Island retreat

Celeb clothing designer took a vacation from Nantucket style in makeover of her resort home

For the living room, Josephine Sasso bought inexpensive benches from Decorators Warehouse, painted them black, then upholstered them in Diamond Baratta fabric (''Bill,'' $164 per yard). (Jonathan Wiggs/ Globe Staff)

NANTUCKET - Josephine Sasso bears no ill will toward quaint and traditional Nantucket decor. But when it came time for the Pennsylvania-based clothing designer to decorate her own island abode, the nautical theme took a back seat to a design scheme that Sasso recalled fondly from her youth.

"As a child I spent a lot of time in Palm Beach," says the designer, who has created more than 200 pieces for Oprah Winfrey. "So I'm very inspired by the whole resort feel. I can appreciate Nantucket-style decor, but it's not me. I have friends who come over and make fun of me because the house doesn't look much like Nantucket."

Making fun of the house because the interiors don't resemble others on the tony island is a far cry from the distinction the house once held. When Sasso and her husband, celebrated caterer Peter Callahan, were looking at houses four years ago, their real estate agent referred to the home as "The ugliest house in Nantucket."

"It really looked like a 1980s New York apartment," she says. "There was a lot of bad faux paint effects and really horrible colors. But I could see beyond that. The house has really high ceilings and great flow. The rooms are a really good size, and those aren't things you normally see in a Nantucket home."

The house also sits in one of Nantucket's most desirable neighborhoods, which led Sasso and Callahan to make their decision quickly and purchase it. A year later, and the ugliest house in Nantucket was a showplace. The transformation has become a regular topic of conversation at the couple's annual summer party.

Sasso, who describes her line as special event clothing, is known for her one-of-a-kind blouses and tunics. When it came time to update the house, she leaned heavily on that knowledge of fashion. The floor-to-ceiling curtains in the living room are created from the same taffeta used for dresses. Slip covers were sewn from dress velvet, and several bedspreads were made from $3-a-yard dress fabric that Sasso had quilted. Looking around at her stylish home, she takes great pride in the fact that much of it was decorated at a bargain price.

"Everything here is probably from a junk shop," she says. "There's not much that I paid more than $250 for. That's because I'm so cheap."

More like industrious. She created custom picture frames for $12 by buying molding, painting it black, and adding glass. The artwork comes from books that she found at a shop in Newport. Inexpensive, mass-produced benches were given a chic makeover with black paint and black and white fabric. It's all set off by oak floors that have been painted white. The end result looks far more pricey than it actually is.

"What we wanted was a space that was comfortable, it is a summer home and it's going to get abused a bit," she says. "But I also wanted something that was stylish. Just because you're on vacation doesn't mean you should always leave your style behind." - CHRISTOPHER MUTHER