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"Home interprets heaven. Home is heaven for beginners."
- Charles H. Parkhurst
Jo Apthorp wanted to bring a little heaven to the garden she calls sanctuary. Charleston-style and canopied by live oaks so tall they seem to brush the sky, this secret South Tampa courtyard can be viewed by a wooden footbridge that traverses an old stream trickling from nearby Fred Ball Park.
At night, chandeliers light the visitors' path toward a house lovingly decorated with antiques and family portraits, beautiful drapes and summer slipcovers. Roaming the profusion of flowers, vines and ferns with her three tail-wagging dogs makes for a feeling of paradise even in the shortest visit.
Still, Apthorp, an interior decorator with a passion for gardening, longed to make her paradise even more spiritual. Drawing upon what she jokingly calls her "ecclesiastic" mania, Apthorp, an equally devout Catholic and Episcopalian, recently created an outdoor chapel in the south corner of the garden.
The open-air chapel is surrounded by a 1930s ornate wrought iron fence made by a man in a nursing home, according to the plaque on the front gate. The fence encircles a small seating area facing a homemade altar backed by an antique French pilgrim's cross. Chinese porcelain garden stools invite meditation even on the hottest afternoon. Two rusted candle lanterns twined with wild vines can shed light on a prayer book at dusk or dawn, Jo's favorite time to find peace outdoors.
"I just like to come in here, even if I'm not doing anything," she says. "It's a place I like to be."
Bringing the spiritual life into the interior of a home is the passion of another designer of sorts.
Tina Coluccio offers feng shui consultations for homes around the Tampa Bay area through her business Sacred Balance. Feng shui is a 5,000-year-old Chinese art of harmonizing and balancing the flow of energy in a home. The philosophy affects everything from color to furniture placement to landscaping.
Coluccio advises clients on the layout of their rooms, including the kitchen, bathroom, front entrance, main living spaces, garage and bedrooms.
For example, consider the master bedroom sacred, she says. Don't stow bins of junk under the bed or keep too many self-help books next to the pillow ("the energy will keep you awake at night.")
As for a television in the bedroom, you probably already know the drill: it should remain out of sight, and ultimately out of mind.
"The TV should always be concealed in a cabinet because bedrooms are for love," Coluccio says.
She advises against clutter and messy stoves "not good for wealth and peace" and is a big fan of properly placed plants, candles and mirrors.
Go with furniture you love, cool greens in the bedroom, for example, and consider a mirrored backsplash in the kitchen. The reasons are detailed and complex, and fledgling feng shui followers best peruse her Web site, www.sacredbalance108.com for the logic behind her spiritual decorating advice.
She has pored over floor plans for clients building homes, consulted over potential building sites, as well as helped sellers use feng shui to ready a home for a fast sale.
Coluccio studied feng shui for years before launching her consulting business in 2000. She considers herself more than a little bit psychic, and dabbles in astrology and numerology as well.
"I've had people call me before they're about to buy something or move and ask me whether the numbers of the address were right," she says.
When a client is about to move, Coluccio will visit the old home and the new one "to grasp the concept" before offering advice.
Her fee is $299 for a two-hour consultation, but she believes it's worth it.
"I walk the whole home, the lot and go over the address numbers. I like for everyone who lives in the house to be there," she says. "Feng shui, when done right, is totally priceless."