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The most memorable spaces in a home often start as problem areas. In Rosalie and Matt McMahon’s Dallas house, that troubled spot was a small hallway closet just off the kitchen. Originally, the niche had a heavy metal door and a tiny fridge tucked into the corner, hinting that someone had once imagined it as a wine room. But the space never quite worked. “We didn’t know what to do with it,” Rosalie says. “Should it be a pantry? A closet? It just felt awkward.”
The answer came during a trip to France. While traveling through Paris and Lyon, the couple visited a restaurant where they were seated in a small, candlelit room lined entirely with deep red shelving stacked with wine bottles. The space was intimate and atmospheric. “I turned to my husband and said, ‘I have the craziest idea,’” Rosalie recalls. “We need to turn that awkward closet in our home into this.”
To bring the vision to life, Rosalie called on Becca Meyer, principal designer of BB Meyer Design in Mill Valley, California, and also a longtime friend. Their husbands had been roommates in their twenties, and the two women had known each other for years. “Rosalie has always had incredible taste,” Meyer says. “So when she came to me with this idea, it felt like such a natural collaboration.”
Despite the distance between California and Texas, Meyer managed the entire project remotely. Thanks to detailed drawings, FaceTime walkthroughs, and a trusted local contractor Rosalie had worked with before, the two were able to coordinate the renovation without Meyer ever visiting the site during construction. “It was such a small space that we could really get away with remote design,” Meyer says. “Rosalie would send me videos of samples or the paint colors, and we’d talk through every detail.”
The original inspiration from Lyon called for open shelving lined with wine bottles, but the design evolved after Rosalie mentioned the plan to her father, a serious wine enthusiast. “He basically said, ‘You can’t store wine like that,’” Rosalie says, laughing. “Restaurants get away with it because they’re constantly opening bottles.” The solution was to combine aesthetics with practicality. Built-in horizontal wine racks now anchor the back wall, ensuring bottles are stored properly, while open shelves still allow for display.
The compact footprint also became an opportunity to lean into bold design choices. The walls are swathed in Farrow & Ball’s Eating Room Red, a rich tone that Meyer says immediately gives the space depth even without much natural light. “People are often scared of red,” Meyer says. “But in a small room like this, it’s the perfect place to be playful.”
Pattern adds another layer of character. A Jasper wallpaper lines the walls above the built-ins, while a cabinet skirt in Schumacher fabric softens the lower cabinetry. Brass gallery rails keep bottles and objects secure on the open shelves.
The finishing touches came largely from Rosalie’s own collection. An avid estate-sale shopper, she regularly brings home vintage finds from champagne buckets to antique decor that give the nook its collected feel. “Rosalie’s house is full of pieces with soul, so styling the room was really about pulling from what she already had,” Meyer says.
Some of the most personal elements came directly from the trip that inspired the renovation. Framed vintage postcards purchased in France now hang inside the space, subtly referencing the restaurant that sparked the original idea. A tiny French bistro, hidden in a Dallas hallway.
