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The Design Lover’s Guide to Houston: Art, Food, Shopping & Creative Stays
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Houston is rewriting its story in bold, creative strokes. Long stereotyped as the land of oil and freeways, the Bayou City is emerging as one of America’s most design-forward destinations. What sets Houston apart is how seamlessly creativity weaves into daily life. Skyscrapers bloom with murals, boutiques double as design studios, crawfish boils are reinvented with lemongrass and garlic, and even the airport greets you with artist studios.
This post is your guide to experiencing Houston through design and culture. Each section offers a glimpse into the city’s creative spirit, with links to deeper features that capture Houston in full color.
Arrive Inspired: Houston Hobby Airport
The design journey begins the moment you land. At William P. Hobby Airport, art is not decoration, it is a cultural mission. The airport is home to the nation’s longest-running Artist-in-Residence program, turning the Skybridge Gallery into a working studio where travelers meet artists creating in real time. Colorful glass mosaics flood the corridor with kaleidoscopic light, while installations like Higher Ground invite visitors to dream big before takeoff.
From live music in the Harmony in the Air program to upcycled fashion crafted from aircraft seat leather, the terminal makes creativity part of the travel experience itself.
For those curious about how Houston turned its airport into an art destination, explore more about Hobby Airport’s artist studios.
Shop Like a Local
Step outside the airport, and Houston’s design story continues in its neighborhoods. Skip the malls since the city’s creative soul is best found in independent shops where makers and curators shape stories through fashion and design.
Persa Place brings together talents like Brooke Wise, known as the “Levi’s Whisperer” for her ability to size up customers and match them to vintage denim.
“Anything unique and different. Vintage Levi’s are my best sellers, but I love one-of-a-kind things that are not what everybody else is wearing.” – Brooke Wise
Nearby, Carla Valencia reimagines vintage pieces with beadwork and embroidery alongside her father, while Manready Mercantile in the Heights has grown from soy candles into a lifestyle brand.
“The ironic thing is that most people consider us a retailer, but I consider us a manufacturer. I want visitors to be a little confused — to think it’s only for guys, then realize it’s for everyone. I want that sensory overload.” – Travis Weaver
From denim to beadwork to lifestyle goods, shopping here is less about consumption and more about connection. For a deeper dive into these makers and markets, check out where to shop like a local in Houston.
Walls That Speak: Murals & Mini Masterpieces
That creative energy spills out onto the streets where walls become canvases and intersections turn into open-air galleries. The Big Art, Bigger Change initiative is transforming downtown with 50 large-scale murals tied to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
The striking Lady Justice mural stands tall over downtown Houston, symbolizing fairness and remembrance while highlighting the city’s bold mural movement.
Highlights include Victor Ash’s Lady Justice at 1019 Congress Street and Ana Marietta’s Sharing the World, which celebrates Houston’s 145+ languages.
“We have artists from Iran, Ukraine, South Africa, all across Latin America, Europe and local Houston talent too. These murals are intentional messages about humanity.” – Ann Taylor, Downtown Houston Plus
“We joke that in downtown, these skyscrapers painted with murals are our mountain range.” – Ann Taylor, Downtown Houston Plus
Houston’s award-winning Mini Murals program has transformed over 450 utility boxes into bite-sized works of art, each telling a story of local culture.
The art is not only large-scale. The Mini Murals program has turned more than 450 traffic boxes into small canvases, each telling a story of local culture. Together, the murals and mini murals create a city that you do not just walk through, you experience.
Culinary Culture in Houston: From Asiatown to the Bayou City
Design in Houston does not stop at what you see on walls or in shops. It also comes alive on the plate, where flavors, techniques, and spaces tell stories just as vividly as murals or boutiques. The city’s food scene is an essential part of its cultural identity, blending heritage with innovation.
Asiatown & Crawfish Culture
Creativity in Houston is not only something you see, it is something you taste. Along Bellaire Boulevard, known as Little Saigon, Asiatown has become a culinary landmark. The district is famous for Viet-Cajun crawfish, a Gulf Coast staple tossed in garlic, butter, and lemongrass. At Crawfish & Noodles, Chef Trong Nguyen pioneered the style, earning James Beard recognition.
