So many of Sally Kramer's clients are from Naples, Fort Myers and Bonita that the interior designer felt sorry for them making the drive to Marco to sort through the international furniture styles at her lavish furniture and accessories gallery on that charming resort island. So a little over a year ago, Sally and her bright young sons, Josh and Joel Conrad, opened another Sally Kramer's Furniture Collection, this one in Bonita Springs right on the Tamiami Trail.

Her mainland clients are grateful because the new showroom not only offers stylish furniture with medium to upmarket price tags but also because the four designers on staff are ever so brilliant at helping clients select just one or two major pieces of furniture or doing a whole house installation in no time flat. The team will also accessorize a residence that is already on its way to comfort and elegance with furniture previously purchased.

"We've had people who just want a designer to come out to their home and make a bookcase look right," says Josh, "and we're glad to do it, because sometimes a bookcase is the hardest thing in the room to arrange." Josh knows that a bookcase is either all about the books or that the books are just a minor accent. The owner has to decide which.

"Many of our clients are seasonal residents who want the vacation-house basics," Josh says. "Then over the years as they begin to spend more and more time in their Florida residence, they invest additional time and money into bringing the place up to the standards of a year-round home. They upgrade and pay a lot more attention to accessorizing. We have continuing relationships with these clients. We already know what's in their rooms when they come in for something new and we just move the process along."

Sally says that most homeowners today want to avoid the en suite or the matched furniture look. They want an eclectic scheme, one that seems to have evolved over time in response to a relaxed style of living, collecting and traveling. Sally notes that this is usually the most successful design plan because it's the one that best expresses one's personality and true tastes. But it's the most difficult to pull off because it involves cleverly choosing from different periods and cultures. The inexperienced can easily end up with a room full of clutter.

"Most of my clients have really done their homework on the Internet and through magazines and books," says Sally. "So when they come to me, they have an idea of styles, colors, maybe even fabrics. But what the average homeowner cannot negotiate are balance, proportion and scale. You just cannot walk through a store grabbing objects you love and believe they will all harmonize. The selection process is a lot more sophisticated and that's when they inevitably turn to us." Sally notes that better-educated clients are a joy to work with.

To make sure Sally has enough for her clients to choose from, the designer keeps her suitcase packed and routinely travels to Africa, Paris (she didn't find much on her last trip, she says), New York and all the big gift and accessory markets in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco. She knows those markets and she very well knows what clients want in Southwest Florida. Her dad came here in 1953 from Ohio. Sally is a Naples High School grad and has been in business for 20 years, starting on Marco Island. She later added an outlet furniture store to the Prime Outlets mall and now she's in Bonita, too. If you want the best in an eclectic look for your home, Sally Kramer is the woman to see.

Joan and Ernie Kapanke ventured into their first retail endeavor when they moved from Orlando to Sanibel determined to change their lifestyle. Joan's career had been as a business manager for a law firm. Ernie was a commercial realtor in Orlando. "When we came here we wanted to do something that would be fun and bring us into contact with lots of people," says Joan. "We both love to shop, we're collectors, we travel and we like to redecorate. Eventually, we decided to showcase wonderful objects we've come across in a little store and share our discoveries with the public. From the day we opened this tiny place, it's been a joy. I honestly hesitate to call what we do work."

Their enthusiasm is contagious. Shabby to Chic is packed, crammed, brimming and spilling over with cottage treasures and vintage collectibles. Shopping this little boutique is a treasure hunt where you'll discover small garden statuary, old shutters, wire bird cages, iron beds, children's painted furniture and architectural salvage such as sections of a Victorian tin roof, porch railing posts and crackle-finish doors that Ernie has hauled to Florida from his Vermont trips.

Old hat boxes and boudoir lamps from France nestle side-by-side with vintage wicker occa-sional furniture, stained glass windows, tea sets, area carpets, old crocks, candles and throw pillows. And do check out the African porcupine quills. Some hostesses use them as canapé skewers. Or just arrange a handful in a silver tumbler, place on a side table and wait for the questions you'll get. Your status as an interior designer will soar.

