Tips from the Hampton Designer Showhouse

Once chosen, decorators in the annual Hampton Designer Showhouse are told to imagine what they would do inside the ultimate summer home, says Tony Manning, producer. At this year's sprawling, newly built Bridgehampton manse, where the event opens with a gala this weekend, the designers offer lots of interpretations. At once, the season is modern, dreamy, fun, dramatic, tranquil and sophisticated.

Here's a look at what the 2011 designers have done -- and how you might re-create a look or two in your getaway.

UPDATED VINTAGE

Port Washington designer Keith Baltimore's guest room freshens up the midcentury modern look. Yes, there are pieces from the '50s, including a reupholstered sectional with restored brass and a Formica center table. But most of the elements of the room are merely inspired by the era. A period slat chair roused Baltimore to design the room's centerpiece -- a walnut king-size bed that takes up an entire wall of the 9-foot-high room. And that boiled-wool orange pillow? He says he had it made to look like a retro shower cap.

DIY TIP: For more "Mad Men" style, go for the collected look, he suggests. The top of the cherry antique dresser combines items from his antique box collection with new pieces, all beneath a 1950s French painting done on an Atomic Age-shaped canvas. "Take new stuff and mix it with what you have," he says.

DECORATIVE PAINTING

Wallpaper makes a strong statement, as it has in show houses past, both in the Hamptons and elsewhere. In design, "now it's seeing what else you can do with decorative paint," says Rockville Centre native Nina Freudenberger of Manhattan's Haus Interior. Her firm's mostly midnight blue, two-story foyer pops with hand-painted gray, white and navy flame stitch panels -- no two alike -- up the winding staircase and around the front door.

DIY TIP: The unskilled might try adding a stripe below the molding of a room, as Freudenberger did. The device also works well around a doorway or window molding. "Use painter's tape. Sometimes there's some bleeding, so press down firmly," says Freudenberger.

FLASHBACK!

"We're getting ready for a return to the '80s, but more tailored and crisp," says Manhattan designer Keith Carroll. For his exuberant but toned-down guest bedroom, he chose a wallpaper in nine screens -- shades of yellows, grays and golds -- that he describes as "grandma on acid" with its pattern of playing-card symbols, dogs, feathers and pearls. The luxe silk curtains, in a smart stripe, are single panels on simple rods. The banquette is in a tailored geometric pattern.

DIY TIP: If you want to dress up a wall, try a console table, which makes a statement in Carroll's room. He uses a midcentury French piece by designer Marc Duplantier, in iron with a travertine top. "It brings some life to the wall," Carroll says.

OUTDOORS IN

For the master bath, Southampton designer Carole Reed used durable outdoor fabrics for the tub pillows, chair upholstery and curtains. (She used a foam window covering, also waterproof, in a white arabesque pattern.) It's an approach she says she has used throughout the house for some of her clients, mostly families with children. "The trend is using really durable fabrics everywhere," she says. "You can now get these fabrics in chenilles and other comfortable, livable fabrics. There are velvets that can be hosed down. It provides a carefree environment."

DIY TIP: For some whimsy, try a modern monogram, as Reed has done on the towels. The letters are meant to stand not only for "Southampton Agawam," as in Southampton's Lake Agawam, upon which Reed was married in a church, but a little sex appeal, too. "Having something fun to say is a great trick for any home. It's a nice touch for not that much money," she says.

COME UP WITH A PLAN

Arranging the furniture can be mind-numbing in spaces with multiple entrances and exits and asymmetrical architectural details. That's why the designers from Manhattan-based Tilton Fenwick Llc say they agonized over where to place the seating and tables in the family lounge in the basement. Suysel dePedro Cunningham and Anne Maxwell Foster, who are renting in the Hamptons this summer, settled on using four plush custom-made moss-colored settees back to back. One set faces the focal point of the room, a color block painting of a Mexican sunset; the other set overlooks the French doors at the bottom of a staircase leading to the backyard. In between, there is a card table. A sectional might have worked in the room instead. "We wanted to do a different take on it," says Foster. "In New York, who doesn't want a unique seating arrangement?"

DIY TIP: Try to sketch out all possible layouts, being mindful of the proportions of the room, the scale of the furniture and the height of the ceilings. "Use poofs and stools and move them around and see where they work," says Cunningham.

LYING FLAT

The stripes on most sheers run vertically. Designer Patricia Fisher of Manhattan and East Hampton used fabric with horizontals in her luminescent guest bedroom of pale blues. "It makes it so much more interesting," she says.

BLACK IS BACK

An upstairs bedroom by Missouri designer Joy Tribout -- done appropriately in an equestrian theme, as Madonna's horse farm is right across the street -- is mostly black. Counterbalanced by white and a straw color, the room's large windows make black a strong background. Tribout suggests trying the color in small rooms, such as bathrooms, or just accessorizing with it.

UNDERFOOT

Try layering rugs, as Manhattan designer Donald Schermerhorn does in his unorthodox family room. He uses Moroccan rugs, but any kind will do. And mixing colors and patterns is OK. "It's using the floor as art," he says.

THE SHOWHOUSE IS FOR SALE

ASKING PRICE $6.45 million

SQUARE FOOTAGE About 12,000 square feet

LOT SIZE About 2.4 acres overlooking protected reserves and horse riding fields, including Madonna's

STYLE Newly constructed two-story gambrel

FEATURES Seven bedroom suites (two with living rooms), nine full baths, a butler's pantry, a theater, a game room, a gym, a steam shower, a sauna, a wine cellar, a pool and a 1,500-square-foot, two-story pool house.

LISTING AGENT Frank Bodenchak, Saunders & Associates, 917-968-9020

THE DETAILS

WHAT The 2011 Hampton Designer Showhouse, a benefit for Southampton Hospital

WHERE | WHEN Opens with a gala preview cocktail party from 6 to 8:30 p.m. tomorrow, then opens to the public from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week starting Sunday, through Sept. 4, at 1224 Scuttle Hole Rd., Bridgehampton

INFO Gala tickets are $225 each; entry starting Sunday is $30, which includes a glossy journal (floor plans, contacts); no strollers, infants, children under 6 or pets allowed; 631-237-1475 or hamptondesignershowhouse.com.