Comforts of Home

Hess Home Essentials brightens your abode with colorful decor and customfurniture

Hess Home Essentials helps infuse your home with color.
Photo by Jerry McClure
Hess specializes in home accessories and accents.
Photo by Jerry McClure
Customers can browse the colorful vignettes at Hess.
Photo by Jerry McClure
Hess accessories make great layering pieces, says owner Elizabeth Mast.
Photo by Jerry McClure
Colorful, patterned rugs start at $400.
Photo by Jerry McClure
Owner Elizabeth Mast also owns Talulah Belle next door.
Photo courtesy of Hess

Elizabeth Mast dabbles in all things home and design. The style maker owns Lakewood boutique Talulah Belle; works in real estate, focusing on historic homes in East Dallas; and, in early October, opened a home and design store named Hess Home Essentials.

“When I started working with homes, I saw there was a huge need for home accessories,” Mast says.

Although she had always wanted to open a home store, it wasn’t until the space next to Talulah Belle became available that she decided to forge ahead with the idea. Mast opened up Hess in the former Bebe Grand space and created a walkway between her two shops.

At Hess you’ll find bright lamps under $200 and large, colorful rugs that start at $400. “The transitional, basic pieces are where customers should invest,” says owner Elizabeth Mast.

Hess is filled to the brim with cheerful home decor, from upholstered pieces in solids and patterns to colorful lamps, artwork and other trinkets. Everything is expertly staged — no surprise there, because Mast and team offer those services too — making it easy to imagine how it all comes together.

Between Hess and Talulah Belle, Mast employs up to 17 people on any given day.

“We’re seeing extreme growth on the Hess side,” she says. “We’re bringing in more resources to help with design.” We suspect that’s because Hess is more than a home furnishings store; it’s a one-stop home and design shop.

In addition to home staging, Hess offers interior design and custom-made pieces. “It’s all about the customer,” Mast says. “We can build furniture from the ground up. We’ve got a full selection of fabrics, but if we don’t have what a customer is looking for, we will find it.”

Mast also uses as many local sources as she can, from manufacturers to artists. She says her accessories — bright lamps under $200 and large colorful rugs that start at $400 — make great layering pieces. “The transitional, basic pieces are where customers should invest,” she says.

So what’s with the name? “I wanted something that was timeless; it’s my husband’s middle name,” Mast says. “So I worked backward. It stands for home essentials simply stated.”

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greener grass in tx

Texas blossoms as No. 1 best state for gardening and homesteading

Photo by Laura Ohlman on Unsplash

Texas is an ideal place to homestead, the study found.

If social media is any indicator, homesteading has been one of the hottest trends of 2024. And Texas is leading the charge as the No. 1 best state for homesteading and gardening, according to a new report by First Saturday Lime.

Analysts at First Saturday Lime, an insect repellant company featured on Shark Tank, evaluated the "suitability for sustainable living" across all 50 states based on six factors: Climate, community interest (a.k.a online search trends), gardening resources, farmland costs, and others.

The Lone Star State led the nation with the most farms and ranches on the market and the highest total acreage for sale. As of the study's publication, there were 7,520 total properties for sale, spanning more than 2.19 million acres of land.

Texas also ranked favorably for its farmland affordability. The state came in at No. 9 nationally with its average farmland price coming out to $2,800 per acre, the report said.

For comparison, New Mexico (which ranked No. 11 overall) had the most affordable average price per acre of farmland at just $700 per acre. Massachusetts (No. 48) and Connecticut (No. 42), however, tied for the most expensive price per acre, at $14,300.

Among the three remaining categories in the study, Texas performed the worst for its "gardens on Yelp per capita" rank. The study calculated Texas has 0.30 gardening and community garden establishments on Yelp per capita, placing Texas at No. 49.

Meanwhile, Texas' historically hot weather meant it ranked No. 43 out of all 50 states in the "favorable climate" rank, and the state earned a middle-of-the-road No. 35 rank in the "search interest per capita" category.

"Homesteading and gardening are growing in popularity, but some states provide better opportunities than others," the report's author wrote. "Whether you're after fresh produce or the freedom of self-sufficiency, choosing the right state can make all the difference."

Following behind Texas to complete the top three best states for homesteading and gardening are Oregon (No. 2) and Washington (No. 3), two notoriously rainy West Coast states.

Meanwhile, three East Coast states ranked at the bottom of the list as the worst states for homesteading and gardening: Rhode Island (No. 50), New Jersey (No. 49), and Massachusetts (No. 48).

The top 10 best states for homesteading and gardening are:

No. 1 – Texas
No. 2 – Oregon
No. 3 – Washington
No. 4 – Vermont
No. 5 – Delaware
No. 6 – Arizona
No. 7 – Wyoming
No. 8 – Montana
No. 9 – Hawaii
No. 10 – Colorado

The study sourced its data from Yelp, Google Trends, and the UDSA to determine each state's ranking.

gardening sustainability nature farmers