BLENDING THE contemporary with the traditional isn't easy, but interior designer Sasha Witte has put together a lively and interesting mix at Sasha’s Living With Style, an Arts and Crafts house turned into a store in Long Beach's Belmont Heights neighborhood. A cast-bronze lamp shaped in a female form, silver antlers with black-and-white shades and other bold lighting show how the right illumination can add color and character to rooms, says Witte, above. In the dining room, a built-in buffet showcases china and chartreuse cake stands with tall glass domes. Kitchen countertops and open cabinets display delicate sea urchin-shaped tea light holders, wood-and-stainless-steel salad servers, and glassware in rich colors. Brown faux bamboo chairs are paired with a glass-topped table, giving the vintage black-and-white kitchen a fresh look. While placement is meant to inspire, Witte says, shoppers are free to reinterpret. A pierced white Moroccan lantern on the porch could easily move to the kitchen to display fruit. 3237 E. Broadway, (562) 987-3784, www.sashaslivingwithstyle.com.

-- Jan Molen