The Design Journal

Nurseries are the most emotionally charged rooms I design and, paradoxically, the ones where restraint pays off most. There is enormous pressure to make the space special, which pushes people toward themes, toward a great deal of stuff, and toward decisions that will be obsolete in eighteen months. The rooms that hold up are the calm ones. Partly because a calm room is genuinely better for sleep, which is the actual function. And partly because a calm room can absorb the tida

Tampa households host more overnight guests than most, and the reason is obvious to anyone with relatives in a cold state. From roughly November through April, our spare rooms are in demand. That makes the guest room one of the more heavily used rooms in a Florida house, which is an odd thing to say about a room that sits empty most of the year. The result is a genuine design tension. The room needs to be genuinely comfortable for a week at a time, and it also needs to justif

Built-ins are one of the few things clients ask for by name, and they are also one of the most expensive line items per square foot in a residential project. That combination means it is worth being honest about where custom cabinetry earns its cost and where it is money you would rather spend elsewhere. My short version: built-ins are worth it when they solve a spatial problem that furniture cannot, and they are a luxury when they simply replace a bookcase you could have bou

The word mudroom sounds like a northern invention, and it mostly is. Snow boots, wet wool, road salt. Florida has no mud season, which leads people to assume they do not need one. They are wrong, and the reason is sand. Sand travels farther, gets into more places, and is harder to remove from a house than mud. Add afternoon thunderstorms that soak everyone in ninety seconds, pool towels, beach chairs, sunscreen bottles, and a dog who has opinions about the yard, and a Florida

A staircase is the largest piece of built-in furniture in a house. It occupies more visible volume than any sofa, it sits in the most trafficked part of the plan, and in a two-story house it is usually the first thing you see. And yet it is frequently the last thing anybody designs. The result is the standard builder stair: oak treads stained a color nobody chose, white risers, thin square balusters at four-inch intervals, a newel post from a catalog, and a handrail profile t

Tampa attracts more empty nesters than nearly any other American market. Florida ranks consistently as the top empty nester destination in the country. The combination of warm climate, refined lifestyle, lower cost of living than most major metropolitan areas, and substantial cultural amenities makes Tampa particularly attractive to homeowners whose children have left and who are designing the next chapter of their lives. Many of these empty nesters are downsizing from larger

Multigenerational living has become substantially more common across American homes over the past two decades. Pew Research data shows that nearly twenty percent of American households now include multiple generations living together. Tampa specifically has seen substantial growth in multigenerational households driven by several factors. Adult children returning home after college or during career transitions. Aging parents moving in with their adult children for support and

Open concept floor plans have dominated American residential design for nearly two decades. The HGTV phenomenon of removing walls between kitchens, dining rooms, and living rooms transformed how Americans think about home design. Open concept became synonymous with modern, contemporary, and aspirational. The National Association of Home Builders reports that open floor plans rank as the top must have feature for 70 percent of new homebuyers. For Tampa specifically, open conce

Tampa has built substantial condo inventory over the past several decades. The Bayshore Boulevard high-rises that line one of the most iconic waterfront streets in America. The downtown Tampa towers that have transformed the city skyline. The Hyde Park boutique condos that bring urban density to one of Tampa's most refined neighborhoods. The Davis Islands waterfront condos and townhomes. The Westshore corridor condos near the business district. The Channelside and Harbour Isl

Custom built-ins represent the highest return design investment available to most homeowners. The difference between a home with substantial custom millwork and a home with the same square footage furnished entirely with freestanding pieces is dramatic. Custom built-ins transform homes from collections of furnished rooms into architectural compositions. They provide storage that no freestanding furniture can match. They produce the refined craftsmanship that distinguishes sub

Tampa homes accommodate substantially more entertaining than homes in most American markets. The substantial year round outdoor season, the snowbird visiting patterns, the holiday family gatherings, the wedding receptions, the substantial professional networking that defines Tampa business life. The wine cellar and home bar have moved from optional indulgences to substantive design features in many refined Tampa homes. Yet most existing content about wine cellars and home bar

Small homes represent a significant portion of Tampa's residential inventory. The 1920s Hyde Park bungalows that defined an era of Tampa residential construction. The Craftsman cottages scattered throughout historic neighborhoods. The smaller homes in Seminole Heights, Tampa Heights, and Old Seminole Heights. The Davis Islands cottages that complement the larger Mediterranean Revival mansions. The Bayshore Boulevard condos that range from compact to expansive. The accessory d