[2] Her firm, Emily Summers Design Associates, has been recognized for using unexpected materials, creating custom pieces for each project, and combining them with 20th-century furniture and decorative objects for clients.
The home, the interior, and the later conversion of the Turtle Creek Pump House (a connecting turn of the century waterworks plant) has been widely published.
[11] Most recently her firm completed a full renovation with Good Fulton and Farrell of a 30,000 square foot private office in the iconic Highland Park Village, the 1931 buildings by Fooshee and Cheek.
Other past collaborations include the Rey Rosa Ranch with architects Coleman Coker and the late Samuel Mockbee[12][13] and a Horseshoe Bay residence with Overland Partners.
[16] Summers also restored the Perkins Chapel at Southern Methodist University with Good Fulton and Farrell and the Academic Research Center at The Hockaday School with Overland Partners Architects.
[18] In February 2010, Summers enlisted architect Jessica Stewart-Lendvay to restore a 1968 home consisting of completely circular structures in Colorado Springs, the renovation was featured on the cover of Architectural Digest.
[19] She has been actively involved with the Dallas Museum of Art for over thirty-six years, where she served as a design consultant for its Horchow Auditorium with architect Gluckman Mayner.
[20] Summers served on the President’s Advisory Council for the Dallas Center for Performing Arts, and consulted and contributed to the interiors of its new Dee and Charles Wyly Theatrer and Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House.
The DeGolyer house, completed in 1940 by architect Denmen Scott and Burton Schutt, is a 21,000 square foot estate in the Spanish Colonial Revival style.
[22] These two projects were awarded by the Preservation Dallas and by the American Society of Interior Designers Texas Chapter for their achievement in adaptive reuse.
[17] Summers was further distinguished when she received Interior Magazine's 16th Annual Award for Best Residential Design for a private residence with Antoine Predock in 1995.