For Christmas this year, the Banowetzes are keeping it simple: just Leon and Molly with their two children Lila (age 7) and Weston (age 5). Oh yeah, and about 100 plastic, light-up Santas.
“Waiting 15 years before having kids leads to a lot of collecting,” Molly Banowetz explains. Before their children were born, Molly and Leon traveled extensively (thanks to a stint Molly had with American Airlines). On their travels, the couple collected everything from crosses, canes and swizzle sticks to matchbooks, rubber duckies and action figures. But before you start picturing mountains of clutter piled high throughout their house, think again. Each collection in their 6,000-square-foot home on White Rock Lake is neatly on display, beckoning guests to explore and admire the shelves, tabletops and walls full of globes, billiard balls, religious-inspired art and seasonal décor.
The home’s interior is clearly a reflection of Molly and Leon—fun, artistic and full of life. Leon was born and raised in rural Iowa into a family of 15 (he’s number 12!) and Molly grew up in San Antonio where she devel oped an appreciation for art and design (her mother is a docent at The McNay Art Museum). The couple’s creative side extends into their graphic design and advertising firm, Banowetz + Company.
Though Molly stopped working in June to be more available to the kids, she still coordinates invoices and is planning a computer upgrade for the office. “I thought that by not working full time, I’d be able to get all of this stuff done and it would be nirvana,” she says. But between bringing Lila and Weston to school, dealing with a smorgasbord of extracurriculars, working part time and keeping up with the house, the days evaporate as quickly as they did when she kept full-time office hours. “I feel like I need to defragment my brain,” Molly laughs.
When asked if she is still an avid collector, Molly’s standard response is “No, I have kids!” Nowadays, the family’s fastest growing collection is Fisher- Price. “Once you have kids, everything goes plastic,” she jokes. Weston, in particular, is becoming quite the little collector. Just ask him to show off his favorite toys and he’ll eagerly lead you to his growing cache of trains and cars. Lila, on the other hand, is more of the stylist. “She loves arranging things,” says Molly. “I can see her becoming a designer or doing window display.”
Though Leon and Molly aren’t actively collecting at the moment, they still enjoy the artifacts they do have. “It just comforts me,” Molly says of the religious art that hangs throughout the home, some of it reverent and some of it whimsical. Molly grew up in San Antonio, where religious art is “such a huge part of the culture there,” says Molly. As for decorating for the holidays, the Banowetzes have it down to a science. Molly smartly keeps the wiring in place behind every piece of furniture that gets topped with lighted bunnies at Easter, lighted pumpkins at Halloween and lighted Santas at Christmas (“Pilgrims just don’t do it for me,” Molly says about her lack of Thanksgiving décor). As for a Christmas tree, “We finally bought a fake one,” reveals Molly, who was tired of buying a fresh tree each year to fit their sizeable living room. Even the kids’ wish lists are a study in efficiency: butcher paper hung in Lila and Weston’s rooms allow them to cut out what they want and tape it up for all to see. “When the kids start asking for stuff throughout the year, we just tell them to cut it out, put it up there, and we’ll review it closer to Christmas,” Leon says. They remind the children to keep the prices next to each item, and that the items priced in the triple digits are less likely to come true than those in the double. And, in classic Banowetz artistic fashion, Leon and Molly don’t send out holiday cards, but rather small, printed photo books that contain black-and whites of the kids throughout the year. It’s their way of sharing with others their best collection of all—memories created together as a family.
