Design Hints

Design a Colonial-inspired dining room using color, shapes and a customized touch. Let Janda Fussell, who lives in Lithia, Florida, with her husband, Wade, and father, Andy Shirley, show you how.

* Pattern. Alternate ebony and ivory Windsor chairs around an extra-long dining table to echo the classic colors found in a buffalo-plaid window treatment.

* Paint. Create a unique centerpiece by stacking colorful folk-art boxes like the ones Janda embellished with handpainted fraktur motifs.

* Personalization. Display a meaningful sign alongside family heirlooms, as Janda does with a shelf display. "The whole space is very sentimental to me," she says.