Inside the Industry

On opening day of the inter-national Design Center in Estero, Margaret Miller led a business associate into Michael Black's showroom, instructing him to have a seat. Miller, president of Miromar Development and the brain behind the center, just had to show off Black & Lenet's Dino Mark Anthony chair, a comfortable square of a chair with smooth-as-butter tufted leather cushions that immediately sprang back once Miller's acquaintance arose. "Isn't it wonderful?" she asked.

For homeowners furnishing a new home or redecorating an existing one, the center, which opened in May, offers fabrics, furniture, art and accessories right from the pages of Architectural Digest and Metropolitan Home. From floors to ceilings and everything in between, the IDC has Southwest Florida's homes covered, and new showrooms continue to open nearly every week. While only one-third of the vendors will be open to the public (the top two floors are reserved to the design trade only), the IDC demonstrates Southwest Florida's rising star as one of the country's leaders in high-fashion home design. It's just one of 18 of such design centers in the country and the first to open in the last 20 years.

"It's great to be able to bring my clients to the showroom, to give them a visual and the opportunity to sit on a chair," says designer Heddy Zubrowski, who also volunteers one day a month to serve as the IDC's designer on call. "We have very few to-the-trade showrooms in Naples and had to travel all the way to DCOTA [on Florida's east coast]."

Zubrowski, the proprietor of Heddy Z Designs in Bonita Springs, particularly likes Kravet for fabrics and the Baker showroom. "It has classical and traditional furnishings from Barbara Barry, McGuire and Theodore Alexander," she says.

On the top two floors of the IDC, guests must be accompanied by their designer or the center's designer on call, like Zubrowski, who provides a complimentary design hour. "It really benefits the customer to ask to work with the designer," she says. "We can share our ideas and show them something they may not have considered." About two dozen local and national showrooms are now open in the IDC's 250,000-square-foot first phase, and customers will find products for any design project, whether traditional or modern, small or large, inside or out.

Inside the IDC

Murano Glass Creations carries chandeliers and mirrors that are hand-blown in Italy using a centuries-old technique. Intricate etchings and 24-karat gold leaf adorn these larger-than-life masterpieces that demand to be hung in a larger foyer or dining room. Chandeliers cost from $5,000 to more than $100,000 and come in a variety of color combinations. Some contemporary designs are available.

Also on the first floor, Francesco Molon's over-scale Old World wood furniture and cabinetry is meticulously hand-carved and finished. While browsing the showroom's selection, look up and down. Francesco Molon also does ceilings and floors. Each furniture piece showcases the company's mastery of inlay, marquetry and gold leafing. The peacock design of a $20,000 table, for example, uses 15 different types of hand-laid marble. Other heirloom-quality pieces include a secretary with burl inlays, carved bonnet and Venetian glass ($29,806) and a $22,917 dining room table with gold leafing on the apron (armchairs are $2,211 each). One of only two Francesco Molon showrooms in the United States-the other is in High Point, N.C.-the IDC venue also does kitchens and wine cellars.

Pierre Deux's fabrics, antiques and reproduction furniture whisk guests to the French countryside. The store also offers tableware and linens, wrought-iron chandeliers, and wallpapers that coordinate with fabric, everything from happy Provençal prints to elegant toile de Jouy. Additional first-floor boutiques open to the public include Baker, with traditional and casual furniture and accessories; Clive Christian, offering complete kitchens and cabinetry; Ann Sacks and Walker Zanger for decorative tiles; Stickley, offering collector-quality furniture; Eleganté Hardwoods featuring Antico Cadore hand-finished restored woods; California Closets and several art galleries.

For a more contemporary edge, check out the modern furniture and accessories at Minimalista or the sleek kitchens at Poggenpohl on the first floor, or ask your designer to accompany you to möbelform, one of Europe's leading modern furniture, lighting and accessories retailers. Open to the trade, Black & Lenet carries transitional furnishings and several pieces exclusive to the showroom, including a leather and alder salon bed by Dino Mark Anthony and custom iron pieces available in 25 finishes from Newman-Frey. It also offers alfresco furnishings from Lister, elegant white resin by Triconfort, and Roberge & Co., an imported line made from water hyacinth and teak.

For fabric, check out industry leaders Lee Jofa and Kravet. For floors, The Wood Floor Co. or Paris Ceramics, specializing in limestone, antique stone and terracotta, hand-cut mosaics and decorative tiles.

The International Design Center is located on Corkscrew Road in Estero, just east of I-75 on exit 123.