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Quick Change

Savvy Texas designer shares 5 simple steps to beautify your home

Holly Beretto
Jul 18, 2019 | 10:00 am

When it comes to figuring out personal style, savvy interior designer Oscar Zuniga takes a customized approach. He realizes that people want to update their spaces, without necessarily doing a huge overhaul. To help them, Zuniga likes to start in the closet.

"If you show me your closet, I can see what styles you love," says Zuniga, of Houston-based Oscar Zuniga Interiors. "Maybe you love color or a certain look. People often dress like their homes."

He wants his clients to feel comfortable in their living spaces — after all, a home should feel welcoming to its occupants. When it comes to quick updates on a home, Zuniga has a few tricks up his sleeve that he uses to bring out the personalities of his clients and create a unique space they'll love.

A splash of color
"Paint is the easiest, most practical, effective way to see change [in a space] right away," says the designer, who founded his firm four years ago. "But it's not just about painting the walls. You can paint the furniture. Once, I got this huge canvas for a client and painted it and set it against a wall with two chairs and a table in front of it." The latter option, he says, is a great idea for someone who may like a pop of color, but doesn't quite want to go all-in and paint four walls some wild blue or red.

By changing out the color on a coffee table or a bookcase, he says, a room gets an instant upgrade and a fresh look. Spot painting like that also helps people see how they can gradually make other, larger changes to their homes. In the interim, it's a low-commitment way to give a space a fresher feel.

A new shift
When Zuniga meets with his clients, he likes to walk through their homes with them, not just walking into a room and standing in it, talking to them about the space, but following them on a mock daily routine. It helps him understand the way people use their homes, and knowing that kind of traffic flow can help home dwellers consider how if they're using the furniture in their rooms to maximum effect.

"Not everyone likes the look of two couches facing each other," he says, noting that that look is often a design default. But moving on from those couches to another space in the same room — or out of it altogether gives the room a whole new feel. "You have to adjust things to how you live," he says. That means a pedestal table that's been hiding in an attic might now become a perfect accent piece in the corner of a room. Moving where the dressers are in the bedroom can create space and make the room flow better.

Love your layers
As with clothes, layering allows for easy updates to a home look. "To me, the idea of laying is to bring objects you love into the look of the room," he says. He might add a stack of a client's beloved books to a coffee table or put trinkets with special meaning next to a vase to create a multi-layered visual. Perhaps there's a chair in the corner of a room that gets layered by the addition of a throw or a pillow, and then the entire look of the corner is augmented by a screen or table with funky art pieces on it.

Or, a shelf can be put up that serves as the foundation for a series of family heirlooms and photos. "Sometimes, you just know that certain objects are attracted to each other," he says. "When you follow your gut, these kinds of favorite pieces find their right home."

Let there be light
Like layering, lighting make a room pop. And switching up the lighting game, Zuniga says, is a quick way to give a space a reboot. "Even just changing light bulbs from regular soft white to led lighting can make a brighter impact and a cooler feel to the room," he says. "You can also change the lamp shades in your living space to create a more eccentric feel."

He also recommends adding additional upper or lower recess lighting to art pieces, which helps create a more uplifting feel to those pieces. Lamps can offer a pop of personality to a nightstand or a coffee table that overhead lighting might not. And lighting different parts of a room in different ways can also achieve a new look.

Picture perfect
"Art is definitely a way to express your style and personality and does well on any space vibe," says Zuniga. But that doesn't have to mean going out and buying an expensive painting. People can hang their own creations, he says, which gives an instant personal feel to a space.

Clustering family photos or images of beloved places offers a focal point in a space and also showcases the homeowner's personality. "One way to create art on a budget is to buy fabric to add color and pattern to a room," he says. "Plus, varying the textures in a gallery wall will add interest and depth to the space."

Zuniga understands that home is a personal space and a deeply individualized concept.

"When your house doesn't feel like your home, call a professional," he says. "I had a client who had this beautiful home, by anyone's definition, but she felt no connection to the space. Once I understood who she was and what she wanted in a home, we were able to give her a look that was hers."

Zuniga also understands that people may not have the vocabulary to say what they want in a space or what design trend speaks to them. Designers, he notes, can interpret the right ideas to give clients what they need. Most of all, he adds, updating a home's look doesn't have to mean gigantic changes. Sometimes, it's the smallest details and touches that have the biggest impact.

Shed some light on your updates.

