Q: Both my husband and I work demanding jobs - long hours, a lot of travel, like that, so we decided to move downtown to reduce the commuting time. We are about to close on a new apartment and I want it to be totally unlike the traditional house we had in the suburbs. In fact, I want it to be as slick and efficient as, well, a room in a luxury hotel. We'll probably hire an interior designer, but I wanted to do a little R&D first.

A: You're not the only stressed-out executive who's thinking "hotel, sweet home" these days. HGTV designer Kenneth Brown says that his private clients often ask him for rooms that look and feel "like hotels."

It used to be the other way around, with hotel designers striving to make guest rooms feel like home with amenities like layered beds, deluxe fabrics and good works of art. Today, hotel rooms have become "shopping centers" for both ideas and actual home furnishings. Guests used to pinch towels from their hotel rooms; now you can take home the bed you slept in last night (from sources like www.westin-hotelsathome.com).

That's old news for New York designer Diane Paparo, who started her career decorating large-scale commercial spaces for clients like Revlon and IBM. Now, she brings home many insights gained from working on hotels, for example, the need for privacy.

"Clients want a master suite they can go into, close the door, and be self-sufficient," she explains. Therefore, look for luxury-hotel amenities like pop-up TVs in bedrooms, small refrigerators in dressing rooms, and heated floors in the bath. More ideas checked out from hotels include mirror-fronted TV screens over the master bath vanity (now you see TV, now you don't), and headboards for beds with built-in his-and-her lighting. Well-traveled clients also want push-button controls for the window treatments, she reports. As for hotel windows, they are often three layers deep: first, solar shades next to the glass to block the heat; then sheer curtains "because they are pretty to look at," and over all, heavy draperies for a total blackout, explains Diane.

Colors for both hotels and homes are location-driven, she says. Western resorts like Aspen opt for neutrals in lighter tones. The Deep South wants bolder, deeper colors, like yellows and roses. In the Northeast, the palette runs to the darker side, she says. Examples of that are slate blues with silver or dark brown.

Calming colors are key in the Northeastern apartment we show here, designed by Diane for a world-traveling executive and his family. Natural light, easy-flowing open spaces, and soft contemporary-style furniture take the stress out of coming home, even in one of the world's busiest, noisiest big cities. She also designed the cocktail table (see more of the penthouse and the designer's custom furniture at www.paparo.com and www.dpstudiousa.com.

READY FOR A RED REFRIGERATOR?

Ready or not, here they come from the same creative Amana crew who brought you the Jot Dry-Erase refrigerator (a write/wipe message center).

The deep red and devilishly enticing Red Top Mount Refrigerator is the first out in a proposed series of hot-hued appliances designed to make American kitchens "individualistic and exciting," according to Amana's Brandon Buckingham, whose firsthand research had him living in consumers' (presumably dull) homes all around the country.

You can spice up your own kitchen scene for $549, but not until the Red Top Mount makes its public debut on - no surprise - next Valentine's Day.

More kitchen fun in the Amana pipeline: a refrigerator that dispenses cold drink cans through its door, and a portable, countertop washer for your delicate undies and other smalls.

Rose Bennett Gilbert is the co-author of "Hampton Style" and associate editor of Country Decorating Ideas. Please send your questions to her at Copley News Service, P.O. Box 120190, San Diego, CA 92112-0190, or online at [email protected].

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