Your Space, Your Style

Marsha j. smith admits to being schizophrenic. Sort of.

"If you could put my summer and winter homes side by side, you'd see what I mean. Although I decorated both places and am happy with the results, they are as different as night and day-or perhaps I should say as polar opposite as northern Virginia and Naples."

At her primary residence in Alexandria, Va.,-a stately white colonial-the mood throughout is elegant and serene.

"Muted colors work well against the dark hardwood floors," the professional dog trainer says. "My mother's antiques and Oriental rugs fit the mood perfectly. Friends comment on the gracious feeling they get walking through the front door, and people often tell me, 'Oh, this house is so you.'"

But some of the same people have said the same thing when visiting her Naples townhouse, Smith admits, even though she took an entirely different decorating approach.

"Florida is all about sunshine, tropical flowers, the beach," Smith notes, "and I wanted to incorporate those things into my winter residence. But at the same time, I was determined that the house would reflect my personality."

Somehow, it all came together, Smith says, thanks primarily to the judicious use of accessories.

"Heirloom prints of hunting scenes, for example, work unexpectedly well with the contemporary furnishings I chose for my north Naples house," she adds, "and anyone who knows me expects dogs to somehow creep into the decorating scheme."

Smith also wanted to give her second home a "lived-in" look. "I've noticed that a lot of Naples homes look unrealistically perfect. Everything is new . too new," she says. "In addition to artwork and tons of books, I brought numerous keepsakes from my Virginia house in order to put a personal stamp on our winter residence. For example, a small chandelier from a bedroom there now lights up my guest bathroom.

"You could say I've brought a little bit of Alexandria to Naples," Smith adds.

Betsy Ryan and her husband, Jack, who spend most of the year in Wayne, Pa., took a similar approach when decorating their Bonita Springs condo at The Colony at Pelican Landing, which will likely become their retirement home a few years down the road.

Like Smith, Ryan wanted a more casual Florida look for her second home. The couple's primary residence is a late Victorian "filled with stuff we've accumulated over the past 20 years," she says. "It's homey, it's lived in and we love it-but it's a nice contrast to come to Florida."

Still, the Ryans were determined to avoid overdoing a beachy theme. Too many pastels or the over-the-top Tuscan looks they'd seen in model homes weren't for them. And time was an enemy. Unlike Smith, they were too busy to handle the job themselves.

Kim Collins and design assistant Deborah Martinez of Collins & DuPont Interior Design of Bonita Springs came to the rescue, and the couple is thrilled with the results of their joint venture.

"They have access to so much more than the average person," Betsy Ryan notes. "Our goal was a sophisticated, extremely tasteful and modern look without being hard and cold. We brought the designers pictures of things we liked, and we shared our love of nature and crafts-handmade items from cultures around the world," she says. "Today we have a vacation getaway that feels like home. It's an exciting place to walk into. The house really reflects our taste."

Martinez has heard the same thing about the Ryans' home.

"Friends go into the residence and they say, 'It looks like the Ryans,' which was the goal," she says. "We wanted the home to reflect their personalities and not be bland or cookie-cutter."

"It's incredibly pleasant," adds Betsy Ryan. "This was my first experience using a design firm and the process was painless, really fun."

That's how it should be, say other local designers. In the words of Jinx McDonald of Jinx McDonald Designs-who garnered numerous Sand Dollar and Pinnacle Awards in recent years-"Everything must please the client."

And the sooner the designer gets involved, the better, according to McDonald.

"I prefer to do houses from scratch," she says. "It's equally important to get the electrical outlets in the right spot as well as getting accessories in the right spot, although accessorizing for the sake of accessorizing is wrong."

Her aim is to integrate an entire feeling, an entire theme, throughout the residence. That's why it's imperative that the designer get to know the clients and their likes and dislikes. "When you walk into a house, you should immediately become aware of the ambiance," McDonald says.

But you'll probably have more leeway if you're dressing up a second home, adds Jim Kunstel, who has been a Bay Design Store designer in Old Naples since 1991.

"People who move here from somewhere else and become year-round residents tend to do things like they did back home," he says. "When this is their second or

third home, however, they

become more adventurous."

That usually means a tropical twist-a look that can be difficult for an amateur decorator to pull

off tastefully.

"It's possible to get that Florida look in a more sophisticated way," he notes, indicating a display of antique shell prints and limited edition orchid lithographs in mirrored frames on a wall of the shop. Accessories like these are a step up from the kitschy, trying-too-hard tropical art often seen locally. It's OK to get a little more carried away when it comes to guest rooms, however, Kunstel adds. "Your out-of-town visitors expect that, and it's fun."

The designer also notes that lighting can be an accessory and is often just as important as carefully chosen pillows, artwork and tabletop accents. "It all ties together to give a room its character, set the mood and individualize it to make a house a home," he says.

Friends agree that angela Chinaglia, a local catering and event planning specialist, got it right. It's evident from the foyer: Her sprawling Foxfire home captures her warm, outgoing personality and love of family.

"My decorating philosophy is really simple," she says. "It came to me the first time I met Princess Diane von Furstenberg. I was a junior in high school and she was the top designer in New York, and her salon had an unmistakable flair. It was sexy, elegant and comfortable, just like her clothing."

She also notes that the décor was feminine but not frou-frou. Then and there, the seed was planted. "I decided that a house should be luxuriously comfortable but never intimidating," she says, and she has stayed the course through the years.

Today Chinaglia says, "If you can't put your feet on it, even if it's a $2,000 fabric, I don't want it. A home is to live in, to enjoy and to love." It's also perfectly fine, she adds, to occasionally break some rules. "After all, you can mix costume with heirloom on your person, so why not in your home?"

Her living room, for example, contains modern, sculptured sofas-covered unexpectedly in a washable cotton duck material. Between the two sectionals sits an elegant 19th century silk moire setee. The contrast works beautifully.

Chinaglia never rests on her laurels, however, and frequently makes small changes to keep the look fresh. For instance, she periodically rotates the family photos she groups together in displays throughout her home. However, by sticking with sterling silver frames, the look is unified.

"You can walk past any table and there is a memory sitting there ... a special day with my children, or my mother or a friend."

Her walls tell tales, too. In order to display the paintings she acquired during 20 years of extensive world travels, Chinaglia had her walls painted soothing hues, such as soft almond. "A solid, nonintrusive backdrop makes the art pop," she points out, "and each piece reminds me of a different time and place."

Too many people are timid when decorating, Chinaglia notes. "They want to do matchy-matchy, and it's so hollow. Or, they're afraid to take a chance and put cherished pieces alongside new purchases. I'd like to see these people live a little dangerously and not be afraid to express their personalities by adding a little rock 'n' roll."