, comedians, or they can also be the people you meet on the street—which is quite hard cause supposedly people in Dallas don’t walk at all. So, what is it that they do? This project delves into their stories and, as the name suggests, explores their Palace in Dallas.

Without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Emmanuel Neira & Katy Vestal (EK spaces), we met a few times in workshops and gallery openings and have been great Insta interior buddies since then as we both share a deep love for all things interior and furniture. We got to talk about what makes a place home, what their journey was like, and where they got their inspiration from that ultimately made their place so unique it even caught apartment therapy and many other interior platforms’ eyes.

Hello Emmanuel and Katy! Thank you so much for opening up your space and having me here in your gorgeous space. It has been a long time coming for sure and I’m so excited to be sitting here with you! Before I bomb you two with questions, would you like to tell people a bit about yourself? Who are you and what is it that you do?

E (Emmanuel): I’ll start. My name is Emmanuel, a freelance photographer with a focus on architecture and real estate photography.
K (Katy): I’m Katy. I am a project manager and I paint too!

From photography to interior taste and art collecting, both of you have done so much with so many here, now, could you tell me what was that journey like for you guys and how did y’all get to where you are now?

E: We’ve been together for 13 years and we didn’t move out until June 2020. We were living separately with our families, saving up moved into our first space with absolutely nothing.

K: Our dining table was a fold-out table with a grey top and collapsible chair Emmanuel’s mom lent us. No TV, no sofa no nothing.

E: I guess our journey started there, we had a lot of time to think about how we wanted our space to be. It wasn’t until we moved into this space that we thought through our design and chose intentionally what we wanted in it.

K: We envisioned living in a loft with exposed brick walls, but when we moved out it was hard to find and most of them were out of our budget. We lived in a one-bedroom with white plastered walls all around. the layout was pretty standard: small living room, big bedroom, and a bathroom that was way too big. We struggled to imagine where and how to spend money on pieces because we were so confined to the designated rooms. The table we wanted wasn’t going to fit in the room cause it needed to be round or the chair we wanted was also too small for the living room, it was really limited as to what we could get when setting up our space.

Now that we’re here, it’s been really nice because we can buy furniture we enjoy and it flows well within.

E: It’s also really nice how our first space was in the design district so we have access to a lot of good antique stores, so we were surrounded by good design from the get-go and slowly figuring out what we want.

How about your photography and art journey? Especially since now, you’re going full-time freelance in the field.

E: It’s a more recent thing *laugh. I went to school for photography and I have been interested in it at a very young age. In high school, I explored film photography and after graduating I decided to go to an art school for it, that’s where it all took off.

I worked for Keith Madigan who specialized in interior photography for a bit and have grown a lot from it. I’ ’m glad I’m able to freelance now, the switch has been fun, setting my own hours and being able to pick what I want to do and all that. Prior to this, I was working for Redfin as an employee shooting real estate but there’s more pride in my craft now it’s just me essentially.

K: I’ve been drawing since forever I think. My grandmother painted and so did my dad, I tried to be as good as them and I never stopped. I’d be drawing in class and get my sketchbook taken away, teachers would get mad at me thinking I wasn’t paying attention but that’s how I pay attention in my own way.

I wasn’t interested in anything else, nor good at anything besides art *laugh. It’s always been my passion. I could talk about art history forever, there’s this board game I’ve been trying to get for art history and Emmanuel said “If you play that no one will play it with you”, which means he’ll be the only person I’ll be playing with.

What ultimately sparked your love for interior design and decorating? Did both of your traditionally trained backgrounds influence your taste as you embark on this journey?

K: It’s crazy now that I’m thinking of this. I went to the Met with my family when I was around 15 or 16. They had this recreation of French colonial rooms as a whole section and it was so cool to me seeing them. I don’t think people realize interior decorating or furniture that you get can also be very anthropologic. It is a different medium for capturing history. Not only was I looking at the grand hand-carved beds but this exhibit to me was just as exciting as the painting and the sculptures. Regardless of the era or period, a room or a house can be made into something cool to live in if you curate it up to your style and taste.

E: There is an interesting overlap between architecture and photography. I’ve always been fascinated by architecture, one of my portfolios when I graduated was about architecture photography. By extension, seeing master photographers document these beautiful mid-century homes you get to see a lot of great interior designs too. Being exposed to photographs in that genre was what clicked for me. Doing real estate I do get to see a lot of houses with interesting design choices and I love to photograph them, to me, that’s where the genre collided. Photographing interesting spaces like that is something I truly enjoy navigating through the architecture/photography process.

