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Her designs? Old but not 'grandma' old

At NikkiCouture'shistoric bungalow, the courtyard is Old World and the interior is flush with antique treasures.

By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
Published May 26, 2006

"I love antiques, old stuff, found objects, because they often tell a story," said Nikki, who combines finds from salvage yards and antiques stores with buys from favorite shops like Anthropologie and Metropolitan Deluxe.

The couple, both in their 30s, own a historic 1913 condominium in Atlanta, where Stephen commutes for his job as chief financial officer of Premier Exhibitions, the company that produced "Titanic: The Exhibition" and "Bodies: The Exhibition."

Their historic bungalow on a shaded 1-acre lot in Seminole Heights is worthy of a spread in a homes magazine, a compliment that they hear a lot.

Nikki, an interior decorator and fourth-generation Tampa native - her family migrated by way of the Canary Islands and then Key West to work in the cigar factories - decorates with a feel for the outdoors.

She combines antique botanical prints with sisal rugs, white slipcovered dining chairs and treasures that aren't necessarily valuable, but tease the eye with their beauty: a delicate iron bed, a glass-front wardrobe draped with striped curtains, a working 1940s gas stove, square-backed Adirondack chairs made from salvaged wood by an artisan on Amelia Island.

"I wouldn't say I ever developed a style necessarily," she said. "I'm just drawn to things that have texture, are earthy, old or have a European feel. I also love things from nature."

Nikki, an expert gardener, has transformed her yard into an oasis befitting the 1,500-square-foot house, built in the 1920s and flanked by porches. She learned to garden from her grandmother in Lutz, who created such a haven in her yard that strangers often knocked and asked if they could walk through.

"Now I know what that feels like," she said of the oak-canopied yard filled with ferns, climbing vines, roses and ponds she built herself.

Strangers frequently knock at the gate and ask if they might stroll through and take in the cottage-style beauty of the landscape. An animal lover, Nikki created habitats for a menagerie of pets, including turtles and tortoises, a pair of ducks and two Brazilian cardinals that live in a large, lush aviary. She also raises enormous koi and has four dogs.

She designed a tall, curved, wooden picket fence that surrounds the back yard and a small swimming pool, built to the side so it's not within view from the house. The pool is surrounded by soft, buttery colored pavers, the old outdoor fireplace that came with the house and natural plantings that give the area an Old World courtyard feel.

"I didn't want the yard to look too busy," she said.

The yard features a picnic table and a simple outdoor kitchen (with concrete countertops) beneath a live oak and near a massive avocado tree.

The Coutures, who bought the house five years ago quite by accident, are also considering expanding the small master bedroom. The house has served them well, Nikki said, though she never expected to buy it.

"We were living in the house across the street and my dogs got loose one day," Nikki recalled. "I chased them over here and saw the yard for the first time and thought it would be wonderful for gardens."

The owners eventually sold the home to the Coutures, who have spent a good part of the past five years restoring the bungalow in between their many other restoration projects, including Nikki's work for her own decorating firm, Couture Decor.

Inside, they refurbished the oak and heart pine floors, converted a back porch into a breakfast nook and redid the kitchen and bathrooms. They also replaced all the windows, but did so in a preservation-minded manner.

"I found old, wavy glass everywhere - even in windows people were throwing out - and then used the glass in building the new windows," Nikki said.

She said that redoing several homes has taught her a lot about "doing things the right way" and preserving history.

"Now I'm picky, picky, picky," she said.

The couple's restored homes have been included on three Seminole Heights home tours. Visitors have gone so crazy for Nikki's design work that many hired her to decorate their own homes.

What the first-time guest might be drawn to is Nikki's love for old things, incorporated into the floor plan without clutter or too much claustrophobic dark furniture.

"It's an old look without looking too 'grandma,' " she joked.

Nikki liberally makes use of white, whether it's her breakfast room slipcovers, outdoor furniture, salvaged kitchen cabinets, old farm sink or headboard. White offsets dark - such as the exquisite Jacobean dining set, which she found piece by piece online and through antiques dealers.

Even her 1920s iron chandeliers are white, including one that a salvage dealer told her came from the old Kress building in downtown Tampa.

"I love everything in my house to be substantial, curved and chunky," she said.

"And I don't care if I know what something is or whether it works if it's beautiful. The most important thing is that it's old and has a story."

[Last modified May 25, 2006, 15:39:30]