That Florida Feeling

Creating a Florida look for your home will differ, depending on whether you're a native, a newcomer or a part-time resident, explains Sarasota interior designer Bonnie Lancaster. The look you want depends on where you came from and how long you've been here. But in most cases, people turn to color first.

"Anyone arriving in Sarasota from the North is seeking a change from what they used to have," Lancaster says. "The colors of the Bahamas-such as peaches, aqua, yellow and flamingo pink mixed in selected quantities with white and beige and tropical prints-have been timeless in Florida. Designers may or may not define the Florida look this way, but most people gravitate to these tones."

Lancaster believes it's important to have a coolness about the room, which can be accomplished with tile, terrazzo floors and large expanses of glass. Minimal floor coverings and clean furnishings create a more casual atmosphere and feel more like Florida than thick rugs and fluffy things like one sees in the North. And the ultimate tropical effect, says Lancaster, is to expand your home outside as you bring the outdoors in.

"Shaded outdoor living space is what the Florida OR lifestyle is really about," she says. "More and more homes are being designed and built with overhangs and outdoor living rooms under roof with fans to circulate air. Family rooms and breakfast areas are extending outside. Homes are expanding to incorporate outdoor living space. This element of design, considered along with the color and furniture, will result in a home that feels like Florida."

Flee seriously traditional interiors, advises designer Pam Hastings. Instead, embrace comfort, ease and a look that's fresh and imaginative. "My first suggestion to clients is to get out of the dark," says Hastings. "A lighter, brighter color scheme relaxes interiors. I usually introduce some whimsical pieces, fun artwork or unusual furniture. A home in Florida allows one to break with that proper traditional mold and go with something a bit more unpredictable."

A well-planned paint job can drastically alter any interior in hours, and Hastings isn't afraid to try something different. Recently she worked with a client yearning for warmth and charm but faced with imposing formal columns in a grand foyer. The columns couldn't be removed, so Hastings had them painted in delicious colors with whimsical rings, creating a vibrant entrance to a home filled with energy and good humor. The design challenge becomes an interesting focal point and establishes the mood for the home's interior.

On another project, Hastings used painted imagery and imagination to transform an unimpressive stairway. Former bland first impressions of blank wall space and narrow foyer when the front door swung open have given way to delight, as a trompe l'oeil scene takes the eye over the banister to sparkling sunlight and sand and sea stretching to a distant horizon. The artist's work visually enlarged the space and has guests lingering in the entry to admire the view.

Inspired paint selection helps to incorporate even the darkest and most traditional furnishings following residents to their new Florida homes, says designer Paula Prewitt. "When you have tropical colors like buttery cream, coral or yellows tinged with green as a backdrop, traditional furnishings come alive," she says. "The contrast between rich, dark woods and fresh colors can be wonderfully striking." Those same traditional pieces with their proud finishes and beautiful bones can also be re-upholstered in fine fabrics to lighten their look and achieve a Floridian elegance. And Prewitt is unafraid to mix the old with the new.

"We often take antiques or period pieces, say dining room chairs, and put new fabric on the seats to give them a fresh face," she explains. In lieu of heavy rugs, she uses sisal on the floor. Walls are painted in pale tones and favorite accessories placed alongside recent acquisitions from local artists. "The resulting mix of old and new can be fabulous," says Prewitt.

When Florida is a second home destination, really set it apart, urges designer Laura Jackson of Home Resource. She helps clients create interiors that look nothing like home, through color choices, furniture, accessories and even layout. "You want to walk into your Florida house and really feel that you have a getaway," she explains. "Most people decorate their primary residences in neutral tones and with traditional furniture and a sense of sophistication, even formality. But Florida symbolizes vacation. So your Florida home offers an opportunity to have fun."

Vibrant yellows with green and blue are Jackson's suggestions, with an occasional infusion of vivid red. Go ahead and buy the fish chair, the wildly patterned art glass chandelier and the colorful tile for your kitchen backsplash. One of Home Resource's best-selling pieces just now is a plush upholstered chaise lounge for bedroom or living areas. "Clients can place this chaise in the master bedroom as a comfortable reading chair or put it in the family room and relax in front of the television," says Jackson. Most popular fabric? Butter-soft ultrasuede. Best color? Orange.

The right furniture has much to do with creating a home that is Florida friendly, and you don't have to go completely casual, says designer Judy Graham. Beautifully carved furniture in mahogany and teak is perfectly applicable for a dressy Florida interior hearkening back to West Indies plantation style. "This look features rich, darker furniture with gorgeous silk fabric upholstery, beautiful rugs on hardwood floors and classic wooden shutters on the windows," explains Graham. "You can create a very elegant interior with island plantation-style influences and be right at home on Florida's West Coast."

You can also create a warm and comfortable Old Florida feel, as one of Graham's clients chose for a home in Harbor Acres. Heart pine floors, pecky cypress paneling and beamed ceilings imbue this residence with a sense of time-worn comfort and mellowed age. Antique wicker on the porch, vintage-styled ceiling fans and old-fashioned window and door treatments carry the theme throughout.

And don't forget the foliage. No matter whether you're going for Key West cottage, Mediterranean beauty, the sleek contemporary lines of South Beach art or a regal Palm Beach mansion, plants are a must. "Every Florida home must involve plants, both indoors and out," insists Graham. "There are wonderful palms and white birds-of- paradise that thrive indoors. Grow things on porches and surrounding the pool. Have plants in the kitchen, baths, foyer, everywhere. Rotate plants if you wish. But bring live greenery into your home."