**Was mid-century modern the style both of you had in mind initially when moving into this space?**

E: It definitely had influences of mid-century on how we curated this space.
K: It started there I think, we were both interested in the furniture and architecture of that era and now it’s fashioned more to feel just like us in a way.
E: We have core pieces with that philosophy and time period like this coffee table from Lane Acclaim, Herman Miller and our beddings have very clean lines that fall under that era’s design. Now we’ve incorporated more contemporary designs and colors like this sofa, and southwestern art like all these cowboy pieces. I think we mashed Western design and mid-century into our space, embodying what Texas is for us.

Like how you’d be curious about their letterbox account when you meet a film fanatic, I’m also super curious about your media outlet and where do y’all usually get your inspiration from.

K: I actually do get a lot of inspiration from films as well. Wes Anderson is a director I love, and of course, a huge part of his movies are about interior shots and well-curated colorways. On the other side of that, I do love Stanley Kubrick too. I don’t necessarily think his movie had emphasis on interiors like Wes Anderson did but it does play a huge part in immersing you into the scene. He would showcase the interior a lot to make you feel the emotions intended. Another inspiration is, In the Mood for Love. Which is an incredible film that’s been getting a lot of attention and every type of interior shot holds a purpose. That’s something I always get drawn to and pay attention to.

I was briefly a project manager for Arteriors, a furniture company based out of Dallas. I had a lot of fun with the job, we did custom furniture for hotels, casinos, and overseas resorts. Now whenever I’m in a commercial space I look at the light fixtures, wondering where they sourced the pieces, what is ready to buy, and what could be custom-made. Instances like these and the environments around are what inspire me a lot too.

E: Instagram has been a great source of inspiration for me, seeing how people interpret different emotions and how they want their houses to look. It could be vibrant colors or moody or monotone across the space they live and breathe in. In addition to film and interior photography so far it’s been social media that I enjoy looking at and being inspired. I enjoy looking at the spaces and thinking about how I would do with it, it’s a good brain exercise.

Have there been many people reaching out to you guys since the apartment therapy feature?

E: That was the first feature indeed. We have been growing our home to be a place we are confident in, so we submitted our place to them and got approved. We did gain a lot of followers since the feature and that was what got other accounts to notice us. Not too many people have reached out thus far aside from a few spots here and there.

I like how it’s been a slow and authentic growth to our account thus far. I’ve always had a weird relationship with social media and I don’t necessarily want to be a content creator just yet. I just want to share what we are doing to the world and people seem to like what we do. I don’t want to be in a spot where we are buying pieces just to create content.

K: That’s another thing that I like about us, we thrift and source our things with age and wear throughout time. We did go through a phase of buying and selling pieces so nothing wrong with that, but now we love and want what we have to stay with us for a long time and not rotate them for content so to speak.

It’s been three years since the pandemic hit and I am always in awe at how many people including all of us here in this room rose up or power through and did many incredible things during and after. What did you do to stay centered and sane? Did any of those new habits carry over now that things are back to normal?

E: I think my situation is pretty interesting. I was still doing real estate photography during the pandemic, but that job didn’t slow down because of Covid. I was still going to people’s houses and shooting during that time which was weird and scary.

In terms of habits, I started working on film more and joined Lonestar Darkroom as a member. Having an accessible darkroom to work with was great during that time, I don’t do that as much now and that’s one habit I needed to bring back cause I had a lot of fun.

K: I did not stay sane.

Before the pandemic started I wanted to get into roller derby, I purchased all the equipment and forced Emmanuel to practice with me and all. When the pandemic hit we moved this hobby outside and thought we just needed softer wheels. The second time we were roller skating out at a tennis court, I hit a rock and broke my ankle. The rest of my pandemic - until we moved out which was when I could walk again - was me on a couch going crazy and feeling life passing me by.

I think what I took from that experience was able to take a bad experience and spin it into knowing good things will come after that. Recovering from the injury and moved into this new place right after I felt like my injury and all that came with was to prepare me for something good. Somehow, I got out of the pandemic with a far more positive attitude on life.

As an incredible creative you guys have both worked on things that are so close to our daily lives, I’m sure you have your fair share of traveling experience and exposure to different art/fashion scenes across different cities. what do you think sets Dallas apart from all the bigger creative and interior hubs like NY or LA?

K: We just went to Chicago together, I’ve been to SanFransico, New York, and Emmanuel to Palm Springs. One thing I noticed about these places where we’ve been to is they kept many beautiful old buildings that people lived in and made available to be lived in still. In Dallas these are hard to come by, we do have buildings like this but a lot of times people are also looking for them and won’t leave once they find them. What often happens is if a building wasn’t taken good care of and when someone wants to put more housing in, they’ll just demolish those old buildings and put a brand new complex in there. It’s not so about the design but to fit as many housings in there as possible.
I think in Dallas, to have a space that they want - regardless of old or new - they have to really look hard to find it. I’m sure there are historic housing for sale that we don’t get to see cause we are renters still but you have to really go out of your way to find them.