Love Where You Live 5 steps to quickly change houston home
Photo courtesy of Oscar Zuniga
Shed some light on your updates.
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Movie Review

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever wears its emotions on its sleeve

Alex Bentley
Nov 10, 2022 | 3:14 pm
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever wears its emotions on its sleeve
Photo by Annette Brown

Angela Bassett in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

The Marvel Cinematic Universe and writer/director Ryan Coogler find themselves in almost an impossible position with the long-anticipated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The death of star Chadwick Boseman in 2020 left a gaping hole in both the ongoing MCU and in Coogler’s story plans for this film, which likely had to be mostly scrapped in the absence of his character, King T’Challa.

And so, like much of the MCU’s Phase Four films, Wakanda Forever feels tenuously patched together. Coogler and co-writer Joe Robert Cole address the elephant in the room right away, starting the film with T’Challa’s (off-screen) death, a sequence that is as elegantly handled as possible. It is the first of multiple times in the film that characters like his sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) and mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett) grapple with the loss, moments that never fail to bring big emotion into the film.

At first, it feels like the film’s main storyline will be successful, introducing a new group of beings, led by Namor (Tenoch Huerta), who live underwater in a country they call Talokan. Like Wakanda, they live in an area that’s rich with vibranium, which makes their deep-sea land a target for countries eager to be on a level playing field with Wakanda. Naturally, they defend their territory at all costs, with the mysterious nature of the Talokans leading to them being confused for Wakandans.

Early conflicts between the Talokans and Wakandans are suitably entertaining, with the Talokans – featuring blue skin, masks filled with water to be able to breathe at all times, and possible regenerative properties – seemingly indomitable. But as the film goes along, and especially in the final act, the battle scenes become repetitive and filled with subpar CGI that takes the viewer out of the necessary escapism mode.

The film works best when it returns to the personal aspects of the story. Without the presence of T’Challa, the film becomes mostly about the women of Wakanda, including Shuri, Ramonda, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), and warrior Okoye (Danai Gurira). The way each adapts to their new or adapted roles is much more interesting than any of the fights. Coogler also takes time to give the history of Namor and the Talokans, making them deeper than other nemeses in comic book films.

When it comes time for a particular character to finally take up the mantle of Black Panther again, the reveal is not much of a surprise. But whether it’s the reluctance of that character, the appearance of the character in the suit, or the incoherence of the scenes showing off that person’s skills, there’s little that’s exciting about the newly-minted superhero.

It’s also disappointing that – after the world-building and addressing of real-life racial issues in the first film – this film doesn’t push harder in that regard. Coogler and the production team, especially costume designer Ruth E. Carter, make Wakanda as real as ever, but the implicit promise T’Challa makes at the end of the first film - that Wakanda would be a beacon for Black people around the world - is only lightly addressed.

There is little the filmmakers could do about it, but the film misses Boseman’s larger-than-life aura. Much of the film centers on Shuri, but Wright is better as a supporting actor than a lead. A better choice would have been Bassett, who is as strong as ever, or Nyong’o or Gurira, who are each compelling in their roles. Winston Duke once again makes the most of his brief appearances as M’Baku.

For all its faults, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is still the most watchable of the recent slate of MCU films. The central conflict doesn’t yield many rewards, but the film wears its emotions on its sleeve, giving fans permission to publicly grieve the generational talent gone too soon.

---

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in theaters on November 11.

Angela Bassett in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Photo by Annette Brown

Angela Bassett in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

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Joy to the (Sea) World

The holidays splash into Sea World San Antonio with parades, parties, puppets, and more

Hannah J. Frías
Nov 10, 2022 | 10:54 am
Santa Sea World
Courtesy of Sea World
In total, Sea World will feature 12 uniquely themed holiday areas for this 42-day Yuletide extravaganza.

In Texas, we like to claim that everything is bigger here. We also like to compete for biggest of the big, which rings true for Sea World's self-ascribed "biggest Christmas event in Texas," kicking off this week.

Starting Thursday, November 10, the marine life park transforms into a holiday wonderland for 42 full days of sparkling lights, holiday festivities, and, of course, tasty seasonal treats. This year also marks the premiere of a new live-action musical, O Wondrous Night, as well as a new Christmas party zone, Snowman Jam. In the former, the Nativity story comes to life through the eyes of the animals who experienced it, thanks to puppetry, carols, and special effects. Meanwhile, Snowman Jam invites park visitors to enjoy festive flurries and specialty cocktails from the Frozen Fusion Bar while bopping to the sounds of a DJ.

