Rustic Style Rustic Cake Decorating

stairwell with stenciled beams

Luca Trovato

Interior designer Joe Nye implements cozy decorating ideas, like piles of books and brown furniture, to warm a Mediterranean-style house.

stairwell with stenciled beams

Luca Trovato

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Stenciled Beams

A chandelier and lanterns from Paul Ferrante hang from stenciled beams in the entry stairwell and hallway.

Decorating with Different Centuries

Luca Trovato

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Decorating with Different Centuries

Subtly layered colors and sculptural shapes make up a Joe Nye "moment of richness" in the master-suite vestibule of a new Santa Barbara house. An 18th-century Continental Italian faux-bois cabinet is flanked by 17th-century Spanish Colonial chairs. Portuguese needlepoint carpet from John Iloulian.

archway to living room

Luca Trovato

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Paint the Lampshades

Buy an inexpensive paper shade and paint it red — Farrow & Ball's Blazer is a gorgeous scarlet. A red shade makes the light incredibly romantic and flattering. —Joe Nye

a dining room table

Luca Trovato

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Dining Table Set in Amber

A John Rosselli hurricane from Hollyhock casts an amber glow on the Formations dining table, laid with Atelier du Vieil Apt faience. "The table is new, but it has the deep, rich warmth of something that's been around for a long time," Nye says.

living room with chairs

Luca Trovato

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Living Room Lined with Comfort

Nye started with the Elizabeth Eakins rug in the "elegant but incredibly comfortable" living room, pulling out the colors for the upholstery and pillows. The wing chair is covered in a hand-blocked linen from Hazelton House; the Rose Tarlow Celestial sofa is covered in Morgan velvet by Michael S. Smith. Walls are ivory Venetian plaster.

library den with fireplace and chairs

Luca Trovato

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A Den of Comforts

As an homage to the signature lime-washed paneling of David Adler and Frances Elkins, Nye lightened the den's somber mahogany to this mellow café au lait. Club chairs in a Cowtan & Tout linen velvet gather around a Crate & Barrel coffee table that Nye customized with a tufted leather top. "I really am a believer in high-low," he says, "even if the term has become a cliché."

bedroom with tan curtains

Luca Trovato

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A Luscious Bedroom

Colefax & Fowler's Lilacs Turquoise chintz — a longtime favorite of the owners — brightens a chair, ottoman, and shams in the master bedroom. "And the curtains are positively some of the most beautiful you've ever seen," Nye says. "They're a parachute-weight taffeta, with a luscious crunchy-soft look." Autrichienne silk from Claremont. Blanket, Nancy Stanley Waud Fine Linens.

a bathroom with blue tiles

Luca Trovato

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Bathe in Blue

The master bathroom wainscoting of Portuguese glazed tiles was installed by the former owner's decorator. "Aren't they gorgeous?" says Nye. He slipcovered a Pottery Barn side chair in a complementary blue-and-white linen stripe from Rogers & Goffigon.

a lounge chair near a fountain