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"VIEW MORE PHOTOS  Designer and television host Joe Ruggiero says he sometimes wonders, &amp;quot;What is an Army veteran and former CBS sports producer doing in a place like this\u2014living the good life in California and designing furniture and fabrics for major retailers?&amp;quot; The route to becoming a popular industry expert and even a brand name has been a &amp;quot;long, happy journey, with a few bends in the road,&amp;quot; he says. The longtime host of HGTV&amp;#039;s first signature design series, Homes Across America, and former editor-in-chief of Home magazine has built a 20-year career dispensing sensible, easy-to-implement advice on how you can enhance your home\u2014and, he says, his passion for design began when he was a child. &amp;quot;My father was a first-generation Italian with an eye for craftsmanship,&amp;quot; Joe notes, &amp;quot;so I think a love of home and good design is something that is in my blood.&amp;quot; After working for years as a journalist, he launched his own design studio 12 years ago, creating fabrics and furnishings for a growing mix of well-known home-design companies, including Calico Corners, Caperton Furniture Works, Norwalk Furniture and Sunbrella. &amp;quot;I am lucky enough to be able to accomplish most of my own design work at home,&amp;quot; he says, chatting from the atelier-like office he shares with his wife, Barbara, in their sun-dappled house in the Los Angeles area. With views of a terraced, French-inspired garden and pool, his desk-side perch provides constant inspiration for his broad array of designs for botanical and nature-inspired fabrics, furniture, and trim. The Ruggieros&amp;#039; 2,000-square-foot 1930s-style bungalow was originally the pool house of a larger California estate, which was subdivided in the 1950s by producer Norman Lear. &amp;quot;The owners in the seventies added some more traditional touches, such as English library paneling, so the architecture is a hybrid,&amp;quot; Joe says. He and Barbara fell in love with the two-bedroom house once they spied its terraced gardens. &amp;quot;There are four well-groomed terraces surrounding the house where we can dine and entertain,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;With multiple sets of French doors overlooking the pool, treillage and plantings, it truly functions as an indoor/outdoor space.&amp;quot; To focus the eye as much as possible on the gardens, Joe says he deliberately kept the interior palette of fabrics and finishes neutral. The walls are a rich mixture of putty and gold tones, so the fabrics follow suit with shades of beige, taupe and white. A subtle play of textures and shapes is the baseline of the home&amp;#039;s design. In the living room, for instance, a nubby herringbone textile covering the chairs (and echoing the brick pattern of garden pavers) are accompanied by damask pillows that evoke a Venetian feeling, while in the office a tufted ottoman and round table topped with an elegant fringe-trimmed cloth contrast with streamlined bent-arm chairs. Peppered throughout the neutral spaces, spots of color abound\u2014from Blue Willow porcelain platters to several trunks and a desk lacquered bright Chinese red. Having studied design at Manhattan&amp;#039;s Art Students League on the GI Bill after earning a journalism degree, Joe says he likes the process of turning design inspirations into affordable items, making them available for consumers across the country, &amp;quot;and then reporting back on how the public likes the products.&amp;quot; Now developing a new television series called Timeless Design, he says the Ruggiero bungalow is the perfect, inviting backdrop for &amp;quot;making work seem like play.&amp;quot;  Up Close with Joe Ruggiero What are some of your favorite ways to give a room personality on a budget? I like to gather found objects or collectibles into groupings throughout the house. Seashells with distinctive shapes, ceremonial Japanese tea cups, or a trio of wooden boxes with the patina of age are a few such displays that will add visual interest to a desk or tabletop.  What is your favorite room in your house? My studio, with its fireplace and view of the garden\u2014it&amp;#039;s where I do most of my creative thinking.  What are a few of your favorite things? My family; working in the garden; great food served alfresco; my granddaughter, Colette; the weather in California; and my collections, which I constantly add to by searching out markets and shops during our travels.  What is your favorite time of day? I am a morning person, which is lucky because in California we start three hours later than our business and design colleagues on the East Coast. I like to begin most days with a swim in our pool\u2014that gets the energy flowing.  Do you have any space-saving storage tips? The skirted table in my studio keeps a wealth of files and samples hidden underneath. We overlay six tablecloths on the same table rather than folding them in storage. When it is time to change the look, we simply pull off a few of the table skirts. How would you describe your look? I&amp;#039;d call it Traditional/Modern\u2014a nod to the past, but with an eye on the future. Make Yourself at Home Joe Ruggiero has spent two decades helping America decorate. Here are his tips for making your home cozy and comfortable.   Stack your books. I love to have hardback books sitting around. Group them by genre. For example, a stack of books with botanical prints set out on a sideboard in a garden room overlooking your yard will inspire your own gardening and knowledge. Or a volume of travel diaries left on a guest-room night stand might engage your guests with tales of dream destinations.  Mix upholstered pieces with furniture your family has collected or acquired from relatives. Whether antique or weather-beaten, they will underscore the time line of your family tree while bringing you comfort and joy. Display family art and photos prominently. Everyone likes to collect their children&amp;#039;s drawings, so why not put the most vivid ones in a gilt frame? And photos of family and friends throughout living spaces are constant reminders of what life is really about\u2014treasured personal connections. Incorporate collectibles. My first book, Found Objects (Clarkson Potter, 1988), took me on many treks through favorite flea markets and shops across the country. Whether you spend $5 or $500, buy only what you feel you can&amp;#039;t live without. No one likes to recall a missed opportunity.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/interviews/a1213/elements-of-style-43216/>