Designer show-and-tell in Centerport

A designer show house opens this weekend at the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport -- but not at the storied main residence.

Instead, the event will take over the Normandy House, a French-Norman structure just across the street from the museum's gates.

The house served as the superintendent's quarters for the William K. Vanderbilt estate. Built in 1917 by the architects who designed Grand Central Station (and the other buildings on the waterfront grounds), the pink granite house with its slate roof needed some repair. The Long Island designers, landscapers and contractors in the 2011 Design Show House, which starts Saturday, poured $150,000 into improvements at the two-story home and its grounds.

Here's a peek at what you'll find at the 19 indoor and outdoor spaces at the event, a benefit for the museum. Some 70 percent of the proceeds will go toward the Vanderbilt's operating budget.

COLOR ME

THE TREND Hanging large, colorful artwork is now de rigueur in creating casual spaces like this living room. West Hempstead designer Beth Foley chose Huntington native Kerry Irvine's "Midnight in the Garden" for its intensity -- the energetic 48-by-63-inch abstract painting screams pink, blue, green and purple.

DIY TIP The Manhattan artist's striking piece costs $10,000, but reframing and matting any off-the-rack painting, garage sale find or homemade piece will help create the same effect at much less cost, Foley says.

C'EST SI BON

THE TREND Yes, it is the Normandy House, but Huntington-based designer Kate Singer says that French design is enjoying a moment in home decorating. Her dining room features a French-style settee and chairs, antique French wine jugs, vintage French dishes and a Parisian watercolor. Singer says she also went for a French mood that speaks to an "easy, casual, inviting lifestyle."

DIY TIP Be on the lookout for diamonds in the rough. Singer found the demilune tables at a garage sale for $400, stripped and repainted them, and had the marble tops honed to rid them of shine. She topped them with French-inspired details, like a bust on one and a rusty planter with seashells on the other.

MODERN ART DECO

THE TREND Check out the "Thin Man"-inspired upstairs bathroom for a contemporary take on Art Deco. Huntington Bay designer Mary Gray uses everything from polished nickel push-button light fixtures to etched-effect shutter windows to bring some glam to the tiny room.

DIY TIP Instead of putting a mouthwash bottle on your countertop, pour the mouthwash into a decanter and place it on a glass tray around perfume bottles and clean cut glass, Gray suggests. Such accessories can be purchased for less at stores like Marshalls and T.J. Maxx.

ALL THAT GLITTERS

THE TREND Gold accents made their way into many of the rooms, most literally in the rambling upstairs landing. There, artist Jennifer Karow of New World Faux in Mill Neck did the walls in stone-like materials with silver leaf dyed to look like gold.

DIY TIP Start small -- get an inexpensive gold leafing kit at a crafts store and transform a frame or vase. "It's pretty simple to do," says Karow. If you are feeling adventurous and have the budget to buy several kits, you might even try to gold leaf molding or furniture.

ALL ABOUT SURFACES

THE TREND Babylon designer Joseph Del Percio went all out combining textures in his "Star Chart Room," an enclosed sunroom. There's a faux mink throw, a flokati rug, a walnut and crystal tray -- and silk leopard print pillows with human hair used as fringe. "You want to change up the texture," he says.

DIY TIP Everything in the room can be re-created or found on the cheap -- even the hair, which he purchased at a beauty supply shop and had sewn onto the custom-made pillows, he says.

HOT IN THE KITCHEN

THE TREND Last year, it was gray. This year, mushroom is the new "it" color in the kitchen. Huntington designer Claudia Dowling, also the show house co-producer, used the taupe-y color on the cabinets. "It's a soft color, and easy to work with," says Dowling, pointing out that she used black, red, blue and plum accents in the space.

DIY TIP Paint your own cabinets with the color Dowling used -- Renwick Beige from Sherwin-Williams -- or find a similar shade from another line.

THIS AND THAT

THE TREND Purple and orange both have been hot colors in home design. The new thing is combining the two, which can be seen in Cold Spring Harbor designer Regina Kraft's room. "I'm seeing more of it in the United States and in shelter magazines," says Kraft. For the show house, she made a soft Roman shade from a linen fabric featuring a tree of life pattern from the upscale French Manuel Canovas line.

DIY TIP There are many affordable lines featuring the color combination, Kraft says. "You can find a reasonable facsimile."

The 2011 Design Show House

WHERE | WHEN 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays, Labor Day and Columbus Day (closed all other Mondays) Saturday through Oct. 16 at Normandy Manor, across from the main entrance to the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum, 180 Little Neck Rd., Centerport

INFO $20; $15 for seniors; cash and check only; 631-421-5290, vanderbiltmuseum.org