Monday, Oct. 26, 2009

Ready for a close-up | Images from the big screen, color, islands inspire lively decor

There is a Briarwood house that bamboozles.

From the outside, it looks quite ordinary and is painted pale Nantucket blue.

The truth, however, is revealed as soon as you walk through the front door of Vicki and Steve Isaak's home.

Every nook has a theme based on their favorite movies, beloved characters or passionate pleasures. Each space speaks to a love indescribable through speech but perfectly understood in their decor.

The kitchen, dining room and living room reveal her insatiable appetite for an existence anywhere near water and sandy beach, while the theater room reveals his adult recognition of his childhood hero - Superman.

Reel life and real life seamlessly rule in this fluid and fun environment. In the beginning, though, this abode made Vicki Isaak weep.

"I bought this house over the phone," Steve Isaak said. "When she saw it, she started crying because she didn't see the vision I saw."

The yard was a disaster. The dock sported rotted wood. The kitchen was dark. Shag carpet covered the floor. It just wasn't pretty.

Now, though, she has plenty of reasons to smile and laugh out loud. Their home is her canvas and this artist knows how to create in big, broad and bold strokes of interior design.

"I don't know why people stick to the same colors, the white walls," said Vicki Isaak while looking at the orange and yellow walls of her living room. "It's just paint. You can leave it for a week and then change it. If you don't like it, change it."

What was drab is now fabulous and reflective of their childhood loves and adult passions.

The Isaaks have created a home taken from pages of their lives, and they are still writing chapters.

She was a model, actress, singer, dancer, showgirl and a Playboy bunny who never went to the Playboy mansion because it wasn't her style. Although, when she turned 40, she did pose for the magazine. The beautiful portrait, which just shows a hint of her breasts, is on a wall leading to the master bedroom dominated by African motifs.

It is decor that speaks to her love of wild animals during her nearly 30 years in entertainment.

Steve Isaak was a New York City probation officer until Sept. 18 when he retired. A lover of martial arts since youth, he still works as a jujitsu expert. He has trained people in varied walks of life, including Hollywood stars and Orthodox Jewish graduate students.

His steady flame coupled with her blazing fires produces irrepressible energy that is reflected in their home's designs.

Heaps of hues explode like dynamite. Shades of the Caribbean speak in blues, yellows, oranges, blues and other Crayola colors.

"God didn't make all these colors for us not to wear them and not have them in our house," Vicki Isaak said.A blond mermaid is emblazoned in tile on the floor at the entrance. The fish half of her body is shaded in a rich royal blue.

The artwork is one of numerous proofs in the home that Vicki Isaak loves anything to do with the ocean. Images derived from her imagination and those mirrored from her experiences are throughout the house.

Scarlett and Rhett serve as evidence. The "Gone With the Wind" room is at the rear of the house. It is where her 71-year-old mother, Norma Hutchinson, sleeps. If you've seen the movie, you know what this room looks like. It is a microcosm of dolls, books and decor from the film.

The Beauty and the Beast library serves as evidence.

"One of the first things that made me fall in love with him was when he showed me 'Beauty and the Beast' on his home theater," she said. "I just thought, 'He can't be all bad. He is a grown man who showed you a cartoon, and it is a cartoon you think is really good.'"

A wall-length bookshelf in a lovely shade of coffee mahogany is the centerpiece of their Beauty and the Beast library, accented by a giant picture of them dressed up as Belle and the Beast. Vicki Isaak has on a flowing, yellow antebellum dress, while he is perfectly disguised as the Beast as portrayed in the Disney movie.

Two replicas of 14th century thrones, a large exquisite desk and other aspects inspired by the movie complete the mini-library, which is across from the Superman theater and bathroom. A picture of their dog, Shima, adds a more intimate touch.

The comic book hero flew into their home via Steve Isaak's childhood. Superman was his favorite.

"The movie theater costs just as much as the house," Vicki Isaak said before she, her husband, mother, mother-in-law and three guests walked inside the room to view Superman.

The soundproof room boasts, among other things, a life-size Clark Kent, a 110-inch screen and digital sound that surpasses that of commercial theaters.

"We have people over here all the time to watch movies," Vicki Isaak said. "I give them a blanket and most of the time, before the movie is over, they are asleep."

There are six seats in the soundproof theater the color of Superman's cape in a room dominated by the same red.

Behind those extra comfy recliner seats is the Superman bathroom. Colors, of course, from the hero's costume are here at well. Blue is on the wall. The urinal is blue. Superman icons and Superman dominate.

The bathroom is fun, but distinctively luxurious once one notices the roomy shower equipped with a rain showerhead and sauna.

Their state-of-the art theater is just beyond their living room, where most of the home's brightest colors are displayed on aerodynamic sofas and chairs.

Yet before feet ever step into the living room, they pass the dining room first where tons of tropic blue appear on the leather chairs. The backs are clear glass made to look like waves. Dolphin figurines strategically placed complete the look that is undeniable influenced by the Isaaks' love of island destinations.

They got married Sept. 25, 1993, in Tahiti. Nine days later, they remarried in Hawaii.

"If you saw my wedding certificate, you would know that it would never hold up in a court of law," Vicki Isaak said. "It looks like a first-grader wrote it. That's why we got married nine days later in Honolulu by a supreme court judge to make sure we were legal."

Even when they boarded the Princess Cruise line, the original boat used in the television hit "Love Boat," they were given a reception by the captain because they were the only newlyweds on board.

"I wore my wedding dress three times during my honeymoon," she said. "Every year, I try to put it back on. Why would you spend more money than you ever did in your life on a dress and never wear it again?"

The Isaaks renew their vows each year, preferably in a place sunny with idyllic waters nearby.

Therefore, people who know them understand fully their joy of having a home situated on the Intracoastal Waterway, where there Tahiti-themed patio replete with a pool that changes colors and Tiki face their boat called Belle.

That's why they hunker down this day. They avoid the dreary weather and push the clouds away with their bubbly attitudes.

And there is so much here to feel good about.

Their kitchen that looks like a postcard from Tuscany is reason to cheer.

The game room painted in bright red with a Marilyn Monroe cutout, pool table and their classic Harley justifies staying inside for fun any day.

The sunken garden bathroom in Vicki Isaak's bathroom emblazoned in animal prints, a stiletto-shaped chair and elegant elephant accents is cause enough to relax and unwind.

The oceanic bathroom is capable of sparking fantasies of exploring worlds and wonders existing in seas.

Peace and play are all over this house that love and life started, with chance, a cry and creativity happening along the way.