By Rita St. Clair

Home Decor - When Is a Foreign Architectural Style a No-No. Exterior stairs with terracotta tiles and glazed on the risers and plain on the treads and would not look out of place in parts of Italy or in the Mexican-influenced Southwest region of the United States.

Thematic designs are fine for restaurants and entertainment venues, but they seldom look appropriate in residential interiors. An obvious exception would be a home done in a style that reflects the region where it is located.

A Tuscan-themed interior would look quite OK in Tuscany, for example. But it would be a bit of a reach in, say, Connecticut. A general rule for New Englanders is to resist trying to replicate that lovely villa they may have rented last summer just outside Florence.

QUESTION:

We're building a pool house with an upstairs guest apartment alongside our home in the Southwest. The plan is to use tiles, woods, metals and other materials from this area. We have seen the same elements in homes in Italy, so we're wondering how Italian-style architecture would look in a region associated with adobe-type homes.

ANSWER:

Let me first note that Italy has as many regional styles as does the United States, so I'm not sure what particular Italian look you're considering. I can say with confidence, however that the materials you mention can potentially work well in all sorts of American interiors, whether rustic, formally traditional or modern. When Americans think of Southwestern design, we picture Mexican-influenced interiors with whitewashed walls, tiles and rough textures. A Tuscan or rural southern Italian theme includes the same characteristics, so if that's what you have in mind, it can certainly be adapted to a guest apartment in the Southwest.

Perhaps the accompanying photo will offer some inspiration as well as reassurance. Exteriors like this one can be seen in many parts of the Mediterranean as well as in Mexico and in the Southwest. The book in which this photo appears -- Russell Versaci's "Roots of Home" (Taunton Press) -- shows how a variety of styles and effects were used to create some truly wonderful rooms. I recommend it highly. The exterior staircase seen here can easily be adapted to an interior, by the way.

Note the glazed terracotta tiles in a variety of patterns on the risers of the staircase as well as the terracotta pavers on the treads. And, as an example of an observation I made earlier, that black iron railing is typically Italian -- and it wouldn't look out of place in a decorative Mexican interior. So don't worry about adapting Italian-style architecture to your planned pool house and guest apartment. I bet it will look great.

 

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Home Decor & Interior Design - When Is a Foreign Architectural Style a No-No