Additionally, Joan carries a fetching line of delicate crystal bead and sterling jewelry done by the artist Jennifer Klein, whose studio is in Minnesota. The collection is nicely priced, with earrings starting at $10.

When the Kapankes opened Shabby to Chic, Ernie asked for a small "man's corner" at the back of the emporium and Joan obliged. Ernie stocks his personal niche with sporting items from bygone days and interesting accessories for the gentleman. Recently, a little girl came into the shop and said she needed a birthday gift for her dad and that she had limited funds. Ernie helped her select a dresser tray after they browsed and considered a great many possibilities. Together they wrapped her purchase, chatted a bit and off she went. A week later she came back to say her father loved the gift and would use it always. Ernie says that was his proudest moment in retailing to date.

Sue Nelson deliberated long and hard before she moved the Gatehouse from its happy five-year home on Fifth Avenue South in Naples to an open-air mall environment on Airport-Pulling Road. But the need for more customer parking and increased display space finally made the decision for her, and just over a year ago she opened a 2,000-square-foot gift boutique at Fountain Park Centre. The businesswoman realizes now (with some relief) that she made the right move. Her old friends have followed her northern trek, new clients from nearby luxury gated communities have discovered her, and best of all, there are plenty of new things to view and covet when a first-time shopper browses the lavishly staged displays.

My favorite haunt is the back wall that's been converted into a small shrine to LuLu Guinness, the hip London designer who has a passion for the '50s and a whimsical sense of humor. Her ultra-girlie red or black handbags with prancing poodles, Paris street scenes and smart ladies in sophisticated cocktail hats with veils are avidly collected all over the world.

Celebrities such as Elizabeth Hurley, Minnie Driver and Madonna crave LuLu creations. Dame Judi Dench brought her LuLu handbag to the Academy Awards. And two of LuLu's handbags are in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Everything from kitsch, candy-red cosmetic cases to big, roomy, hard-sided totes is exhibited under a black-and-white-striped awning at Gate-house. It's so cleverly done, LuLu would be proud. One of Sue Nelson's employees even painted a nearby door to the stockroom in a LuLu motif to complete the ambience. When you're back there in that part of Gatehouse it's another world full of bygone fun and toss-off glamour. You just want to smile. And then whip out the credit card.

"Women either get the whole LuLu thing or they don't see a thing in it," says Nelson. "Some days I'll sell five bags to women who just adore them. Then a week will go by before another LuLu enthusiast wanders in. The designer is known worldwide and sometimes people are surprised to see her things here. But I've carried the line for about three years and I'm glad to have it because it definitely sets us apart." LuLu bags are priced from about $140, although you can have a darling black-satin-and-gold coin purse for $57. (Does anybody really use a coin purse anymore?) When you aren't using a LuLu bag, find some way to display it in your bedroom or dressing area. It's wearable art.

The M.A. Hadley line of pottery is locally exclusive to the Gatehouse, too, and collectors can't buy enough of it, be it the seasonal designs or the everyday plateware and serving pieces. The casual blue figural folk drawings on a blue-cream background have a breezy cottage appeal that many Gatehouse shoppers find irresistible.

The additional display space has encouraged the Gatehouse owner to take on a line of distressed iron beds made for the store in California. Painted an antique white, the beds have a beguiling, romantic Old World look. They come in all sizes and can be semi-customized for someone who wants a higher headboard. Available in several designs, these beds retail from $1,870 to $3,400. Sue has a twin size all made up near the front of the store, and it truly is something special. Of course, she carries the line of bed linens she used, too.

Over on the other side of the store, some small chandeliers sport a combination of clear and colored prisms with ropes of glass beads. What's so appealing about these light fixtures is the size. They are petite enough for a nursery or powder room or small condo guest bedroom. At just $180, these white, metal chandeliers make genuine bargain-buys. I think you should dangle one over a dainty claw-foot bathtub in a beach cottage. Light a battalion of aromatherapy candles, turn on some music, fill the tub with bubbles, slip into the hot water and congratulate yourself on some world-class shopping.