Interior Design Ideas from Southwest Florida
Notes from our studio on designing homes that suit the way people actually live here. Coastal light, salt air, seasonal living, and rooms that need to work for family one week and guests the next. Most of what follows comes out of real projects across Fort Myers and the wider Lee and Collier County area.
If you already know what you are looking for, you can go straight to new construction interior design, luxury renovation, full service design or coastal interiors.
What Is Organic Modern Interior Design? A Fort Myers Designer Explains
Organic modern interior design keeps the clean structure of modern design and softens it with natural materials, curved shapes and warm earth tones, so the room feels calm rather than cool. The organic modern style is defined by surface and texture more than by color,...
Master Bedroom Layout Ideas: How I Plan a Primary Suite
The best master bedroom layout ideas start with the bed wall, not the bed. In a Southwest Florida primary suite, the wall of sliding glass onto the lanai usually settles that question before you get a say, because the glass has to stay clear and the bed cannot sit in...
How Much Does It Cost to Furnish a House?
The cost to furnish a house is set by three things: how many rooms you are genuinely filling, how much of the house is custom rather than retail, and how long you can wait for what you order. I do not publish a national average, because an average assembled from...
Tray Ceiling Ideas (and How They Differ From Coffered)
Most tray ceiling ideas fail for one reason: the tray gets built and then nobody decides what it is for. A tray is a recessed panel set up into the ceiling, usually one step, and it suits a primary suite. A coffered ceiling is a grid of beams reading downward, and it...
Open Floor Plan Furniture Layout: How I Actually Plan One
An open floor plan furniture layout works when you stop arranging furniture against walls and start building separate zones that float in the room. In a Southwest Florida great room the first decision is not the sofa, it is the wall of sliding glass to the lanai,...
Coastal Kitchen Design Ideas That Work in Southwest Florida
The coastal kitchen design ideas that last here are the ones chosen for the climate as well as the look: a warm, light palette rather than a blue one, painted or engineered cabinetry instead of solid timber doors, quartz over etch-prone stone, and a backsplash sized...
How Long Does a Home Remodel Take in Southwest Florida?
How long a home remodel takes depends far more on scope, selections and lead times than on how long the building work itself lasts. In Lee and Collier County homes, three local factors shape the calendar: permit resubmittal clocks, hurricane season, and the...
Interior Designer vs Decorator: What Is Actually Different in Florida
The interior designer vs interior decorator question usually gets answered with licensing, and in Florida that answer is wrong. Residential interior design work is expressly exempt from state registration, so the real difference is scope: decorating deals with the...
What Is Transitional Interior Design? A Florida Designer Explains
Transitional interior design sits between traditional and contemporary: classic, comfortable shapes paired with clean lines, a calm neutral palette and very little ornament. It is the most common register in Southwest Florida homes because it carries a light coastal...
Interior Design for New Home Construction: When to Bring a Designer In
Interior design for new home construction works best before finishes and lighting are locked. A Fort Myers designer on timing and what to decide.
Lanai Design Ideas That Actually Work in Southwest Florida
Lanai design ideas from a Fort Myers designer: how to style it as a real room, what survives sun and salt air, small lanai layouts, and enclosed lanai tips.
The Interior Design Process: What Actually Happens, Step by Step
The interior design process explained for homeowners, not designers. The five phases, how long each takes, what you decide, and where projects stall.