Fort Worth’s Own HGTV Star Grace Mitchell Builds a Dream Home From Scratch, Embraces Round Top’s Antiques Magic

Like many famous interior designers, Fort Worth’s Grace Mitchell is a Round Top regular, soaking up the design inspirations and snagging the perfect pieces for her projects. You might find her nestled in for the night at the Wander Inn after a long shopping day, or even bump into her at one of the venues. Like I did last spring as we both shopped at The Compound.

When she’s not building her family’s dream home from scratch While her family of six roughs it in an Airstream on the property (read on for much more on this later).

Mitchell will be back in Round Top for this Spring Antiques Show and she’s bringing some famous friends along as well.

Mitchell is hosting a pop-up tent with fellow HGTV star Leanne Ford. Mitchell and Ford of Restored by the Fords and Home Again with the Fords are actually real-life friends. The duo was spotted shopping together at Marburger Farm last spring.

This year Mitchell and Ford are teaming up for a joint appearance on the grounds of Junk Gypsy in front of Wander Inn.

“We are setting up a tent in front of Wander Inn from March 25th through the 29th,” Grace Mitchell tells PaperCity Fort Worth. “Leanne and I are bringing a lot of our collections ― from the furniture and decor pieces we’ve collected over the years. And we’re hoping to pass them along to a happy home.”

On Friday, March 25, the two HGTV stars will host a “Campfire Jam” there as well, with special music by none other than Jamestown Revival. The award-wining band is bringing along its new Jamestown Provisions merchandise to sell in the tent. This includes everything from woodsy scents and scrubs to canvas dopp kits, fashion and apparel. Including labradorite and jasper bolo ties.

That’s a lot of big names under one tent. If you’re going to be in Round Top, this tent is starting to loom as a must visit.

For Leanne Ford, every piece is a statement piece, and every detail layers together to achieve the intended look. The highly sought after interior designer and her serene, balanced and often tonal spaces are all the rage. If you are not up to speed on Leanne Ford’s work, you can find it at her Leanne Ford Interiors, or on the recent pages of Architectural Digest, Domino, or House Beautiful.  Just to name a few.

“For both of us, we were designing professionally long before our HGTV shows came along,” Mitchell says of her friendship with Ford. “She’s just really cool. It’s nice to have someone who really understands what you are doing.”

While Ford leans toward a neutral palette, Mitchell’s style is far from it, preferring pops of color, bold wall coverings and whimsical elements. While their design aesthetic might be divergent, these designers have a lot in common ― juggling busy design careers, along with a fair amount of fame, all while raising their young families.

Both designers have expanding product lines as well. Leanne Ford for Crate and Barrel includes an interesting line of furnishings and decor. Grace Mitchell At Home features a wide range of elevated, color-coordinated design elements from furniture lines and lighting to tabletop and outdoor pieces.

On a side note, Leanne Ford partners with her brother Steve (not her husband) on their HGTV design shows. Her husband Erik Ford is the co-founder of American style-maker brand Buck Mason. Buck Mason is expanding in the Texas market this year too. There is one outpost currently in Austin and the first Houston showroom for Buck Mason is opening soon in the Montrose Collective mixed-use development at 906 Westheimer Road. A third Texas Buck Mason will land in Dallas’ NorthPark Center this summer.

Grace Mitchell’s Fort Worth Dream Home Project

Aside from her seasonal Round Top excursions, Mitchell has a lot of other plates spinning too. Both personally and professionally.

The HGTV star — famous for adding those One of a Kind touches that make a home truly a home — is bringing a real passion project to life now. Mitchell and her husband Kent sold their historic 1919 home in Fort Worth’s Mistletoe Heights neighborhood last August and decided to purchase a prime piece of undeveloped acreage in Fort Worth. This is where they are building their next dream home from scratch.

“It’s a mullet property,” Mitchell says. “Connected to an already developed neighborhood, but untouched and almost rural.”

The Mitchells and their four school-aged children have been effectively camping in a circa 1969 Airstream on the property ever since. That’s right, the family of six are juggling everything from homework to holidays housed inside a super snug Airstream. What sounds like a close-quarters endurance contest that would break most of us is for Grace Mitchell, an irreplaceable adventure with her family.

“We’re 10 months in so far, and the winter has been tougher ― with colder temps and winter clothes taking up more space,” she says. “We eat every meal outside and logistically every one has a 20 by 20 drawer to store all their worldly goods. Construction is taking longer than we expected, but I’m in the business, I get it. The house should be finished in about six more months.”

The soft spoken designer exudes an effervescent positivity through it all, just like the one fans fell in love with on her original lifestyle/design blog dubbed A Storied Style, and on her hit HGTV series One of a Kind. It’s not an act. That’s really who Grace Mitchell is. And folks are drawn to it.

For fans who have been eagerly anticipating a new season of One of a Kind and can’t wait to see more from this Fort Worth-based designer, Mitchell can’t reveal too much right now. But after a pandemic-imposed pause, she is working on a brand new project that will begin filming in Fort Worth this spring.

“More details to come soon,” Mitchell promises.

In the meantime, you can catch this Fort Worth dynamo in Round Top this month. From March 25 to 29, all you need to do is drop by Junk Gypsy and say hello.