By trade, he wholesales investments to brokers and financial planners.
But his real dream is to light people's houses.
From the outside.
"It's my passion," he explains.
The right light is like, well, a good dress on Oscar night.
It hides flaws and enhances the good stuff.
If you're lucky enough to be invited to one of the 10 or so parties Hardin throws a year, you might get to play in the backyard pool garden when it's bathed in the magic glow.
He thinks of everything: cone lights in the trees, outdoor fireplaces, wrought-iron candelabras. Even the pool light is on a dimmer.
But if you're like most of us, you probably own exactly six lamps, including one that could light up a car lot and accommodates a serious reading habit.
Which is what you're usually doing instead of going to Hardin's really fabulous parties.
So for now, you'll settle for the annual Davis Islands Garden Club Tour, a freebie on June 4 that will take you to a couple of the best gardens on the islands.
By day, Hardin's pool garden, thanks to Tampa decorator, Sharma Fernandez, makes for a seamless indoor-outdoor transition.
The color scheme - white, white and white - gives it good karma.
Beneath the covered patio, look up to a ceiling painted the palest of peacock blue, a color Hardin brought with him from his native New Orleans.
The rest of the look, he says, was culled directly from friend's Palm Beach homes: White slipcovered chairs, mirrors, gauzy white drapes, topiary plants.
Note one of Hardin's best tricks.
"Focal points."
Across the paisley shaped pool, the eye moves toward a wicker sitting area, white market umbrellas, a fountain bubbling in the background, then to a bounty of leafy tropical foliage hiding the 7,000-square-foot house in the rear.
Three years ago, Hardin paid $252,000 for the house, which sits on a busy Davis Islands corner.
"There was no landscaping in the front or back," he says. "It was just a basic house you would never have looked twice at."
He changed the exterior color scheme to taupe - with white and black accent - re-sodded, stuccoed and replaced the old driveway with a crushed concrete that resembles coquina.
He estimates he sunk in another $35,000.
Hardin, who is 46, mastered the tricks of lighting and landscaping running his own business while a student at the University of New Orleans.
Among his former clients: 37 Shell stations.
He would like to ease into the profession again, with a focus on residential work.
For now, though, it's just a dream: flattering houses with the right light.
His alchemy works well on his own home. Just after dark on a weekday evening, two women in a convertible cruise by. They roll to a stop, clearly admiring the glow streaming from the oak trees, the bushes, the curving front path.
"There's so much light," he says. "But you couldn't read a newspaper by it."
- The Davis Islands Garden Club will host its free annual garden tour at 10 a.m. on June 4. Meet at the Garden Club, 81 Columbia Drive on Davis Islands. Sandwiches and punch will be provided afterward. For more information, call 251-3123.