Returning favorites include the Sesame Street Christmas Parade, Christmas Market, meet-and-greets with Santa and Rudolph, and the "largest light display in the state" – according to the release. In total, the park will feature 12 uniquely themed holiday areas, from a 1950s-inspired Christmas cove; a whimsical Snowman village with life-sized snowman; and the country-themed Christmas Market, which houses a Christmas tree made entirely of cowboy boots.

Other highlights include:

  • Holiday shows and festive animal presentations, from Merry Mariachis to a festive beluga whale and pacific white-sided dolphin presentation.
  • An immersive Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer experience: Hear the story of the world's most famous reindeer when strolling past life-size story book vignettes featuring the classic tale before meeting the beloved characters including Rudolph himself.
  • The Sesame Street Christmas Parade: Festive floats feature live performances and celebrate the magic of the holiday season with Sesame Street friends, including Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and more.
  • Coca-Cola presents Fireside S’mores and a holiday scavenger hunt: Families and friends can create memories while cozied up around the fire roasting marshmallows for delicious holiday s'mores. Afterwards, guests can participate in a photo scavenger hunt for Coca-Cola-themed festive prize and the chance to be featured on billboards around San Antonio.
Don't forget the festive food and drinks, either: The park will offer no lack of seasonal candies, baked goods, hot cocoa, and more. Winter cocktails include a new Santa-Gria and melon liqueur-based Grinch cocktail. For a traditional holiday meal, guests can enjoy dinner with Santa or Rudolph (reservations required).

SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration runs from 1 pm until 9 pm on select days between November 10 and January 2, 2023. Head to SeaWorld.com to plan your visit or learn more about 2023 Season Passes, which includes free Christmas ornaments, a free ticket for a friend to join in the Christmas festivities, and more benefits.

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Election News

Texas voters re-elect Abbott, Patrick, and more of the same in mid-term election

Teresa Gubbins
Nov 9, 2022 | 10:54 am
greg abbott
Greg Abbott/Instagram

The results of the mid-term election are in.

Texans maintained the status quo in the November 8 mid-term election, re-electing Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton by similar majorities.

Results of all elections can be found at results.texas-election.com/races.

  • Abbott won by 55.11 percent, with a tally of 4,335,425 votes, while runner-up Beto O'Rourke earned 43.52 percent or 3,424,074 votes.
  • Patrick garnered 54.08 percent or 4,216,864 votes, against Democratic challenger Mike Collier, who earned 43.18 percent with 3,367,033 votes.
  • Paxton trailed with 53.75 percent or 4,178,494 votes, against runner-up Rochelle Mercedes Garza, who got 43.36 percent or 3,371,361 votes.
  • Sid Miller was re-elected Commissioner of Agriculture with 46.63 percent or 4,372,741 votes, versus opponent Susan Hays who earned 43.37 percent or 3,349,247 votes.
  • Wayne Christian was re-elected Railroad Commissioner with 55.7 percent or 4,296,565 votes, beating top contender Luke Warford who scored 40.24 percent or 3,104,474 votes.
In San Antonio, U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar was re-elected, besting Republican challenger Cassy Garcia by 56.6 percent to 43.4 percent.

Austin's race for Mayor will go to a run-off. None of the six candidates earned more than 50 percent, so voters will choose from the two top candidates — former Austin mayor and state senator Kirk Watson and State Rep. Celia Israel — in a runoff election on December 13.

In Dallas, County Judge Clay Jenkins was re-elected, as was District Attorney John Cruezot, who earned 59.36 percent of the vote against challenger Faith Johnson's 40.64 percent. The city also passed Proposition A, which will raise hotel occupancy taxes from 13 to 15 percent, with the funds to be used to renovate Fair Park and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

In Fort Worth, the new Tarrant County Judge replacing Glen Whitley will be Tim O’Hare, a former mayor of Farmers Branch who had the support of Donald Trump; he defeated Democratic candidate Deborah Peoples, who has run for Fort Worth mayor twice.

Houston experienced issues with polling places that did not open on time, or malfunctions that caused delays and temporary closures. A group called Texas Organizing Project successfully petitioned Harris County to extend the voting hours until 8 pm, but the Texas Supreme Court ordered Harris County election officials to separate out any ballots that were cast after hours.

A location at Texas State University in San Marcos also suffered malfunctions with five out of eight machines, causing wait times of four hours or more.

Five cities — Denton, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin, and Harker Heights — approved propositions to decriminalize low-level possession of marijuana, following the example of Austin, which passed a similar proposition in May.

For the first time, voters were given "no straight ticket" option to vote quickly for all one party or another requiring a click on each individual race — the result of HB25, a law pushed through by Republicans in the Texas Legislature in 2017, which killed the straight ticket option.

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