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THE NEW YORK TIMES June 30, 2005 Marianne Rohrlich Walking through a show house can be overwhelming: there are so many rooms filled with high-end furniture. The Hampton Designer Showhouse, which opened Sunday (through Aug. 14) is no different.  But if you look carefully--and understand that decorating is largely in the details--there are tricks of the trade that anyone can adapt. With 18 rooms, a pool house, a gazebo and two backyard entertaining tents, the show house features 21 designers and lots of "color, clutter and comfort, " in the words of Mario Buatta, the New York decorator, who helped plan the event. Th general theme could be described as mix and don't match.  A living room by Bunny Williams screamed Southampton with two pink sofas, but Indian fabrics and throws updated the look.  For a family room in the finished basement (forget knotty-pine paneling), Scott Sanders mixed high-and low-price furniture. "Everyone wars plain old Levi's jeans with very expensive shirts, he said.  "Why is decorating any different?" In another basement room, Anne Pyne of McMillen, the venerable decorating firm, hung painted canvas on walls inside out, showing the paint that bled through in an abstract pattern. (There's a good do-it-yourself project.) Masters of the mix-don't-match approach include Robert Couturier, who designed a dining room and Bill Sofield and Dennis Anderson, who decorated a living room. I have one request of the sponsors: please stop using builders' spec houses.  I long for the days when a show house educated us about good architecture, whether in an old house or a new one. The Hampton Designer Showhouse, at 61 Down East Lane in Southampton, N.Y., will benefit the Southampton Hospital.  Admission ($30) includes a catalog and a sourcebook with stores and workshops recommended by the decorators.  For information, call (631) 283-7140. 1. To cover acoustical ceiling tiles, Ann Pyne cut up used painters' drop cloths and wrapped the fabric around the tiles, fixing it in place with a staple gun.  The result is an interesting ceiling at a low cost. 2. Bamboo poles and dried seed pods, common items in florists' shops, became curtain rods and finials in the hand of Bunny Williams. 3. In the pool-house dining room, Alessandra Branca covered a chandelier with a giant sheer lampshade, transforming it into a new fixture. 4. Scott sanders paired a $9,300 console table from Jon Rosselli & Associates with a $149 Boka ceramic lamps from Crate & Barrel ($329 each) he had an automotive shop spray-paint them glossy green ($600 for four chairs at Maaco). 5. In an eclectic dining room, Roubert Couturier slip covered French fauteuils, set them next to Louis XVI side chairs and added a metal armchair by Ron Arad. 6. A blown-glass Jelly Drop lamp adds a nice glow and an unexpected accent when it is suspended in a tree, said Steven Learner, a New York architect, who created two outdoor rooms in backyard tents. The lamp, by Andi Kovel, is $945 from her Portland, Ore. , company, Esque Design. (503)289-6392 or esquedesign.com. 7. A 19th-century gold music-room chair was given an African kente cloth seat in an unexpected marriage that works well in Studio Sofield's living room.  Kente clothe is sold at Djema Imports, 6 East 125th Street (Fifth Avenue), (212) 289-3842 or djemaimports.com. 8. Stereo speakers mounted on the wall are artfully and inexpensively camouflaged with Indian cotton in a family room by Bunny Williams. 9. Alongside Jamie Drake's usual high-end furnishings sits a $338 acrylic coffee table from Plexi-Craft, 514 West 24th Street, (212) 924-3244 or plexi-craft.com

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