Published: October 01. 2009 2:00AM

By Kondria Woods
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

You have your reasons for loving your favorite room. It's that cozy chair in the corner, the way the light streams through the windows at a certain time of day, or maybe it's the special touches you've added that reflect your personality.

Here's a secret: even designers have their favorites when it comes to creating luxe, inviting spaces for others. Talk Greenville spoke to Stephanie Swander of Postcard from Paris, Ivet Ivanova of Bogari, Cynthia Masters of Panageries, about their favorite rooms and the elements that inspired them.

Stephanie Swander, NCIDQ® Certificate No. 025476 , Postcard From Paris

“We were brought in on this project from the ground up, so we had ample time to develop the floor plan and the specifications.This gave us time to truly explore all of our options and decide on the best possible products for the Ferrells.

The first thing that crossed my mind was, ‘How do we make this functional for a large, active family?' I wanted to create a very practical and efficient space for Scott and Annette, where they could cook, serve, and entertain their friends and family.There was much debate over whether we should use one island or two, and what the best configuration of appliances would be.

We ended up going with one very large, central island that functions as a breakfast counter, a space for food preparation, and a gathering spot for family get-togethers. Their Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances integrated seamlessly into the kitchen, and have helped make cooking in this kitchen a breeze.

My favorite part of the design process was specifying the finishes.We looked at all sorts of materials for the countertops, and explored multiple schemes with the tile and cabinet colors. We were all thrilled with our final selections, which included two different paint finishes for the cabinets, as well as two different marble countertops.

Once these selections were nailed down, we were able to start to see the vision come to life.These initial selections served as the guide for all the other elements in the space, and provided inspiration for all the other selections.

The most challenging element of this kitchen was the size. I had to find a way to take a huge footprint, incorporate the kitchen, breakfast space, and keeping area, and make it all welcoming at the same time. We feared that the space would feel cavernous, but it ended up feeling very comfortable.You get a sense of there being three separate rooms integrated into one space, which is what we were after.

There isn't anything I would change about this kitchen.Luckily, we didn't have any great surprise with this space! Everyone involved in the project came together, and this kitchen came off without a hitch. The homeowners have been thrilled with their space. We achieved our design goals, and created a product that is both beautiful and functional.

Ivet Ivanova, Interior Designer and Owner, Bogari

“I have many favorite rooms that I have designed for clients, but one of my last projects gave me more freedom from the beginning. I really liked how open my clients were to my ideas and suggestions. It was a huge house remodeling project which included all parts of the house and I was able to stay within a contemporary decorating style and make it flow from one area to another. I loved the architecture of the house and the open floor plan. I was excited about this project and the opportunity to start from the beginning— selecting flooring, colors and tiles and then finishing it with the furnishings, art and accessories.

There were a couple of elements that were challenging with this house and especially in the master bedroom. There were too many angles in the rooms, including the shape of the fireplace, not perpendicular walls and all the angles in the ceiling. The ceiling in particular interfered with my design vision for lighting in the bedroom which originally included a track light with two drop-down pendants on the sides of the bed. We were not able to incorporate this idea because of the different slope angle in the ceiling and we had to find another solution, that being wall mount lights.

I had about a month to select and have the homeowners approve all the flooring materials and kitchen cabinets, so the construction could start. Then, I had about another month for wall colors, the indoor and outdoor railing, lighting, closets and bathroom cabinets, hardware and other elements. After those selections, we started working on the décor, selecting furniture and accessories.

I designed the master bedroom around a collection of African sculptures and art that the homeowners brought back with them from a family trip to Africa. With the exception of the small functional sofa that we added, everything that we used in this room they already owned, they had just used it in other areas. We brought a chair and a lamp from the living room, the African textile wall art was used before in the entry way, many of the accessories were not part of this room before the remodeling.

I was excited to incorporate all of these beautiful art pieces into the bedroom décor and personalize the room for them. We created an original and beautiful interior around their African collection and finished the décor with the right pieces of furniture, custom bedding and window treatments.

Cynthia Masters, Allied Member ASID and President, Panageries, Inc.

“Since this is my own master bedroom, I literally could live in the room and see how the light moved throughout the day. I could watch how it changed a fabric or paint color before making my selections. I loved all of the natural light. There was tons of it. There were lots of windows that gave the room the most wonderful ethereal glow. I selected my color scheme based on that.

The most challenging element was including space for storage! We live in a 106-year-old home which surprisingly has a walk-in closet, but it was not nearly large enough to hold both mine and my husband's wardrobes. I had a large storage unit built for my husband. It is wrapped in antique mirror with painted wood trim. It is huge, but because of all of the mirror material, it actually makes the room look larger.

I have heard some say that the mix of metals is intriguing. Most would start with one metal and stick with it. I used bright gold, antique brass, bronze, polished nickel and brushed nickel. The blend is great and adds to the time worn feel of the room.

Time was one of the fabulous things about designing this room. I had no parties or events planned, and since it was for me I could take my time. Naturally, I love what I did in this room, but everyone has individual tastes, needs and preferences. I would certainly work to create something that worked beautifully for that person.