Food blogger Mai Pham explained:
“In the late 1990s, a lot of Vietnamese entrepreneurs started mixing the flavors they grew up with — garlic, butter, lemongrass — with Cajun crawfish boils. It started in Houston, but now you will find it in other U.S. cities.” – Mai Pham
The scene goes beyond crawfish. Neon storefronts, bilingual signage, and late-night spots like Hẻm Kitchen & Bar make Asiatown a crossroads of heritage and innovation.
At Hẻm, co-owner Steven Diep laughed when I asked about the tiny plastic chairs and tables used in the restaurant:
“Honestly, it’s about convenience. In Vietnam, indoor seating is limited, so people spill outside. The small tables are light, cheap, and easy to move.” – Steven Diep
Beyond Bellaire, Houston’s culinary stage is a citywide theater. At Annabelle Brasserie, diners step into a floral fantasy of upside-down gardens and playful desserts. Le Jardinier, tucked into the Museum of Fine Arts, brings Michelin-starred precision to seasonal French cooking. Food halls like POST Houston mix global flavors with architecture and art installations, complete with a rooftop farm that models sustainable dining.
What struck me most is how every restaurant tells a story, whether it is sustainability, heritage, or immersive design. Houston proves that food is culture, and culture here is always evolving. For more, explore the highlights of culinary culture across the Bayou City.
Stay in Style: Montrose’s Creative Hotels
To fully experience Houston’s creative energy, it helps to stay somewhere that reflects it. In Montrose, the heart of the city’s art scene, Hotel Saint Augustine blends minimalist architecture with bold, playful interiors. The red-lacquered lobby doubles as a gallery, while suites feel like stylish residences with velvet beds, sculptural furniture, and rainbow-striped robes.
Across the street, the Menil Collection offers free-standing galleries like the Rothko Chapel and Cy Twombly Gallery, making the hotel a perfect base for exploring. Locals even drop by the hotel’s Perseid bar, where cocktails and conversation flow under the glow of heritage oaks.
Dining under a canopy of flowers at Annabelle Brasserie, one of Houston’s most beautiful and atmospheric restaurants.
Houston is a city where creativity is not staged; it is lived. You see it in mural-covered skyscrapers, shop for it in vintage boutiques, taste it in garlic-butter crawfish and Michelin-starred menus, and rest in it at design-driven hotels. Even the airport greets visitors with mosaics and music before they reach baggage claim.
As The Design Tourist, what struck me most is how every space in Houston, whether an intersection, a café, or a hotel lobby, becomes a canvas. For design lovers, this is not just a destination to visit. Houston is a city to walk through, savor, and carry with you long after you leave.
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Karen LeBlanc is a freelance writer living in Orlando, Florida with many published bylines in magazines, newspapers, and multimedia sites. As a professional lifestyle writer, Karen specializes in art, architecture, design, home interiors and personality profiles.
Karen is the writer, producer and host of the streaming series, The Design Tourist (www.TheDesignTourist.com) that brings viewers a global dose of design inspiration with episodes featuring the latest looks and trends from the world’s premiere design events and shows. She also publishes a quarterly magazine on design travel that you can read by clicking the link: https://thedesigntourist.com/the-magazine/
Her journalism background includes seven years on-air experience as a TV news reporter and anchor covering a range of issues from education to politics. Her educational credentials include a Master of Arts in Mass Communications from Northeast Louisiana University and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Louisiana State University.
Throughout her career, Karen has written and produced dozens of documentaries and videos for educational, commercial, corporate, and governmental clients and appeared in many TV and video productions as a professional host.
Karen LeBlanc is an award-winning travel journalist and storyteller, honored with two Telly Awards and four North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) awards for The Design Tourist travel show. As the show’s host, producer, and writer, Karen takes viewers beyond the guidebooks to explore the culture, craft, cuisine, and creativity that define the world’s most fascinating destinations.