E: In turn, people really do seek out good design because it’s so hard to come by. I think with the history of Dallas and the people here, the overall design of this city as a whole is really traditional. So when you see someone who cares about their unique take on interior design, they’ll go all out. When you see something really good it would be talked about within the community, and art styles too. Because the scene here can be a little bit more limited I think there is a really strong bond within the community cause people don’t take creativity and good work for granted.

As a pair of creatives living in this city having spent quite some time finding your creative identity, and building up a place you call home, what do you think of this city?

K: I was born in Mesquite and raised in the DFW area, so I’m a Dallas girlie through and through. I have bought into what Dallas is and I love it. I think another reason I love Dallas is there are a lot of opportunities to find these places that are big about giving back to the community.

E: The one thing I had a problem with is I don’t like how car-centric Dallas is. I wish it was more walkable and better public transit, that is the one thing that really bothers me. I love it here still, we have some of the best food here too.

K: Yeah I agree, our public transportation could be better and more walkable, less neighborhood-exclusive.

E: Going back to the identity of Dallas, I think from the outside point of view people view Dallas as a bougie place filled with wealthy people, which is true in some aspects but people often discredit Dallas for that. But that is not the real Dallas. There is a lot of great authenticity here that I don’t think people realize exists outside of the fancy restaurants and sparkly skylines. We have a lot of great neighborhood spots and great people here.

K: Small neighborhood bars, restaurants, and coffee shops are where we shine.

As I look around, I can see a lot of your taste in a tangible form! I can’t even begin picking out a favorite one so now the hard part is, what would you say is your most prized possession? (this could be face value or sentimental value, whichever way you prefer answering)

E: In terms of things I love, my record collection is something I’m really proud of.

K: You mean ours?

E: Yes yes yes *laughs. I love vinyl and I’ve been collecting them for years now, I want to eventually upgrade my sound systems for them but I think the collection is a strong contender for this question. Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and all these I’ve collected throughout the years, I WOULD save them from a fire if it did happen.

K: This might be super cheesy but I love our little photos on our fridge. It’s just us and our pets and all the fun stuff we’ve done. I do love this photo of us shot on an 8*10 Polaroid, we both take Polaroids and we got this done at the Denton Polaroid exchange. I look a little mean in that cause I was so nervous as to not show expression doing that * laughs

E: My Legos too! Oh and definitely the PS5.

I have one more before wrapping it up! For those who are interested in getting into this business or starting something of their own like you guys did. What suggestions or advice would you like to give them or is there anything you wish you’d known sooner?

K: A lot of people used to tell me putting myself out there and being a part of the scene is really important. I didn’t follow those rules right after graduating college cause I was fixated on art history and painting. you could say 'cause I didn’t feel the need to know other artists but I think back then I was scared to show my own work and put myself out there. The thing is, you just really gotta do it. People will say “ Well everyone is “ but I don’t think that is entirely true. Sometimes people are just really confident in their work but people like me can be really insecure about the things we make. To this day I still don’t post as much as I should or put myself out there as much.

So I’d say if you can, try and overcome that insecurity. Just be out there and go for it. The best advice I’ve had is what everybody says but there is truth in that.

E: I think meeting people and being in the spaces you want to be is really important. Joining groups that share the same interests does help you grow as an artist. The cool thing about photography is you don’t need a degree for that, you can learn a lot from the internet and other people. Seeing how your colleagues and peers interpret different things and how they got to where they are today is interesting and nourishing.

Maybe taking a photo or art history class would be helpful too. I think having the knowledge of where the medium came from and where it’s at now is still important.

K: Or just pay attention to the history if you don’t take any class. Often times I hear people talk about how Mark Rothko’s work is “ Just some squares, I can paint that.” But they don’t understand why it was so important during that time and why that matters in the canon of art. Learning that you can then paint that square and give it your own meaning or interpretation.

C: I think there is a huge difference between being excited to share something you’ve done online and building a framework around the moment you share it. Nowadays whenever I finish a project whatever medium it may be, it comes to me more as a secondary thought that I can share this somewhere. I do get excited about sharing and to his point, social media do influence everything but I think there is still a very clear difference between “this would look good on the feed” and “genuinely getting excited to post about something”.

If you can only use Instagram as a platform to share then it is a brilliant tool actually. It’s not that the app itself is flawed but how we use it falsely and it screwed us over by being addicted to it. I felt like it’s a relevant point to bring up to what Sawyer said cause I definitely went through a phase where I created to post and was part of the fast food pipeline.