FEATURES

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Because the property isn't a primary residence, the duo took some risks they normally wouldn't have; plus, time constraints forced them to get creative. In a few of the guest rooms—there are a handful, as the couple loves to entertain and are also expecting twins—Viñas either lacquered headboards she found at West Elm or designed her own. In the pink-walled bathroom, a shell chandelier from Anthropologie was spray-painted purple "to glam it up a bit."

For West, whose first book, The Art of Buying Art, was recently published by HarperCollins, this kind of creative and experimental attitude—investigating the new—informs her approach to art. For example, she bought the Fiona Gardner photography in the living room from Scope Hamptons, the annual art fair (this year running July 27-29) that promotes emerging artists. The best way to find the art you like—and what is appropriate for your home—West says, is to go out and see a lot of it. "You have a responsibility for this art," she maintains. "Whether or not someone tells you to buy it, you have to love it. You're the one who's going to live with it." And when you do, you can paint the walls whatever colors you want.