Designing Mind

Lisa Kahn has designer genes. Growing up in Ohio, Kahn’s mother, father and brother all worked in a family-owned interior design firm. "I kind of grew up in the business," she says. Now she has her own firm in Naples—Kahn Design Group—where she creates interiors for Southwest Florida’s residential and commercial spaces.

On her style: "We don’t really have one particular Kahn Design Group look," she says. "If you hire, let’s say Mario Buatta—the prince of chintz—you’re going to get cabbage roses and chintz prints. But that’s not what everybody wants. I have tried very hard not to develop a look but to take my lead from the client."

Office vs. home design: With business projects, says Kahn, "it’s a much more professional relationship because you’re not worried about where they keep their underwear or if they want a Barcalounger." Still, she makes a point of adding personal touches to commercial projects. "I find that most people want to feel at home wherever they are."

Southwest Florida’s most common design offense: "If I hear the word ‘Mediterranean’ one more time, I might just absolutely throw up," Kahn says. "I’m not even sure anyone knows what Mediterranean means. It’s such a watered down version."

The next big thing: "People want casual, they want to be able to come in their shorts and feel comfortable," she says. Clients are moving away from heavy, baroque fabrics. "Velvet? For what? I mean really. There’s a time and a place, but the typical person’s house down here really doesn’t take velvet drapes," she says. "A nice washed linen is good because it blows around, it’s a little wrinkly—kind of like Naples."

On Florida as a palette: "There’s a whole color scheme just waiting out there," says Kahn. "Blues and greens in the Gulf, yellow sunlight, sandy tan beaches—it’s a beautiful color scheme, and it’s very Florida. When I first moved to Florida, people were still doing peach and sea foam green and pickled cabinets in oak." Now, Kahn says, "I see people coming back to a more sophisticated version of what Florida is."